Writer Zone

Writer Videos: Come and Get 'Em!

Thu, 15 May 2008 16:55:37 GMT

Instructional video demonstrations for how to use Windows Live Writer are now available. Check them out on Soapbox and YouTube!

1 – Getting Started

2 minutes, 26 seconds
This instructional video demonstration shows how to setup Windows Live Writer to work with your blog and, if you don't already have a blog, how to create a new blog on Windows Live.

2 - Basic Authoring

2 minutes, 16 seconds
This instructional video demonstration shows how to do basic authoring of a blog post using Windows Live Writer.

3 - Pictures, Videos, Maps and Plug-ins (oh my!)

5 minutes
This instructional video demonstration shows how to insert and edit rich content - like pictures, videos and maps - using Windows Live Writer.

4 – Open, Save, Publish and Help

2 minutes, 44 seconds
This instructional video demonstration shows how to open, save, print and publish blog posts using Windows Live Writer. You will also learn about how to get more information and send feedback to the Windows Live Writer team.

5 - Windows Live Writer

11 minutes
This is a single video that covers the all the same content in the videos listed above (1 - 4).

Enjoy!

Writer Tip: Working With Images

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:45:20 GMT

For those of you who frequently include images in your blog posts and find that you often apply the same settings, there is a convenient feature in Writer that enables you to save those settings as the defaults for all future images.

How it works

First, inset an image.
Then apply the settings to the image so it look the way you want (for example: change the text wrapping to "Right" and apply the "Photopaper" border).
Then click on the "Save settings as default" link at the bottom of the Image Properties sidebar (as shown on the right).

Now, the next time you insert an image it will be using the settings that you just saved following the steps above.

Settings that get saved

Not all settings get saved when you use this feature. Settings that will be saved are:

Text wrapping
Margins
Borders
Link to
Image size
Watermark effect

Defaults per blog account

The defaults are saved uniquely for each blog account. That means if you have Writer configured to multiple blog accounts you can specify settings for images that are unique to each account.

Revert to default settings

And for those of you who tend to get a little crazy formatting your images and take it a little to far, it's easy to wipe the slate clean and start over by clicking "Revert to default settings" at the bottom on the Image Properties sidebar. This will remove any changes that you've applied to the image and set it back to whatever the images defaults are for that account.

Get back to the defaults that came with Writer

If you changed the image setting defaults for your account and want to change them back to the defaults used by Writer do the following:

Set "Text wrapping" to "Left"
Set "Margins" to "No Margins"
Set "Borders" to "Drop Shadow"
Set "Link to" to "Source"
Set "Image size" to "Small"
Remove any watermark effects
Click "Save settings as default"

Windows Live Writer Gets Love at BlogHer Business 2008

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:11:58 GMT

Here's some live footage from the Microsoft Windows Experience Lounge during the 2008 BlogHer Business Conference. Thanks Sara Ford!!

One correction to the video: Writer is not in Beta anymore. You can install the official "out of beta" version at http://writer.live.com/.

Live From the Microsoft Windows Experience Lounge

Troubleshooting: Writer Fails to Publish Posts on Blogger (Fixed)

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:05:50 GMT

The Picasa Data API newsgroup has reported they have fixed the issue that was causing posts that contain images to not publish on Blogger (thanks Jeff Fisher for the quick response!). We have verified that the fix does addresses the issue Writer was having publishing to Blogger.

If you continue to have problems with Writer please post on our newsgroup.

Thanks to everyone for their patience and sorry for the inconvenience.

Troubleshooting: Writer Fails to Publish Posts on Blogger

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 22:43:26 GMT

Today, the Writer team learned of changes to Blogger that cause Writer to fail when publishing posts that contain images. When attempting to publish a post that contains images, Writer will show the following message:

We're currently investigating a fix for this issue and will post an update as soon as we have more information.

Thanks to everyone who reported this issue.

