Compatible clients
WARNING: This page is unmaintained, and the clients listed here were last known working sometime before 2014. If you are having trouble with a client, the best thing you can do is get in touch with its developers to report the issue. Dreamwidth Support are unlikely to be able to help.
Useful information
There are three kinds of URLs you can select from when using/testing the clients below:
- XML-RPC --
http://www.dreamwidth.org/interface/xmlrpc
- Blogger API --
http://www.dreamwidth.org/interface/blogger
- LJ --
http://www.dreamwidth.org/interface/flat
Clients specifically designed to work with LJ may request the LJ posting URL.
The lists below contain posting, account maintenance (editing friends, &c), and backup tools. These must be tested as well.
Cross-platform
Clients in this category are not restricted to any one particular operating system.
Client | Platform | Current DW status | Open source? | Config notes | Other notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Post-by-email | works | yes | Set up at http://www.dreamwidth.org/manage/emailpost.bml | http://www.dreamwidth.org/manage/emailpost?mode=help | |
Charm 1.9.1 | Python command-line | works | yes (GPL) | Custom access groups don't work. | |
Google Docs | web service | works | no | Use the Blogger API. | Does not support anything but entry text, not even titles. |
JLJ 2.12 | Perl | works | yes | Development halted in 2006. | |
JLJ 2.14 | Perl | works | yes | uses checkupdates(!!!) | actively developed |
ljdump 1.5 | Python | works | yes | The config file and at-run input explicitly ask for the server. | Backup tool only. |
ljmigrate | Python | works | yes (BSD) | Backup tool only. Known bug: HTML index file isn't updated on subsequent runs of the migrator. | |
LJXP 2.0.5 | WordPress / PHP | works | yes (MIT) | Supports crossposting categories and/or tags as tags, basic privacy levels, comment on or off, header/footer. | |
news readers | multiple sources | see notes | multi | Project abandoned as of April 19, 2014. | More information and specifics can be found at NNTP. |
Windows
Client | Platform | Current DW status | Open source? | Config notes | Other notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ljArchive | Windows (Mono version available) | works | yes (zlib/libpng License) | Backup only. | |
LJ Sec | Windows client (Mono version available) | works | no | It's possible to get it to work, with a tiny bit of tweaking. See here. | |
LochJournal 2.2 | Windows client | works | no | ||
Semagic | Windows client | works, mostly | yes (GPL) | How to set up Semagic for Crossposting. | Posting works, including friends only, but doesn't retrieve custom access groups. If tags do not cross-post to DW at first, "...tags [can be] enabled for Insanejournal.com and any other site after opening an entry with tags in the history window." More info here. |
Windows Live Writer | Windows client | works | no | Select LJ options, then, the Remote Posting URL to use is http://www.dreamwidth.org/interface/blogger. | Posting works, no friends-list options. Has no DW custom options, is fairly generic bloggy software. Tagging appears buggy to non-worky. |
Macintosh
Client | Platforms | Current DW status | Open Source | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
asLJ | Mac OS X 10.5 or later, Universal Binary | Works | No | Has Dreamwidth on their list of supported servers, but has not added Public/Access/Private in place of Public/Friends/Custom. Friends works as if it were Access anyway, so far. Allows for cross-posting, but only if you've set up additional journal accounts in the program. Integrates with iTunes, and downloads the list of icons on the server. All in all, not a bad client. |
iDream | Mac | Currently in development; see wiki page | Yes | This has been static for a long time; unknown if/when it might be released. |
iJournal | Crash reports for 10.6.x | Posting works, including friends only and custom access groups. Installs quickly and recognizes DW account on first login. Current Music is automatically retrieved from iTunes. Client allows you to edit most recent entry and switches easily between different user accounts. Customizable toolbar and limited HTML preview. | Yes | Much better option for Mac users than MarsEdit. Cannot open separate windows for different posts and crossposting requires an additional step, but these problems may be solved in the next update. |
MacJournal | Mac OS X 10.4.9 or higher, Audio feature: Mac OS X 10.4 or higher | works | No | I used the manual setup, chose Live Journal as the type, and used http://www.dreamwidth.org/interface/xmlrpc for the Post URL. The software allowed up to 200 entries to be downloaded locally. The Access/Subscription split doesn't work as usual, but may allow preview of icons. I can't tell, from my connection. |
MarsEdit | Mac | Works | No | "It asked for the URL for my DW account, then couldn’t download the settings, asking if I wanted the interface to edit them myself. Ultimately, I told it that the API endpoint was dreamwidth.org/interface/blogger, and that sorted everything out.
Clicking through to view the webpage worked beautifully. Authorizing the Flickr image importer worked fine. Adding an image to the draft is previewing properly. I still have a message in my options window that says there are no options for this weblog, but I don’t know what to expect there." |
Phoenix | Mac OS X , Mac Classic version available | Posting works; allows public, private and access-only but not custom groups. Tags, title, location, music, mood, and userpics work. Editing entries yields an error. No spellcheck. | Yes | Client is similar in form and function to Semagic. Does not allow for fast user switching. To configure for use at Dreamwidth, enter your username and password at the login screen, then tick the more options box and enter www.dreamwidth.org under livejournal server. |
Xjournal | Mac OS X | Does not work (on anything but LJ itself) | Yes | Primary developer has moved on. Some recent updates have been made by a couple of developers at the Xjournal LJ community but it's unclear whether anyone plans to port this over for DW. |
Linux
Client | Platform | Current DW status | Open source? | Config notes | Other notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Benzaiten | Linux (Gnome) | works, mostly | yes (GPLv2) | Entry posting works great (YAY, TAGS SUPPORT), Friends features don't work. | |
Blogilio | Linux (KDE) | Works | yes (GPL v2) | Use Blogger API and enter http://www.dreamwidth.org/interface/blogger into Blog/Homepage URL textbox. | Formerly Bilbo. |
BlogTK 1.1 | multiplatform, GTK+ 2 | works | yes (BSD) | Use the Blogger API. | Nothing but entry text, not even titles. 2.0 is in alpha, and promises to have fuller Blogger support (which may or may not increase the LJ-clone support). |
Drivel 2.0.3 | Linux (Gnome) | works | yes (GPL v2) | Currently not maintained. Does not support tags or multiple security levels. | |
Gnome-Blog (aka Blog Entry Poster) 0.9.2 | Linux (Gnome) | works | yes (GPL) | Select "Self-Run Other", and enter: http://www.dreamwidth.org/interface/xmlrpc
|
Only supports entry title and entry body. |
Kblogger | Linux (KDE) | KDE 3, no; KDE 4.2.2, yes | yes (GPL) | Blog-ID is your Dreamwidth username. Use the Blogger api, and enter this in 'Homepage URL': http://www.dreamwidth.org/interface/blogger
|
KDE 3 version doesn't work, but KDE 4.2.2 version does (1.0-alpha2). |
KLuJe 0.8 | Linux (KDE) | works | yes (GPL v2) | Use the LJ flat interface URL. | Doesn't support custom posting groups or tags. |
Logjam 4.5.3 | multiplatform, GTK+ 2 | works | yes (GPL v2) | Currently not maintained. However, for many Linux distributions, it is the default Livejournal client. |
Mobile
Client | Platform | Current DW status | Open source? | Config notes | Other notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
LJ2ME | mobile phones, using Java | works | no | ||
Eljay | devices running Android | works | no | choose dw from settings-> server | on the other hand, the interface for editing older posts won't even load. |