20 apps for editors of blogs and news websites

The best Firefox, office, calendar, time-tracking, and instant messaging tools

Editing once meant sending a Microsoft Word file back and forth by email. Now, editing—especially editing for blogs and news websites—is as varied as the ways in which publishers post content.

With blog teams decentralized and the publishing process sped up, editors need some pretty flexible tools to be able to perform their job efficiently.

We’ll look here at tools and web applications (all free!) that would help any editor improve blog and news content and streamline the publishing process.

We’ve broken them up into the following categories:

Firefox | Office software | Calendars | Time-tracking | Instant messaging

Firefox

Let's start with the Web browser, because it really is the editor's "base of operations," so to speak. We’ll focus on Firefox, because as promising as Google Chrome is, Firefox still has the best plug-ins. And check out the Firefox add-on in the time-tracking category further below.

Spell-checker

This is one of Firefox’s most convenient features. When you enter text into any editable form (say, on a publishing platform such as WordPress), Firefox underlines misspelled words in red. And it does it automatically (no need to install a plug-in).

We even learned of a way (courtesy of Lifehacker) to extend this functionality to any web page (not just forms). Just drag and drop this link Spell-check onto your bookmark toolbar. This “bookmarklet” makes any page editable, highlighting typos as a result. (Note: this disables links on the page. To de-activate it, simply click to another page.)

If you want to add or remove words from Firefox’s built-in spelling list or move your customizations to another computer, check out the tips on Digital Inspiration.

Word Count Plus

Want to be able to count the number of words on any web page in two clicks? Once you’ve installed the Word Count Plus plug-in, just highlight a section of text on the page, click the Word Count Plus icon in the bottom-right corner of the browser, and you’ll see exactly how many words are there. Very easy.

Copy Plain Text

If you want to be able to copy text from a web page (say, into an email or document) without carrying over all of the formatting, Copy Plain Text will do the job. Highlight the text you want to copy, right-click on your mouse, and then select “Copy as plain text.”

Dictionary and reference

Firefox has a few great options here. Merriam-Webster, the most authoritative dictionary for US English, has a search engine for its dictionary, which you can access directly from Firefox’s search bar (located in the toolbar). Hit “Control” + “K” or “E” to jump to it.

WikiLook shows you information about words and phrases in a pop-up bubble. Just mouse over any word and see information about it from Wikipedia and other WikiMedia websites, all without leaving the page.

Hyperwords has a much more extensive feature set than either. Right-click on a word to look it up on a dictionary, a thesaurus, social media websites, Google, Flickr, YouTube, and more.

Insert characters and symbols (just a wish)

This plug-in doesn’t exist, but we wish it did. It would be a simple add-on that lets you insert the most common characters and symbols into a form. Things like dashes, ellipses, and currency symbols. Sounds pretty simple; we don’t know why someone hasn’t done it already. Until someone does, you may like our reference of punctuation marks and symbols for editors.

Office software

Notepad++

Most publishing platforms (such as Drupal and WordPress) come with a convenient toolbar that lets you add formatting to your content without messing with HTML. But if you prefer to do it manually or want to back up content on your computer, then Notepad++ is great. We use it far more than any of the other software in this category. Notepad++ is lightweight, and it neatly color-codes your text and all of the HTML properties and values.

Microsoft Word

You’ve probably used MS Word many times, but you may not be familiar with its “Track Changes” feature, which lets you see what changes each user has made to a document. MS Word tracks changes better than any of the products in this category. The edits are clearly laid out, and you can easily accept or reject as many changes as you’d like at a time. And with the ribbon toolbar introduced in the 2007 version, which is Microsoft’s best innovation in a while, the feature’s functions are even handier. Word may not be as conveniently accessible as Google Docs yet, but it will go online in 2010.

OpenOffice Writer

As much money as Microsoft invests in Word, if you don’t disable the “auto” features as soon as you install it, it will go batty on you when you least need it. OpenOffice Writer doesn’t seem to do that. It’s better than Word insofar as it has a similar look and feel but behaves more predictably. It’s free, too. Unfortunately, it also seems to be plagued by development problems.

Google Docs

MS Word and Google Docs is essentially a choice between functionality and convenience. Google Docs certainly has fewer features, but you can share documents with anyone in a few clicks, and collaborating with others doesn’t leave a messy trail of files in your email inbox afterward. It also automatically saves every change made to a document, even after the document has been closed. Managing those revisions, though, is not nearly as easy as it is in Word: you have to leave your main view of the document, and finding and accepting individual changes is not intuitive. But Google Docs is free and will certainly improve over time; and Microsoft Office will soon be available online (and probably for free), so the distance between the two products will gradually shrink.

Calendars

Google Calendar

This is a small category, because Google Calendar is easily the best (and most popular) application in this category. You can create multiple calendars on one tidy page, share calendars with as many people as you’d like, and assign viewing or editing privileges to any of those people. Online calendars are awfully helpful when you want to keep track of editing schedules and publishing deadlines.

Time tracking

Even if you don’t have to submit a time sheet to your employer, keeping track of your hours is a great way to measure how fast you edit and on what tasks you spend the most time. All of the applications in this category are excellent, and you can find even more suggestions over on Lifehacker.

Simple Timer

Simple Timer is actually a Firefox add-on, but we included it in this category with its competitors. The add-on puts a clock in your status bar and lets you count up from zero, count down from anything less than 24 hours, and set an alert to go off at a certain time of day. Nice and simple for when you don’t want to bother opening a new tab or application.

Chron me

If all you need is a simple online stopwatch, Chron me is as good as it gets. The elegant stripped-down interface puts the timer front and center. You can also keep a running total and give each interval a label, so that when you download the results as a CSV file, you end up with a handy breakdown of what you’ve done. You can even embed the timer on your own website with the little script provided.

Toggl

If you need more functionality, try Toggl. This online application tracks the time you spend for each client and project. You can subscribe to your tasks by RSS feed and download reports as PDF or CSV files. The free version is generous with its features, too.

timeEdition

timeEdition has a bit more functionality but is still simple to use. A downloadable app for both Windows and Mac, timeEdition lets you track time based on customer, project, and task details. The handy “Start recording” button is hard to miss, too. Best of all, it integrates with Google Calendar.

Instant messaging

Instant messaging (IM) has come a long way. Audio and video chat are now standard, as are group chat and file transfers. Audio and video quality are not flawless, but they’re quite good if you have a fast Internet connection. Best of all, the basic versions of most IM services are free.

Skype

Skype has been sailing in rough water lately with the change in ownership and surprising management decisions. But it’s still as good a standalone instant messaging application as you could ask for. Skype-to-Skype calls are free, and pricing plans for calling out to landlines and mobile phones worldwide are dirt cheap.

Gmail Chat

If you already use Gmail, then Gmail chat hard to pass up. It’s got that Google-y clean interface, SMS (text messaging) is free, and all chats are automatically saved in and accessible from your email account.

Tinychat

Tinychat is a kind of makeshift instant messaging. You can set up a temporary video chat room for up to 12 people in seconds, without registering an account or installing software. The video quality is not as bad as you would expect either. It’s a great option if you want to have a quick meeting with people who may not have a Skype or Gmail account.