AppleScript Saves MarsEdit Drafts as Text Files | Daring Fireball

A new AppleScript allows users of MarsEdit, a popular Mac blogging client, to save documents as plain text files, addressing a long-standing request from the software’s user base. The script, created by Daring Fireball author John Gruber, provides a “Save as Text File…” function not natively available within MarsEdit.

Gruber detailed his creation in a post on Daring Fireball Thursday, explaining the script resolves a “minor itch” he’s experienced for two decades. While MarsEdit offers a “local drafts” feature for saving unpublished work within the application, Gruber prefers to archive completed or abandoned posts as text files, typically stored in his Dropbox folder. He noted that longer posts are often drafted in BBEdit before being transferred to MarsEdit for publishing, while shorter pieces are composed directly within the blogging client.

The script integrates with FastScripts, a system-wide scripts menu utility also developed by Red Sweater Software, the company behind MarsEdit and founded by Daniel Jalkut. FastScripts allows users to assign keyboard shortcuts to AppleScripts, with Gruber suggesting Option-Command-S as a potential configuration. The script presents a standard system Save dialog, defaulting to the document’s title for the filename and remembering the last used save location.

The resulting text file includes metadata such as the title, blog source (identified as Daring Fireball in Gruber’s example), edit date, tags, and slug. Gruber clarified that the “Slug” field in the text file actually reflects the content of MarsEdit’s “Keyword” field, as he utilizes Movable Type’s “Keyword” field for URL slugs instead of MarsEdit’s dedicated “Slug” field.

According to Gruber, the script has already proven useful in clearing out a backlog of 29 old drafts from his MarsEdit library. He emphasized the importance of addressing workflow inefficiencies, questioning why he hadn’t created and shared the script sooner.

MarsEdit recently underwent a significant update with the release of version 5.0 in December 2022, introducing a redesigned icon, a “Microposting” feature, enhanced plain-text editing with Markdown syntax highlighting, and a rebuilt rich text editor based on Apple’s WebKit2 technologies.