Windows Live Writer Update (KB 946058)

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 18:58:26 GMT

Yesterday we released an update for Windows Live Writer. The update primarily addresses a problem in Windows Live Writer that prevents support for posting drafts to Blogger. More information about the update is available in this knowledge base article.

This update is being distributed via Microsoft Update, so if you have chosen to have important updates automatically installed, you should receive this update automatically. If you aren't automatically getting updates, you can open Windows Update, check for updates, and the update will appear in the list of available updates.

Once the update has been successfully applied, the Windows Live Writer version number will be updated to 12.0.1367.1128, so the about dialog will look like this:

In addition, once the update has been applied, the option to post drafts to Blogger will be available and working correctly.

Technorati Tags: Windows Live Writer, Update, Blogger

Beta 2 / Beta 3 Upgrade to Final

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:27:59 GMT

Today we will be starting to distribute the final version of Windows Live Writer as an Important update on Microsoft Update. This means that users of Windows Live Writer Beta 2 and Beta 3 will see the update available in Microsoft Update, or have the update automatically installed if they have opted to have Important updates automatically installed.

You can learn more about the update here. If you are a Beta 2 or Beta 3 user and you aren't seeing the update, make sure that you have opted in to Microsoft Update. Of course, you can also just download and install the final version of Writer directly, if you'd like.

Windows Live Writer Final is the same Writer that you know and love, but with the final fit and finish applied. Thanks everyone who used a Beta version of Writer—we hope you like the final version.

Technorati Tags: Windows Live Writer, Update

Windows Live Writer: Out of Beta

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 22:51:42 GMT

Thank you to everyone who tried out the beta releases of Writer over the last year and gave us feedback. Over 1.5 million of you downloaded our last beta release, and your input helped make Writer the product it is today.

Our goal from the start has been to help make blogging more powerful, intuitive, and fun for everyone. Today, we’re proud to announce that Windows Live Writer 2008 is now available!

Windows Live Writer 2008 (version 12.0.1366.1026)

Most of our work over the last few months has been focused on raising the quality of Writer and putting the final fit and finish on the product. However, there are still a few new features in this release to check out:

Easier Spaces creation and configuration
Whether or not you already have a blog on Windows Live Spaces, now all you need is a Windows Live ID username and password to configure Writer to your Spaces blog.

Spell checking in four languages
This includes three flavors of English dictionaries:

English (US, UK, Canadian)
French
German
Spanish

Generic AtomPub Support
Configuration and publishing to services that implement Atom Publishing Protocol 1.0.

We have heard from many of you about the pain and frustration in the last beta release when support for installing on x64 systems was not supported. We're happy to share that this has also been fixed and now installation on Windows Vista x64 is fully supported.

As always, we're eager to hear feedback and learn about what you like and what you don't like.

Later this week you'll have an opportunity to tell us in person. Members of the Writer team will be attending BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas. We’ll have a product booth with this release of Writer for all to try. Come by and chat with us!

The Windows Live Writer Team

Talk to us
Send feedback
Contact support

Writer will be at BlogWorld Expo

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 19:14:19 GMT

Later this week member of the Writer team will be attending BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas, NV.

You can find us hanging out at our product booth. We’ll have a computer with the latest version of Writer available for “test drives”.

We’re looking forward to talking with folks and hearing what you think about Writer.
If you’re planning on going to the conference, please stop by!

Welcome Stephan to the MVPs!

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 22:25:28 GMT

Congratulations to Stephan Walcher, one of Microsoft's newest MVPs! (The Microsoft Most Valuable Professional program recognizes leaders among our users who voluntarily share their knowledge and expertise with the community.)

Stephan started the German-language Live Writer Blog. This popular site features the latest Writer news, workarounds for known problems, and reviews of Writer plugins. He's also a regular on the Writer MSN Group.

From all of us on the Writer team, thanks for all you do for the Writer community--and congratulations again!

Windows Live Writer Beta 3 Now Available

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 21:47:48 GMT

We have received a lot of great feedback since our last release and have done our best to respond in this with this update. This is the last beta before our final release so please give Beta 3 a run and keep the feedback coming in!

