No matter how good WP's online editor gets, it's still online. For some of us (research numbers, anyone?) that's always going to be a problem.

Editing in a browser is getting better, as PCs speed up - or worse, if your smart device has a tiny screen. But it's inherently clumsy. Our workplace has brisk client apps on the PC being replaced by monster apps working via a browser keyhole to some lumbering great server farm. Painfully slow with each keystroke.

However, my point here is about offline archiving that must be part of an offline editor. While the blog online is the archive, when it's not online - because you are in trouble - an offline replica is so comforting. Additionally, when hosting is moved, or migration to a new domain name is forced/decided, the old content is -- where? A zip file that's a black box until its uploaded?

Not mentioned above - and moot anyhow as it seems no longer updated - is a marvelous Live Writer work-alike called WebStory, which is well-featured and sophisticated. And with very few shortcomings, and almost free.

The great thing about WebStory is its ability to not just publish of synchronize, but download an entire blog to a local database. Which can be imported to that pgm on another PC.

In that scenario - where I had to go offline with an 8 y/o blog - I managed to readily download 2550 posts and 30 pages, where I can easily reference/search all those years of material offline. This is not the same as having a WordPress database backup, and far easier than a XAMP local copy, etc. It's like Outlook for WordPress posts!

Images (several thousand) I chose to download via FTP directly from the WordPress /img/library/ folder - outside of the WP core folders!! - in the server root, and also the /wpcontent/uploads/ folder.

That alone, with that one feature (and a decent editor), justifies an offline editor.

I still use Windows Live Writer to publish and tweak layout (love the way it downloads a theme for local rendering). However, with a new photo blog I find it crashing when trying to display 20 large images in the offline post. Another bug, I suspect. Sad, so need to say goodbye to WLW.

Which is why I'm here. Now, off to keep looking :0)