Free blogging tools

I have been blogging for just over 1 year now. I have tried a number of tools to make blogging easier and even more fun, and these are some of the free tools that I just cannot live without, and I’m sure many of you cannot either. So here is my list of 5 free tools to make blogging easier.

1. Wordpress

You need to start somewhere, and where better than with free blogging software. Wordpress is by far the most popular blogging platform on the web, and with their legendary 5 minute install, you can’t ask for more. Along with Wordpress, also comes free Wordpress templates to make your blog stand out amongst the crowd. Visit the Wordpress theme viewer to search and test tons of free templates for your blog.

2. Filezilla FTP Client

There doesn’t seem to be a stand-out amongst the crowd when it comes to FTP clients, so finding a client that works for you sometimes is a little tricky. Filezilla is completely free, and not only has an outstanding client, but there is also a free FTP server, should you need one.

It can handle multiple uploads, queuing files, a fully customisable interface, resuming of uploads and downloads, drag & drop – just to name a few. You can’t really go wrong with Filezilla, and with version 3.0 just around the corner, Filezilla seem to be doing something right.

3. Zoundry blog editor

Zoundry is a desktop blog editor, that works especially well for offline blogging. It can automatically detect your blog with all its categories and settings. It handles image uploads like a breeze. Once you are finished writing your post, it has a built in spell-checker as well as it will ping any number of services you have setup. You can use its built in WYSIWYG editor, or write directly into the HTML view. Not only does it publish your posts, it can save drafts if you choose rather to go that route. It really is one fully functional free blog editor.

4. Firefox

You going to need a decent web browser to view your blog, and nothing gets better than Firefox 2.0. With improved security, tons of plugins and tab browsing, nothing gets better.

5. Flashgot and Free download manager

You are going to need a decent download manager to download all these applications I have just talked about, and if you have choosen to use Firefox as your web browser, then hooking up a very useful plugin called Flashgot, with Free Download Manager, downloading couldn’t get easier.

Flashgot can download multiple links on a page, and hooks up to most external download managers. So setup Flashgot to always use Free Download Manager, and you have a very powerful combination.

Free Download Manager is a light-weight download manager that supports download acceleration and resuming. It can split your file up into multiple parts and will download them simultaneously, increasing your speed by up to 600%. You can also set speed restrictions, so you can carry on browsing while your downloads trickle in.

Where do I get all these free applications?

1. Wordpress blogging platform: http://www.wordpress.org
2. Filezilla FTP Client: http://sourceforge.net/projects/filezilla
3. Zoundry Blog Editor: http://www.zoundry.com
4. Firefox: http://www.getfirefox.com
5. Flashgot: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/220/
6. Free Download Manager: http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/

These are the most powerful free utilities that I currently use to make my blogging easier. What tools do you use that are free, that make your blogging easier?