Version 12.0.1277.0816

Some highlights of this release:

Insert videos using our new 'Insert Video' dialog
Upload images to Picasaweb when publishing to your Blogger blog
Publish XHTML-style markup
Use Writer in 28 additional languages
Print your posts
Justify-align post text
Better image handling (fewer blurry images)
Resolved installation issues from last release
Many other bug fixes and enhancements

Also part of the Windows Live release today are new beta versions of Messenger, Mail, Photo Gallery, Toolbar, and OneCare Family Safety. Take all of these products out for a spin and let us know what you think!

The Windows Live Writer Team

Talk to us
Send feedback
Contact support

Thank you scottisafool

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 23:40:49 GMT

I wanted to send out a little love out to Scott Lovegrove (http://scottisafool.spaces.live.com/) on behalf of the Writer team to recognize all the contributions he has made as a member of the Writer community the over the last year. Many of you are probably familiar with some of Scott’s popular Writer plugins, which include:

Insert Video (currently the champ of plugin downloads)
Insert Spaces Emoticon
and his newly released SkyDrive Embed Plugin

Scott is also a big contributor to our Writer forums, where he and Joe Cheng battle to see who can help our users faster. As a developer on Writer, Joe tends to have the edge because he actually writes the product, but Scott is always quick to catch on if the question comes up again. Scott has come in to meet with the Writer team a few times since our initial launch and has provided a lot of feedback about what we’re doing well and what we should fix. He has also written several articles for LiveSide highlighting features of Writer and creating Writer plugins. His efforts over the last year have helped us make this product better, and we really appreciate his contributions.

<cheer/><cheer/><cheer/>for Scott!

Spike Washburn
Developer, Windows Live Writer

Upcoming Changes May Affect Plug-in Developers

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:56:12 GMT

In an upcoming release of Windows Live Writer, we are changing the location that Windows Live Writer’s program files are installed into as well as the location of our registry settings. These changes could have an impact upon plug-in authors, though we have done our best to maintain backward compatibility. This post describes the changes in more detail and specifically discusses the impact that this will have upon existing plug-ins.

Writer Tip: Automatic Server Pinging

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:53:50 GMT

One of the less obvious features available in Windows Live Writer is the ability to automatically ping (send a signal) to popular blog aggregators every time you publish something to your blog. This feature actively pings the servers of the blog aggregators you specify and to indicate when there is new material.

To use this feature in Writer click on Ping Servers in the Options dialog (navigation: Tools | Options | Ping Servers). Then add the names of the servers you want to ping.

Some names of some popular search engines you could choose are:
http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2
http://ping.feedburner.com
http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080
http://services.newsgator.com/ngws/xmlrpcping.aspx
http://api.feedster.com/ping.php

You can also use a pinging service like Ping-o-Matic (this service will automatically ping a number of popular sites for you). Just put the following in the list of ping servers:

http://rpc.pingomatic.com

You can get an extended list of ping servers from the Ping Server entry on Wikipedia and the Ping-o-Matic website.

A note on pinging etiquette: make sure to only ping specialized services if they're relevant to your blog, otherwise you'll cause an undue burden on them.

[edit: Moved Ping-o-matic into a separate section since it actually relays pings to various servers. Thanks for the suggestion, Joseph! ]

[edit: Corrected the NewsGator ping URL, which was incorrect.]

Troubleshoot Issues with Writer (Beta 2)

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 21:27:16 GMT

After the release of Writer Beta 2 last week, we were made aware of two issues in the product. One impacts installation of Writer and the other causes the computer to hang when Writer is running. We have determined solutions and both problems will be addressed in the next release of Writer. In addition, steps to work around these problems are described below.

The entire Writer team would like to apologize to all of our customers for these unfortunate issues and any inconvenience they may have caused. We rely on your feedback to ensure that problems such as these get fixed and we appreciate all of your time and patience getting through these issues with us.

