StoryGrinder has been updated to version 0.8.8 with the following changes:

• Support for Spotlight based search of Scrap Box items
• Added "Get Info" support for current document
• Added the ability to set a title for scraps
• Added the ability to cancel the load of cached items
• Refreshing a cached item will now show a confirmation dialog box
• Fixed a bug where adding a URL from an AppleScript would not always force the item to load and be cached

Out of these, I find the Spotlight search from within the Scrap Box most interesting since you can now not only archive web pages but actually search their content.

You can download StoryGrinder here.

If you're a NetNewsWire user, you may appreciate this StoryGrinder script that lets you create a new StoryGrinder scrap from the current NetNewsWire article.

To install:

1. Download NetNewWire Article to StoryGrinder
2. Unzip the downloaded zip file to get the NetNewsWire Article to StoryGrinder AppleScript
3. Copy the AppleScript file to the StoryGrinder Scripts folder, located in Library->Scripts

You can then run the script from the AppleScript menu in StoryGrinder.

StoryGrinder has been updated to version 0.8.7 with the following changes:

• Web archives for scraps in the Scrap Box must be are managed separately from temporary scraps associated with stories. This means that the cache referenced from Preferences refers only to data associated with stories, and clearing the cache will no longer remove cached Scrap Box items.
• Spurious reloading of scraps in scrap box upon selection should no longer occur.
• The sort order of the Scrap Box list is now saved between sessions.

You can download StoryGrinder here.

I started writing StoryGrinder over a year ago now, because I wanted some specific functionality in regards to Web Writing. By "Web Writing", I mean, in general, anything that gets posted to a blog, web site, bulletin board, etc. Basically, I wasn't looking for a "blogging" tool, I was looking for a writing tool.

Specifically, I was looking to:

1. Capture scraps of information (text) or web pages (reference material)
2. Be able to refer to the snippet or web page while writing, and without having to switch between a browser and editor
3. Save the reference material along with the story itself for future reference
4. Perform transformations of the text I was writing into properly formatted HTML (or, perhaps, something else)

What I've ended up with in the latest StoryGrinder is pretty close to what I originally wanted. So:

1. I can capture text or web pages to a Scrap Box where I can categorize the information, preview it, etc. I can send the scraps or links to the Scrap Box using AppleScript or the Services menu. Better, in the case of web pages I can cache a webarchive of the page which lets me keep it even if the original link disappears.
2. I can view text or a web page at the same time as editing a story. In fact, in the viewing pane, I can navigate HTML links on a page and perform the same kind of simple web browser actions as in, say Safari.
3. The scraps and links I've used for a story get saved along with it.
4. In addition to being able to insert HTML tags (and BBCode tags), I can use Perl scripts to perform custom transformations. For example, I can write a complete article without concern for paragraph tags, and then run a Perl script to insert them in the proper locations throughout the story.

At this point, being reasonably happy with the progress so far, I'm interested in having others try it and (undoubtedly) suggest improvements. I'm not sure as yet if this will become a for-cost product, a shareware product or a free product. I'm leaning towards shareware rather than full commercial.

You can download StoryGrinder here. Please also see the "Getting Started" document on the same page. I'd be more than happy to hear comments, suggestions, bugs, etc.