WLW Plugin Insert Umbraco Links

For my blog(s) I am using Windows Live Writer and some Plugins like the Pre Code Snippet. Until now inserting links to other entries in my blog was circular. I had to open the umbraco backend, get the id of the node, goto WLW, add a link, insert {localLink:id}. Save.

With the API from WLW it is possible to implement Plugins for WLW. So I did and created my first WLW Plugin. After some small problems with the Windows Live Writer API and the binding context in a Winform I finished it. Now it is much more comfortable to insert Lokal Links.

Installation

First you have to download the files from my blog. (btw, another plugin idea: inserting media links from umbraco...)

In the downloaded zip-file there are two files included:

• thoehler.com.wlw.InsertLinkFromUmbraco.dll - which is the dll you have to put in Plugins folder from your WLW installation.
• th.InsertLinks_v1_Beta_1.zip - which is the package that installs the webservice in your umbraco installation.

Usage

After starting the WLW you get a new entry in the insert menu and in the insert box of your sidebar.

Clicking on the new entry will launch the plugin dialogue. On the first usage the dialogue is empty and you have to edit the settings by clicking on the Settings button (you also can launch the settings dialogue via Extras/Options/Plugins). Here in this dialogue you can add new umbraco instances where you have installed the webservice. You can add several installations which you can easily switch in the Insert Link dialogue. Don't forget to save your settings. The settings are saved from WLW and retrieved back on start.

Now you can go back to the Insert Link dialogue where you select the umbraco instance from which you want to add a link and click down in the tree to your node you want to add. For performance issues I am only loading nodes from one level at once. So if you click on a node it automatically loads the given childnodes (if the node has childnodes). Now click insert Link, done...

Security

The user is is authenticated with the given username and password. The username is mapped to the umbraco user and the nodes that will be retrieved are related to the Start Content setting for the Umbraco User.

Please test this plugin and give me feedback.