MarsEdit Help | Solutions By Topic | Q&A

Getting Started

Setting up a blog

When you first launch MarsEdit, it will ask you for details about your blog. If you ever want to add another blog, just choose the File > New Blog… menu item.

After you enter the name of your blog and the URL of its home page, MarsEdit will usually be able to figure out the rest of the settings it needs.

If MarsEdit doesn’t auto-detect the settings, refer to the Manual Configuration page for simple instructions on configuring popular blog systems.

Downloading and browsing recent posts

If MarsEdit detected your blog settings, your most recent posts will be downloaded automatically. To manually download recent posts, click the Refresh button in the toolbar.

Note: MarsEdit asks you for your blog password, which is stored securely in the system keychain. For most blogs, the username and password are the same as you use to login to your blog from a browser. But for Movable Type blogs, the username and password for MarsEdit is different, and is called the "web services password." You can find this password in your Movable Type user settings on the web.

When MarsEdit finishes downloading, the titles of your recent posts will appear in the table at the top of the main window. Select an item to see a preview of the full post in the bottom half of the window.

What to do if there’s an error

Refresh failures might be due to problems with your network connection, or because of a configuration problem in the blog's settings.

The error message should include information from the blog about the cause of the failure, though these messages are not always helpful.

  1. Double-check that you have the correct settings for your blog. The System Name, System API, API Endpoint URL, and Blog ID fields must be correctly configured.
  2. Try searching the MarsEdit Forums with words from the error message. Many common configuration problems have been solved before by the MarsEdit community.
  3. If you’re still having trouble, feel free to contact us for assistance. We’ll be glad to help get you up and running!

A Note About Movable Type and TypePad Passwords

If you find that MarsEdit repeatedly displays the password authentication dialog, and you’re sure you’re typing it correctly, it’s possible you’re entering the wrong password for this purpose. These systems are unusual in that they require a separate, web services password when logging in from an application such as MarsEdit. To locate the password, log in to the system’s administration panel on the web, and look inside your user settings.