WordPress Desktop Client Search – Zoundry Review

My recent post WordPress Desktop Client Search got a few comments back in which it was suggested that I try Zoundry a new Desktop Client that is in it’s beta stage. The link that was provide was to a forum entry on the Zoundry Website which listed the features in their most recent beta release.

These were the features that were listed –

1. Spell checking.
2. XHTML source code editing.
3. Support for language localization.
4. More clean up code for Microsoft Office MS Word content (cut and paste should now work).
5. Bug fixes.
6. Validation tools.
7. Find/Replace (in WYSIWYG and XHTML editor)
8. Extended entry markers MovableType and WordPress API.

After seeing the above list I decided to download Zoundry and give it a shot.

From the get-go I was excited with everything that was included while this product was still in beta. To me it seemed far more complete in beta then a lot of the other products that I test that were in their first or second release.

To test out this product I am writing this post with Zoundry so I can test the feature that are important to me.

So first is the list test –

• Here is item 1
• • Tab did not work to indent this but the Increase Indent button did
• The Decrease Indent button got my back out here

The backspace button got my out of the list and to this paragraph. I guess maybe that is a standard thing to have the indent keys control bullets but I still would rather have the tab key work like Microsoft Word.

Next will be the image test. I posted the image to the right with the settings for images set to use WordPress style of image management. I like the fact that you can use either WordPress’ way of handling things or ftp. None of the other clients that I tested were able to do both.

This image I used their drag and drop ability to add a photo. The only thing with adding images either way is that I was used to the way that most of the other editors dealt with images. The other editors would pop-up a window so you could edit the properties of the image. With Zoundry it was a simple right click and then selecting the picture properties on the menu.

I have to say that I like the options that are available under the picture’s properties. This offers the ability to add a class to the picture and the options for margins for the top, right, bottom, and left of the picture. It is obvious that these attributes are being added via CSS which I think is very cool.

Spell check worked as it should and there is a setting to automatically check your post before you publish it.

At first I thought that the ability to post as a draft was missing but it is actually an option when you hit the post button. Also, the posting section has a lot of options available to it like adding Technorati, Del.ici.ous, and Flickr tags (which are automatically added to the bottom of the post, my WordPress plug-in would put them at the bottom of the page). It also has a full list of services to ping along with the ability to add track backs.

It has been mentioned that Flickr support will be added before the official release.

Another note is the template ability for the preview section. This is amazing! At first I tried to follow their directions in the help section but was not getting very far with getting the styles from my blog to display. Then, I did a search on their forum and found this post which got me previewing like it was a page on my site in less then 5 minutes. Awesome job Zoundry!

With that I have to say that I have found a new desktop client – Zoundry – and it’s free! Great job Zoundry. To me, it seems that you have taken all the good of all the other editors, removed the bad from them, and then put them together in this excellent BETA build.

This desktop client does all the things that I wanted and needed and adds a several features that are icing on the cake. This truly takes the work out of getting a post on your blog and lets you focus on the content. With this product I actually feel comfortable posting directly to my blogs without having to preview the post in WordPress first.

I will post more updates about my experience with Zoundry especially after their release.

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