(Note: This article was written using Windows Live Writer, Windows XP Pro, Parallels, Skitch, Flickr, MacBook Pro 2.4 GHz)

Ecto is a client-side, offline blogging tool for the Mac platform.

It’s not as full-featured as Windows Live Writer, but there aren’t any other options for the Mac, except for MarsEdit, which is a regrettable situation for bloggers using the Mac platform (unless they happen to own a licensed copy of Windows XP or Vista, and Parallels or VMWare).

Anyway, you can follow the steps below to download, install and start using Ecto.

Step 1: Download the software from infinite-sushi.com.

Step 2: Wait for the 9.8 MB zip file download to complete.

Step 3: Unzip the file.

A single application file is extracted.

Drag this file to the Applications folder.

If you wish, drag the application icon from the Applications folder to the Dosk.

Step 4: Set up and configure Ecto.

First, select your bog system (WordPress in my case) and enter the blog’s URL.

Then, enter the Username and Password for this blog.

For some reason, Ecto wants to group every blog under a parent name, so enter either the full name of your blog, or its abbreviation, in the Title field.

As soon as you TAB or click out of the field, the parent group name of your blog in the list gets updated.

Close the Accounts window, and you’ll see the main blog listing window. Here’s how it would look like after you’ve added more blogs.

Note that the details of all your posts in the blog(s) are retrieved.

Step 5: Select a blog from the left sidebar, and click the New icon to create a new post.

Step 6: Configure the Flickr Helper plugin. You only need to do this once.

I like that Ecto integrates with Flickr without having you to download additional stuff.

Click the Flickr Helper icon.

Click the “Mine” tab.

Authorize Ecto to be able to link to Flickr.

Conclusion: You’re now ready to write and publish your blog post, and explore the other features ecto has.