Article Writers – What text editor do you use?

[Manda]

I’m very new blogging and article writing and am trying to find an easy way to organise my notes, links and half written articles etc etc. Currently they are spread across post-its, notebooks and various computer files – probably never to be remembered or seen again
What I am looking for is a plain text editor that has a tree hierarchy that allows separate headings. i.e. the headings would be blog categories with separate notes underneath. I’ve seen some text editors which put the heading of the notes in a tree hierarchy on the left but they don’t allow category headings. I don’t need advanced functionality but looking for something simple that won’t create future formatting issues.
Has anyone seen software like this or can you recommend a better way of organising this information?
Thanks
Manda

[onera]

I use Wordpress. Half-baked ideas are in draft. Complete articles are published and submitted to Article directories.

[Bev Clement]

for writing the best around is rough draft. Richard Salsbury's Home Page (no affiliate link)

[TheNightOwl]

@Jay... no disclaimer? Nice-looking software. Might even buy it myself some time. Really. But at 97 bucks... a bit pricey.

And especially at that kind of price-point, I'm not sure about the impartial-looking recommendation. Here, let me help...

Originally Posted by Jay Jennings

Check out http://articlearchitect.com -- I think it's the absolute best software for writing and organizing articles and all other content because I built it and sell it.

Jay Jennings

@Bev... thanks. Looks great.

Also, there's this... not exactly a text editor, but nice scheduling and task management built in:

eWriterPro (Not an affiliate link and only 10 bucks)

All the best,
TheNightOwl

[pearsonbrown]

TheNightOwl,

This was clearly a joke from Jay. We all know a) he wrote the program b) Jay is a very funny writer.

Apart from you, it appears.

Pearson

[Jay Jennings]

Sheesh, Pearson, make him/her feel bad and then I won't make a sale for sure. Of course, at a $97 price point...

No, really...

NightOwl, I don't think it's the best because I built it and sell it -- while it's true I'm the developer, I think it's best *despite* that.

While I will admit there are other software tools that may do A better, and there are other software tools that may do B better (go all the way to Z), if you're talking over-all usefulness, Article Architect is the bee's knees.

Plus, it's The Official Article Software of Internet Marketing, so it's got that going for it.

Jay Jennings

PS - Since I'm clearly not as famous as Kern, Reese, or Filsaime, I'll try to be more transparent when suggesting one of my many wonderful products in the future.

[cheesy]

I use microsoft word because it's free and does the job just fine in my opinion, but if you've got the money to spend, i suggest you consider some of those mentioned above.

[gskesavan]

Textpad, it's great and works good for me.

[GeekGranny]

I write in Microsoft Word and either save it as a text file or select all and copy it into notepad to get rid of Word formatting.

[john_kennedy]

Since when is MS Word free? Did something happen overnight?

On the Mac, I like to use TextWrangler (it really is free) as it does a lot more than just text.

On the PC side, I use Dragon Naturally Speaking (it understands me better than the missus!) and NoteTab Standard.

YMMV

John

[Manda]

Thanks everyone for your recommendations. I'll have a look at the different software and see what works for me.

I wondered why Jay hadn't mentioned Article Architect is his product as it is not a secret when you look at the site. Unfortunately that investment will have to wait until I get more into article marketing.

I'm currently trying to get out of the newbie traps by not buying anything until I'm sure I will use it and oh, actually writing articles as opposed to reading about people writing articles.

Thanks again
Manda

[tj]

Originally Posted by cheesy

I use microsoft word because it's free ....

Well - you still have to buy it, don't you? Or was that a confession ...

Timo

[TheNightOwl]

@Pearson... I didn't read it as a joke and given Jay's follow up, I'm guessing he didn't mean it as a joke either. If I've had a hilaridectomy, that's unfortunate. And I'm not sure that everyone does know he wrote the program.

Look, I know he wrote the program -- I'd seen it before and immediately thought "Hey, this is Jay's, innit?" but there are plenty of people on here who don't know that he wrote it.

@Jay... as for the transparency thing, yes, that's exactly what i'm suggesting. It doesn't hurt, does it? I've seen people on this board get slapped for simply referring to their sig! Not even putting a link to their product in their post. Just referencing it in their sig.

If you (or anyone else) owns a product and really believes in it, that's awesome. I want to buy from folks who truly believe in their product... and as a consequence offer good support and updates and so on.

My point is that it doesn't detract any by saying -- in your first post -- what you ended up saying in your second. In fact, if anything, it probably lends more credibility to be transparent about it, no?