If you continue to experience problems, please contact our support team for additional assistance.

Problem 1: Writer Installation Fails

Symptoms

When trying to install Writer, the installation silently fails and does not complete or appears to take a very long time.

Cause

If you attempt to install Windows Live Writer after having installed Windows Live Writer, Windows Live Mail or Windows Live Messenger in another language, this problem can occur because the installer for the other language versions is preventing Writer from installing (even if you uninstalled the applications).

Solution

Remove the installer preventing Writer from installing and send your log files to the Writer support team. To do this:

1. Create a new folder on your desktop and name it Log Files.

2. Copy 3 log files on your system to the new folder you created

If you are using Windows XP (SP2) the log files are located at the following locations:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\WindowsLiveInstaller\logs
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\WindowsLiveInstaller\MsiLogs
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\WLInstaller

If you are using Windows Vista the log files are located at the following locations:

C:\programdata\WindowsLiveInstaller\logs
C:\programdata\WindowsLiveInstaller\MsiLogs
C:\programdata\WLInstaller

3. Click this link: http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/3/0/23036331-516d-4c7e-b9ac-31554a2fec06/WL-Beta-remove.zip.

4. When prompted, click “Save” to save the ZIP file to your desktop.

5. Go to your desktop and open WL-Beta-remove.zip.

6. Extract all the files to your desktop (this should create a folder named WL-Beta-Remove on your desktop if not, skip to step 8).

7. Go to your desktop and open the folder named WL-Beta-remove (there should be a file named WL-Beta-Remove.cmd in the folder).

8. Double-click on the file named WL-Beta-Remove.cmd.

9. If prompted by the Open File – Security Warning, click “Run” (after clicking “Run” a window will open and you will see commands running in that Window, when the commands are finished the window will automatically close).

10. Go to http://get.live.com/betas/writer_betas and install Writer again. NOTE: If you had Windows Live Mail or Windows Live Messenger installed you will also need to reinstall those applications:

Reinstall Windows Live Mail http://get.live.com/betas/maildesktop_betas
Reinstall Windows Live Messenger http://get.live.com/betas/messenger_betas

11. Go to the Writer support page and submit the log files that you saved in step #2.

12. Delete WL-Beta-remove.zip and the folders named Log Files and WL-Beta-remove from your desktop.

Problem 2: System hangs when running Writer

Symptom

For some users, starting Windows Live Writer causes the computer to become unresponsive. In Task Manager, the Processes tab shows that a svchost.exe process is using close to 100% of the CPU (NOTE: Task Manager may not be able to start once the computer becomes unresponsive, so it would be necessary to start Task Manager before starting Writer). This symptom can re-appear if Windows Live Mail or Windows Live Messenger is installed after performing the solutions steps below. It is advised to peform the solution below after installing Windows Live Mail or Windows Live Messenger.

Cause

When Windows Live Writer starts, it uses the Windows Live Setup Service to check for updates. This Setup Service in turn uses Microsoft Update to check for updates. On some configuration this particular mechanism for checking can cause the symptom described above.

Solution

Disable the Windows Live Setup Service. To do this:

1. Click “Run…” on the Start menu.

2. Type “cmd” and then click “Open” (this will open a Command Prompt windows).

3. In the Command Prompt window type the following:

net stop "Windows Live Setup Service"
ENTER
sc config "WLSetupSvc" start= disabled
ENTER

4. Close the Command Prompt window and any other applications in use.

5. Restart your computer.

6. Start Writer and use it as you would normally.

Windows Live Writer Beta 2 Now Available

Wed, 30 May 2007 21:59:20 GMT

The Writer team has been working hard on a new release and we're excited that it is now available for download!

This release incorporates a ton of feedback from our discussion forums and your blogs. Here are some of the new features you'll find in Beta 2:

New Authoring Capabilities

Inline spell checking
Table editing
Ability to add categories
Page authoring for WordPress and TypePad
Support for excerpts and extended entries
Improved hyperlinking and image insertion
Paste Special

Integration and Compatibility

SharePoint 2007 support
New APIs enabling custom extensions by weblog providers
Automatic synchronization of local and online edits
Integration with Windows Live Gallery
Support for Blogger Labels

Plus...

