Blogging

Whatever Happened to Offline Blog Editors?

Neville Hobson

20 Feb 2025 — 5 min read

There was a time when blogging tools weren’t just about writing in a web browser. Fifteen years ago, the landscape of third-party blog editors was full of promise.

Programs like Ecto, BlogJet, Qumana, and BlogDesk gave bloggers using the Windows operating system the freedom to write offline, refine their drafts, and then publish directly to blogging platforms like WordPress, TypePad, Drupal, and others. Microsoft got in on the action with Windows Live Writer, a writing and publishing tool for Windows, succeeded by the open-source and stand-out Open Live Writer.

I used all of these editing tools, and more, between 2002 and about 2018, to create posts on a Windows PC and then publish them to my blog. By then, though, all had fallen by the wayside in terms of development and support. Fast forward to today, and the options are, quite frankly, bleak.

A bright spot is for users on macOS, where writing apps like MarsEdit and iA Writer offer users beautifully designed tools. For iA Writer users, the app is available across multiple platforms, including Windows.

On macOS, iA Writer users can publish directly to Ghost, WordPress, Medium and other platforms (as a draft, not live on the blog). But on Windows? No such luck. If you write a blog post offline, you have to manually copy and paste it into a blank new post on your blogging platform, losing the kind of seamless workflow that once defined offline blog editors.

So, what happened?

The Decline of Offline Blog Editors

There are a number of reasons why third-party blog editors have all but vanished, such as these:

The Shift to Cloud-Based Writing – Platforms like WordPress and Ghost have made online writing so easy and accessible that fewer people feel the need to use a separate app. Autosaving drafts, cloud syncing, and browser-based rich-text editing have replaced the offline-first approach.
Platform Lock-In – Many blogging platforms have focused on building their own in-house editors rather than supporting external applications. Ghost, for example, has a clean, Markdown-friendly editor built right in. WordPress has its Gutenberg block-based editor, which has become increasingly powerful. The need for third-party tools has arguably diminished as these platforms have improved.
Lack of Developer Incentive – Maintaining a dedicated offline blog editor requires ongoing updates, API integrations, and bug fixes. With fewer people using such tools, developers may not see enough return on investment to keep them alive. Microsoft abandoned Windows Live Writer years ago, and while Open Live Writer emerged as a community-driven alternative, it never quite regained the traction of its predecessor.
Security Concerns about XML-RPC – Most offline editors make use of XML-RPC, a protocol that provides a standardised way for software applications to communicate over the Internet. However, it was prone to brute force attacks, DDoS attacks, and cross-site port attacks, leading to some hosting providers blocking XML-RPC connections entirely.
The Fragmentation of Blogging Platforms – During the heyday of offline editors, platforms like Blogger, TypePad, and WordPress dominated the publishing landscape. Now, the landscape is more fragmented, with static site generators like Hugo or Jekyll, and proprietary platforms such as Substack and Medium, increasing in awareness. This makes it harder to develop a one-size-fits-all solution.

Why We Still Need Offline Blog Editors

Despite these challenges, there’s still a strong case for a modern offline blogging tool. For instance:

Writing without Distractions – Web-based editors often come with notifications, browser tabs, and other distractions. A dedicated offline editor allows for focused writing.
Internet-Free Productivity – Not everyone is always connected. Writers who travel, work in remote areas, or prefer an offline workflow should have tools that support them.
Better Content Ownership – When your drafts live in a local app, rather than being locked inside a specific CMS, you maintain greater control over your writing.
Faster Performance – Local offline editors often operate more quickly than web-based alternatives, especially for users with slower Internet connections.

I wrote this post using Typora, an excellent Markdown-based cross-platform editor, on a Windows computer. I then copied and pasted the text into a blank new post on WordPress (and on my new Ghost test site), added some images, and manually set it up for publishing. It’s not a hugely laborious task, but it’s hardly a seamless process.

A Call for Innovation

Here’s something interesting – out of curiosity, I downloaded the Open Live Writer installer and installed the app on my Windows 11 PC. It worked, and I could configure it to publish content to my WordPress blog. What’s more, it did – I was able to publish a draft post to the blog. I could have even published the post live from OLW.

Open Live Writer works on Windows 11 – but has not been updated since 2017

What made me hesitate beyond a draft is that this program has not been updated since 2017. It might have bugs or program elements that don’t work well with recent versions of WordPress when you come to publish. And I’m not keen to do that kind of testing on my live site.

But, could this be an opportunity to build upon the work from 2017 and create something in tune with today’s UI capabilities, user expectations and the contemporary blogging landscape? Maybe an idea for a Kickstarter campaign to get some financial backing.

In the bigger picture, with the rise of Markdown-based writing apps and headless CMS platforms, there’s an opportunity for developers to reimagine what an offline blog editor could be. We need a modern equivalent of Ecto or Open Live Writer that connects seamlessly with today’s platforms like WordPress, Ghost, and even Substack.

Perhaps it’s time for iA Writer – or another Markdown-first writing tool – to step up and deliver a seamless offline-to-online publishing workflow across multiple operating systems and platforms.

Some Markdown-based editors like Obsidian, Zettlr, or MarkText support structured writing workflows. Could they evolve to integrate with blogging platforms?
Critics argue that offline editors are obsolete due to modern browser-based tools. However, the need for distraction-free and offline productivity remains strong.

The requirement for seamless offline-to-online blog publishing hasn’t disappeared, only the tools have. Isn’t it time for that to change?

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