There are many open source tools available on the web ranging from word processors, to content management systems, references, publishing, sharing, organization, and more which can help in writing, editing, and organizing your write ups more proficiently. Here we are listing 50 open source tools for writers and bloggers to make your writer job much easier than before.
Word Processor
1. wikidPad- It is a wiki style notebook to note down your thoughts, ideas, to-do lists, contacts, or anything else you can think of. This tool utilizes a database to tie together individual text documents that the user creates into a wiki-like notepad.
2. Scribus- This is a perfect tool that allows you to create great looking documents of all kinds. It is also a great open source desktop publishing solution. It also comes with a lot of support features and services like mailing list, IRC channel, wiki, contracted support, and the bugtracker.
3.OpenOffice Writer- This tool is the leading open-source office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers.
4. AbiWord- It is popular open source word processor that works as just like Microsoft Word. It enables you to collaborate with multiple people on one document at the same time.
5.Adobe Buzzword – similar to Google Docs and Zoho Writer, Buzzword is a robust online word processor — perfect for writing reports, proposals, and anything else you need to access online or work on with others.
References & Dictionaries
6. WordWeb- It is a one-click English thesaurus and dictionary for Windows that can look up words in almost any program. It provides definitions and synonyms, related words 5000 audio pronunciations, 65 000 text pronunciations, 150 000 root words, 120 000 synonym sets etc.
7. Merriam-Webster Online – Another useful and free dictionary for writers which provides more than 160,000 entries. Each word is accompanied by definition, pronunciation, usage, grammatical function, and a brief etymology.
8. Research Assistant- This open source research tool helps you find information on almost all the topics. It allows you to keep all your information in one place so you can easily access it later.
9.GNU Style and Diction- It helps you avoid poor wording and compare the readability (not the understandability!) of your documents with others.
10. Wikipedia- It is a free encyclopedia that provides information on almost every topic you are working on. You can get detailed information about unlimited number of subjects and topics.
Stay organized
11. ubernote- This is an important tool to remember all important to –do items. You can keep list your workshops, meetings, social events and deadlines while managing task lists, contact information, bookmarks etc.
12. TreePad Lite- This tool helps writers in organizing their notes, emails, texts, reference materials, hyperlinks, etc. into one or multiple databases. It’s easy to use interface allows you to keep everything you need for writing in one place.
13. SpringNote – This tool allows you to jot down notes, creating to-do lists, personal scheduling, among many other tasks
14. Google Calendar- Using this free online calendar you can keep track of your important events all in one place. You can also get event reminders via email or have text messages sent right to your mobile phone.
15. Tellico – It is an easy tool to organize books, videos, music, poems, bibliographies, chapters, blog posts and more. It’s simple and intuitive interface shows cover images, groupings, and any detail you want.
Collaborate
16. Campfire- It is a web-based chat tool that’s ideal for online meetings with clients or co-workers. It allows you to share text, files, and codes in real time.
17. Central desktop- This tool enables you to collaborate, communicate and share files with clients and co-workers instantly. It helps you connect and collaborate faster with your network.
18. Loose Stitch- Another collaboration tool that allows you to share outlines for your write ups with fellow writers and editors. You can also send your work as an attachment to your clients.
19. PDF Online- It is easy to convert your work files in to PDF doc files instantly using this Free PDF online converter.
20. eFax – It allows you to fax your work easily across the globe. It is cost effective, reliable and instant way to send and receive faxes by email.
Networking
21. MenWithPens –One of the popular blogs for writers includes interesting write ups from prominent writers that can help you in getting really useful tips for effective blogging and becoming a successful writer.
22. 43Folders —This tool helps you in connecting with fellow writers and bringing out ideas and tricks to come up with excellent work results.
23. LibraryThing- A community of 900,000 book lovers, which includes all types of books and collections. It provides a platform to connect with different writers of similar interests.
24. Red Room – It is a social networking website for authors to connect with readers and network. It includes blogs, essays, videos, podcasts, events and more.
25. Shelfari – Another social network that allows you to share recommendations and reviews. It also helps you in knowing what you and others are reading.
Content Management
26. XOOPS- This web application platform written in PHP for the MySQL database. It is an ideal for developing small or large community websites, intra company and corporate portals, weblogs and much more.