"Hey, look, I wrote/developed/sell/etc. this product that I think does what you're after. I think it's awesome. Of course I'd say that, but, no, really, I designed it specifically with [insert target audience] in mind and I think it'll do just what you're looking for. You can check it out here ---> xxx"

Know what I mean?

TheNightOwl

[Bev Clement]

Jay, thanks for the link, I had missed your product before, and I know a few people who would be interested in it. Saved me a heap of work looking for something for them.

[Sylviane]

I don't know if it's exactly what you are looking for, but I use Open Office. It's FREE and it works great for me.

[patman3d]

Originally Posted by ronaldco

If you are looking for free,than microsoft word is best to use.It is very handy.

Where can I get a copy of M$ Word for free? I've been looking and the only way to get it free (that I've seen) is by getting it illegally.

I use OpenOffice since I can get it for free, but would be considering Word if it's free now

The worst thing to use is word... I know many do but the problem with word it things like "smart quotes" and "double line breaks"..

This is what I tell my members

I suggest you do not copy and paste your article from word, you should be using a simple text editor. Word tends to add hidden characters not seen by most until the article is published. A great text editor for Windows can be downloaded from NotePad++. Macintosh users can use SimpleText which is already built into your system.

James

[Lloyd Buchinski]

Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet

The worst thing to use is word... I know many do but the problem with word it things like "smart quotes" and "double line breaks".

The smart quotes really got to me, but it turns out you can turn them off easily in both Word 03 and 07. You can also set the double line breaks to single, etc. and it isn't hard. Since making those 2 changes I have often pasted straight into an html sheet with just one problem. That was the little three periods thing .... that is a special character in Word. I rarely use that anyway so I just watch for that one, and rub it out.

Originally Posted by Lloyd Buchinski

The smart quotes really got to me, but it turns out you can turn them off easily in both Word 03 and 07. You can also set the double line breaks to single, etc. and it isn't hard. Since making those 2 changes I have often pasted straight into an html sheet with just one problem. That was the little three periods thing .... that is a special character in Word. I rarely use that anyway so I just watch for that one, and rub it out.

Lloyd,
The bad thing is most authors do not do this and they just copy and paste into the article area on the site. This is why I try to get my authors not to use word but use a simple text program.

Of course I do not reject articles like most directories would.. I take the 2 minutes to correct any smart quotes and etc I see...

James

[Lloyd Buchinski]

Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet

The bad thing is most authors do not do this and they just copy and paste into the article area on the site. This is why I try to get my authors not to use word but use a simple text program.

You are right. Trying to get a whole bunch of people to do that kind of thing wouldn't work out very well.

Originally Posted by TheRichJerksNet

A great text editor for Windows can be downloaded from NotePad++.

I hadn't even thought of using notepad++ for regular text, although I have typed straight into it when putting up a page. I will keep that idea in mind and it might come in handy sometime.

For html, css, and xml I can't imagine it being beat. Really like it. It's a shame that it has to use a 4 syllable name so my idea is to just call it notepad and refer to the ms product as notepad minus minus.

Just thought that was funny. They do both have their uses and I'm not actually trying to take a shot at ms.

[Jay Rhome]

I use MS Word but I often will copy my final text in Notepad and copy it from there. Otherwise, yeah we do get funky results.

I guess I use it out of old habits and for the spell checker.

[Wakunahum]

I basically use an equivalent of notepad.

It's actually called gedit but it's a linux program.

It has a spell check feature and a word count which is what I really need for writing articles.

If I have to include H1 tags or Bold, I just add in the html code OR add them when I post the article to wordpress.

[Audrey Harvey]

I've been trialling the freebie version of PageFour - Software for Creative Writers and Novelists - Tabbed Word Processor, Outliner, and Organizer

I have a folder for each client, and a page for each topic/article. Often I have two pages for each article - one is for research notes/rough drafts and the other is for the finished product. Your work is saved in rtf.

Originally Posted by Lloyd Buchinski

They do both have their uses and I'm not actually trying to take a shot at ms.

Sure you not ..... ....

James

[Andrew_Wardle]

Originally Posted by Audrey Harvey

I've been trialling the freebie version of PageFour - Software for Creative Writers and Novelists - Tabbed Word Processor, Outliner, and Organizer

I have a folder for each client, and a page for each topic/article. Often I have two pages for each article - one is for research notes/rough drafts and the other is for the finished product. Your work is saved in rtf.

I've just downloaded this, and it looks like it might save me a lot of time. Thanks for the tip!

Andrew