Did I ever mention how much I like writing in Bear? Pretty sure I did, but this latest update was possibly the best timing ever, it allows me to publish new blog posts really easy to WordPress.

Text Bundle

The ‘magic’ behind this is exporting in text bundle. The updated app now exports plain text with attached images, and combines with the WordPress app to make sure the post shows correctly. In fact the Bear team built a whole open source library for processing so other apps could to the same in the future – as Shiney Frog point out open standards for sharing files make them happy.

How To

With today’s update to WordPress for iOS , you can now publish Bear notes to WordPress blogs. It’s really simple to use:

• First, make sure you update Bear and WordPress
• In Bear, tap the share sheet at the top right of a note
• Tap WordPress in the top row of options (learn how to enable app extensions on iOS )
• The WordPress app will open. If you have multiple blogs, a screen will appear so you can pick one as your post’s destination
• A draft screen will appear with your post filled in, complete with proper formatting of all headings, links, text styles, lists, and even photos

Note: To give your blog post a title, make sure your Bear note begins with an H1 header tag.

There are a couple of major disadvantages to this set up. You must either have your blog hosted on WordPress web hosting or have the JetPack plugin installed. I have tried to find a way around this with my external site but it simply doesn’t pick up my site unless it is installed and activated.

Also there is no facility to add a featured image like other apps. For example Ulysses automatically sets the attached image as the featured image and this isn’t the case with Bear. You can of cause hop straight into the WordPress app and set this very easily.