BlogMyCode VS2005 plugin

I have been using Windows Live Writer for quite a while now. I like it. It contains all the info for my different blogs. It is a desktop app. Makes it easy to start a post, save it as a draft, and continue it on later and when you actually get around to posting, it uses current date/time stamp. I know blogger for instance, will post a draft with the date/time stamp of when you started it, now when you finish it.

What I have not been doing is using WLW to its full extent, or even, it seems, a portion of that extent. As I was finally getting it setup on my work computer (I had to bypass the lockout for Windows Update to do it - don't tell the IS folks, ok?). As I was searching for plugins for WLW, I can across a plugin for Visual Studio 2005 which, I have to tell you, Is freaking awesome!

BlogMyCode is Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 plugin, that helps you to blog formatted source code, by using Windows Live Writer.

BlogMyCode adds a "Blog This" element to your context menu in VS2005. Highlight some code, right-click, select "Blog This" and in just a few steps, you get this:

public ParcelIdentify(Map map, string filePath)

{

    m_map = map;

    m_filePath = filePath;

    SetupIdentify();

}

The drawback I have found so far (and it is probably a setting somewhere in WLW) is that when I do the "Blog This", it opens a new instance of WLW and starts a new post.

You can get the BlogMyCode VS2005 plugin here.

Creating an Add-In for VS.NET 2003

Eh, nevermind (25 October, 2006)

So, as Mathieu so kindly pointed out in the comments section, PushOK does a VS.NET 2003 add-in for CVS rather inexpensively. While I was looking forward to actually creating an add-in for VS.NET, the time I have to play with it just doesn't exist, so I'm scrapping this one. I may play with it some in VS.NET 2005 at home (I don't have 2003 installed at home anymore), so this might actually go somewhere, but who knows where and when.

Starting Out (06 October, 2006)

My company is switching is source control from the woefully in adequate Visual SourceSafe to CVS. I don't know why they refuse to go to Microsoft Team Server, but I suspect that it has a great deal to do with CVS being free, and TeamServer being expen$ive.

Specifically, we are instructed to use the WinCVS client to access the source code in CVS. After plenty of reading, I realized there is currently no way to access WinCVS through the VS.NET IDE like there is for VSS. I have never created an Add-In for VS before, and thought it sounded somewhat interesting task to tackle. I know it is possible to create one because I see them for sale online for anywhere from $10 to over $200.

I did some queries on Windows Live search looking for add-in information. I got a lot of places selling add-ins, but nothing in the way of how to create one. Then I got the bright idea thinking that if any place would have information on creating an add-in for VS, it would be VisualStudio Managzine.