New look and feel
Available in 6 languages
Improved accessibility and keyboard support
Many other frequently requested enhancements!

Tables and spell checking

Adding categories

Page authoring

We're also excited to announce that Windows Live Spaces, WordPress, and TypePad have all taken advantage of our new Provider Customization API to expose additional service-specific features within the Writer UI.

These APIs enable both rich customization of Writer's behavior as well as the opportunity to add new functionality to the product.

If you are a weblog provider check out the API documentation here and don't hesitate to contact us with your feedback and questions.

Final note: Along with Writer, new beta releases of Windows Live Mail and Windows Live Messenger are also available today. Hope you enjoy the new releases and keep letting us know what's on your mind so we can make all of the products better!

Windows Live Writer Team

Talk to us
Send feedback
Contact support

Blog This for Firefox 2.0 now available on Windows Live Gallery

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 18:41:56 GMT

The Windows Live Writer Blog This extension for Firefox has been updated to officially support Firefox 2.0 (in addition to Firefox 1.5.x).

The Blog This for Firefox extension adds a button to Firefox which starts a new Windows Live Writer blog post prepopulated with content and title from the current web page. Blog the whole page, or just selected snippets. Interacts with other registered plugins to parse and structure web content where appropriate. Blog quickly when you find something of interest on the web.

Spike Washburn
Developer, Windows Live Writer

Blogger Beta Update Available

Sat, 11 Nov 2006 02:17:47 GMT

Starting last Friday, Writer had problems posting to Blogger Beta. Since then, we've been busy getting a fix made and tested.

We've fixed the issue and have updated our Beta (to version 1.0.1 build 6 if you're keeping track). If you're using Blogger Beta, you should download and install the latest version of Writer. You can just install over your existing version of Writer, it will upgrade it automatically. Once you’ve installed the new version, you should re-add your Blogger Beta account and everything should work fine.

Sorry to everyone who was affected by these issues.

-Charles Teague

Another Blogger Beta Update

Sat, 04 Nov 2006 02:47:31 GMT

We’ve had a month of blissful trouble-free integration, but today’s update of Blogger Beta is giving Windows Live Writer indigestion.

As far as we know, if you're already using Build 145 and it's working with Blogger Beta, it should continue to work. But if you try to add a new Blogger Beta blog, you'll likely find that style detection will fail and none of the posts you publish will actually show up on the blog.

We're working on an update to address this issue, which we plan to deliver sometime next week. Sorry for the inconvenience. We’ll keep you posted.

Joe Cheng
Developer, Windows Live Writer

(Thanks to JTB for initially reporting this issue.)

Blogger Beta Update

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 03:33:24 GMT

In our latest Beta update release (build 141), we added support for Blogger Beta. However, just after we completed our final testing, Blogger Beta released an update that caused Writer to not work correctly.

We have fixed the problems and have updated our Beta (in build 145). If you're using Blogger Beta, you should download and install the latest version of Writer. You can just install over your existing version of Writer, it will upgrade it automatically. When you configure your Blogger Beta account in Writer, everything should work fine and you shouldn't be required to take any manual steps.

Sorry to the users who ran into problems with this. Thanks very much for reporting the problems and for your understanding!

Charles Teague
Development Manager, Windows Live Writer

Blog list: Bullpen

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 04:35:41 GMT

Bullpen

Custom List: Download Writer

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 04:35:14 GMT

Download Writer

Blog list: Windows Live Teams

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 01:29:41 GMT

Windows Live Teams

Custom List: Writer Links

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 17:38:44 GMT

Writer Links

Custom List: Community Plugins

Wed, 30 May 2007 21:38:02 GMT

Community Plugins

Custom List: Developer Zone

Thu, 05 Oct 2006 04:31:49 GMT

Developer Zone