When it comes to offline blog editing, Windows Live Writer is one of the most popular desktop application around. The fact that it is published by Microsoft adds a lot to its credibility and being free is also another boon. Don’t you wonder how the words “Microsoft” and “free” go  together in this case? I do but this is just good.

I have been using WLW for my WordPress and Drupal sites for quite a while and stuck with it ever since. However I realize setting up WLW to work with Drupal is a lot harder than WordPress.

Here are some steps you need to follow in order for WLW to like your Drupal site:

• Enable “Blog API” module.
• Enable permission in user management.

• Install Windows Live Writer if not done yet.
• Add a blog account. Follow these steps:

• If your site has more than one content types, you may see something like this:

• Blog type selection doesn’t seem too important, so picking Moveable will do.
• Enter remote posting URL as shown below. Be sure to enter your own site URL and ends it with “/xmlrpc.php”.

You’re done with all key setup steps so just continue to finish from here.

Note: Up until now I have been able to setup WLW to recognize Drupal “main account” or “account 1” only. Using other “users” will return an error. I am still looking for a workaround for this bug – anyone? Also the guide above has been tested to work for Drupal 5.x, other Drupal versions may pose a different setup requirements.

Note: Editing Drupal contents outside of your Drupal system may affect the way how it works and can be something you did not expect. So please check things like categories, Technorati tagging, etc  as it may get dropped as you push and pull a node between Drupal and the editor.

Do You Want A Simpler Editor?

If you can live with just a basic blog editor and don’t need all the bells and whistles that WLW offer, BlogDesk is a very good alternative. Even setting up for a Drupal based site is just a breeze. Try it out.