27. Plone- It a powerful content management system that lets non-technical people create and maintain information using only a web browser. It is best suited for web sites or intranets.
28. Opencms- Another professional and easy to use website content management system usable in open source environments and commercial components. Using this system content can be created with an integrated WYSIWYG editor similar to well known office applications.
29. Drupal- It allows you to easily publish, manage and organize a wide variety of content on a website. It offers a variety of optional modules that can add lots of interesting features like forums, picture galleries, file uploads and downloads, user blogs, OpenID, profiles and more.
30. Joomla- It helps in creating content is simple with the WYSIWYG editor as it allows you to combine text, images in an attractive way. There are a number of pre-installed modules to show the most popular articles, latest new items, newsflashes, related articles, and more.
Ideas & Inspiration
31. Wridea- It is an online idea management and collaboration service which lets you manage, improve, and share your ideas with people and friends.
32. Inspiration for Writers – You can browse through this website to for encouraging writing tips from experts in the field.
33. The Story Starter- This tool provides 763,591,140 creative ideas and writer prompts for writers of all ages. The ideas are good for short stories, novels, plays, scripts, or just for fun.
34. Geoffrey’s Automatic Story and Idea Generator- You need more ideas for your story then you just need to fill some details and generate a new fresh idea for your story.
35. The Imagination Prompt Generator- This tool enhance your imagination power by giving different prompts. They can be used for writing, blogging, art projects, music, discussion, or anything else you need some inspiration for.
Productivity tools
36. Amaya- This is an a free, open source HTML/XHTML editor that allows you to update or edit content directly on the Web.
37. Word Count Plus- This Firefox add-on helps in counting number of selected words written. It can also add the count to a running total.
38.PDF Creator- It is an application for converting documents into format on Microsoft Windows operating systems. It allows you to select it as your printer, permitting almost any application to print to PDF.
39. Toodledo – This online tool enables you to track your tasks including folders, subtasks, due-dates, priorities, tags, contexts, goals, notes, time estimates and other information.
40. PingMe- It is a useful tool to set reminders for all important events and happenings that can be sent via e-mail or text message to your phone.
Utility tools
41. Time59- This is a billing and invoicing tool for keeping a track of work done and sending invoices to your customers for work done.
42. StoryMash- It is a creative writing community for authors, amateur writers, readers and anyone interested in collaborative fiction and creative writing.
43. Docvert This tool is useful in converting word processor files (typically .doc) and converts them to Open Document and clean HTML instantly.
44. FireFTP- It provides easy and intuitive access to FTP servers. Along with uploading your files quickly, you can also try its advanced features such as: directory comparison, syncing directories while navigating, SFTP, SSL encryption, search/filtering etc.
45. txt2tags- This open source tool which works as a document generator. It reads a text file and converts it to the formats such as HTML, XHTML, SGML, LaTeX etc.
46. Writer’s Network – It’s free, fun, and a great way to polish your writing skills or get quick feedback on your ideas. You can share your writings with your friends, everyone, clients etc.
47. ASuite - You can use this application with removable storage (uses relative paths) media like USB sticks, hard drives, iPods, etc. It launches files, folders and webpages from anywhere .
48. ZManda- This open source backup tool and recovery tool keeps your files secure and protested.
49. TrueCrypt- It is a Free open-source disk encryption software for Windows 7/Vista/XP, Mac OS X, and Linux It encrypts all kinds of files and keep them secure and confidential.
50. Sonar It is a submission tracker that offers “free manuscript tracking” capabilities so that you can keep a track of publications, contests,trends, markets and much more.
We hope these tools will help you in becoming an efficient and successful writer/blogger. We welcome your feedback and suggestions on the same.
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These are really useful tool, quite a few gems I hadn’t even heard of yet. Thanks for the post!
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This is a great list, more comprehensive than most. Thanks.
Thanks a lot for the feedback! Stay tuned for more such informative posts coming in the future.
Nice level of information here. There is so much data around about this subject that sometimes you cannot see the wood for the trees but you have pitched this at just the right level so that the lay person can understand – thank you!
Thanks for sharing this with us all.
Very useful resources.