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Mac blog publishing app MarsEdit 4 now available in public beta 

There’s a new version of the MarsEdit blog publishing software out, and Mac users running the current version can try out the public beta for free ahead of its release. MarsEdit 4 is the first major release in more than seven years and brings editor and WordPress-specific enhancements, auto-save and version history, a Safari app extension, and much more.

From the MarsEdit 4 public beta announcement:

It’s been over 7 years since MarsEdit 3 was released. Typically I would like to maintain a schedule of releasing major upgrades every two to three years. This time, a variety of unexpected challenges led to a longer and longer delay.

The good news? MarsEdit 4 is finally shaping up. I plan to release the update later this year.

[…]

If you decide to install the beta, please join us in the Red Sweater Slack team to discuss the upcoming release. As always, I welcome bug reports and other feedback via email as well.

The MarsEdit 4 public beta isn’t totally free, but you can use the public beta version for free for now if you already own a license for MarsEdit 3. This only applies to licenses purchased over the web, however, as the Mac App Store version cannot offer upgrades.

If you don’t already own a MarsEdit 3 license, you can purchase a license between now and launch for $39.95 to run the public beta then upgrade to MarsEdit 4 without an additional charge.

Here’s MarsEdit 4’s description of top new features and changes:

 

  • Editor Enhancements
    • Visual formatting bar – Select common formatting options with the mouse.
    • Typewriter Scrolling – View menu option to keep typing vertically centered.
    • Multimarkdown support – Enhanced functionality when previewing Markdown content.
    • Faster Preview filtering – Code-based Markdown and Convert Line Breaks filters.
    • Interactive image sizing – Rich text mode supports direct manipulation of image display size.
    • Improved “Split Post” UI – Splitter now presented inline in post content.
  • WordPress-specific enhancements
    • Faster refresh times.
    • Featured Image support.
    • Post Format support.
    • Per-post Author editing support.
  • Improved system integration. Now supports standard autosave and version history for locally saved drafts.
  • Expanded post downloads. WordPress and Blogspot blogs can now be configured to download the entire history of posts instead of a recent subset.
  • Automated preview templates. Click the “Download Template…” button from the template editor to automatically detect your blog’s theme.
  • Safari App Extension. Active the “Send to MarsEdit” extension in Safari to easily create new drafts citing the page you are viewing.
  • Application Sandbox. The app is now sandboxed for increased security.

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Avatar for Zac Hall Zac Hall

Zac covers Apple news, hosts the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, and created SpaceExplored.com.