This was supposed to go up yesterday, my apologies. This week I'm reviewing Yarny, another web-based writing software I've been looking at.


What is it?
According to their website, Yarny is "A simple to use online writing environment for the high-production, creative writer." It's as I said web-based writing software created by Blue Burro, Inc. Blue Burro is a process design and web application company based in Florida.


How It Works?
You have to register for Yarny before you can start using the site. All your writing is done online so you can pretty much write from anywhere, at any time. Everything is saved in the browser automatically so you never have to worry about losing your work.


The Basics:
Yarny only works in Firefox and possibly Chrome (I don't have Chrome so I can't verify this). The Yarny interface is very well-organized and very clean. Upon logging in the screen brings up bubbles explaining each feature of the program. Simply clicking anywhere on the screen makes them disappear and you have your work screen ready to go. If at any time you need them back simply click on the question mark at the top right of the screen, select Quick Help and the bubbles return. Yarny automatically creates versions of your writing and saves them; you can scroll through them by clicking on the clock at the bottom of the central box where you write your story. Beside that is the Tag button, where you can give snippets or chapters tags with which to easily locate them later. Your left side bar is where you can find all your snippets/chapters as well as their individual word counts, a Search box where you can search your tags and create new snippets and groups. On your right side bar, you have sections for notes divided into People, Places and Things. It's a space for notes not part of your story itself, but important for you as the writer. At the bottom you have your word count, and at the top where you enter your title for your work. You can change this title at any time. With their new updates, you can have unlimited titles even with a free account. Premium naturally gives you access to other features.


The Pros:
The saving is very seamless and I like the distraction-free setup. Everything is easily accessible without having to turn things on and off. The ease of being able to access my story on multiple computers as well as all my notes is great, and I love that Yarny gives free members a great deal of features to enjoy. It gives me a little more incentive to upgrade to Premium because for me it shows an appreciation to all users. Yarny is in beta, but it's relatively bug-free and they are constantly improving the software with features. They do listen to their user base and I appreciate that very much. They have a comprehensive Support section which is always a plus in my books. FAQs are an absolute must. And their website is very nice and professional.


The Cons:
I honestly can't really think of any cons to Yarny, except for the fact that it's untested in IE. It does have a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of the interface it's fine.


My Thoughts:
Yarny is a really great web-based writing software to use. I don't know of any others, but for me it's right up there with PangurPad and in some features it surpasses PangurPad. The fact that I can have unlimited stories just thrills me to no end.