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Which blogging platform do you use and why?
Posted by Anthe • 8/26/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: blogger, blogging, hosting, platform, typepad, wordpress
I would love to have an overview of who is on which platform and why.
Why did you choose Blogger or why Wordpress?
I get the feeling here that most on Wordpress are selfhosted. Or are there also many on Wordpress hosted blogs?
Or maybe another platform like Typepad, or maybe one that I never heard of.
So which one do you use and why?
1. Blogger
2. Wordpress (selfhosted or not)
3. Other
User Comments
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Blogger because it is stupid-simple and easily customized.-
Yes, I found out that is indeed very easy to customise. I had never used it but this week I made an account so that I could easier comment on Blogger blogs.
And was surprised by the easy use and above all by the nice profile page where you can easy see who else has the same interests. Although you only get to see the most recent users I guess.
So far I had only used Wordpress, both selfhosted and not (and I really love Wordpress) but Blogger seems to really give easy access to blogging. -
One of the things I like about Blogger is that I can put up my own headers, created in Illustrator, without having to spend a lot of money and learning how to program.
You can check my main blog and my cooking blog for examples of what I am talking about. -
I see what you mean, it looks great and very open with everything in the same colour.
I really like it, if you can easy change headers and colours. In Wordpress that is getting more easy now too sometimes, but for me it is often to complicated still. And I think it very much depends on the theme you choose.
But with the latest versions it is very easy to preview, which I do a lot! -
are you talking about wordpress.com or .org? because wordpress.org i agree, it sucks. but .com is the easiest blog site i've ever used. you don't need any special upgrades for certain themes, and you only have to pay if you want to take the wordpress out of the url or change the css. and i can't do either, so it doesn't matter. blogger has always given my trouble, and i've pretty much given up on it. -
It is my understanding that the free Wordpress platform has very limited ability to be customized without learning CSS or some other programming language.
I don't want to pay for my blog platform and I definitely don't want to learn to program. Blogger allows me to add my custom header as a gadget/widget without any complications at all. -
@Cheering4u1993, yes it is indeed really very simple to change themes in Wordpress .com. But sinds the latest version or so, it is also really very easy to change them in Wordpress .org. You can get a general preview, but if you downlowd the theme you can also have a preview of the theme with your own site. And remove it just as easy again. And all that with one click, I think they have really approved on that.
@SweetViolet, yes the customizing part is the biggest problom so far I think. It is really very easy to change themes, it is also really very easy to use plugins and widgets, but changing a colour or a header or a font is not that easy. At least not yet and not that I know of.
There is one theme that lets you costumise real easy as Husdal mentions furtheron, Atahualpa. But that is indeed on the selfhosted platform.
Maybe there are easy to cosumise themes on Wordpress .com that I did not find yet, although I have tried out a whole lot of them. I really love to see all that is happening when you change a theme.
But the way Blogger lets you change a header is a good example. Wordpress also has that in some themes, but the problem is that you also have all the rest of that theme that you might not want, like just one collumn or so.
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Blogger. I opened a test account in Blogger, Wordpress and Livejournal, and found Blogger the easiest to get set up on. I also love the widgets that are available on the layout page- they're ridiculously easy to set up, and make your page look alot more professional.
-Eileen-
Oh yes, Livejournal was the other one.
Well, indeed the widgets are really easy to setup in Blogger.
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I use both Blogger and WordPress. When Blogger lost a lot of its functionality a couple of years ago I was about to switch to Wordpress, like a lot of other people. I started a WordPress blog. But I kept the Blogger one too, so now I use both, and each one can do some things the other can't.
I don't like self-hosted blogs -- they are usually slower, for one thing.-
It seems that both have improved tremendous if I read sometimes how it was some time ago. I also like to look at how they are different and how they are the same.
And Wordpress selfhosted slower? I didn't hear that before.
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Are you using WordPress?
I found it too complicated...I want a "plug and play" blogging platform because I want to spend thinking, researching, and writing blog posts, not trying to learn to program so that I can get the page to look the way I want.-
Yes, I think I can see what you mean. It is that I started with Wordpress and did not know about Blogger. So I was forced to figure it out, which was really frustrating at times because it was a completely strange 'language' to me.
But it gets easier and easier. On one hand because it all gets more userfiendly for non techies like me. But on the other hand do I get more 'into it'.
Things that where completely 'non intuitive' in the beginning are making much more sense now.
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Blogger-because it was the first one I came across. It has some kinks, but I'm happy with it.-
Yeah, maybe it all depends on what you run into at first. And at some point maybe just settle with what you have and take it from there. To see it as just a tool and stick with its possibilities.
But I am very much still in the discovering phase. How does it all work, what are the differences, how can I change things without much knowledge, and make it work and look as I want it to.
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I think Blogger and Wordpress are about equal in their pro's and con's other than the fact I find Wordpress to be much more customizable in every way
I am also selfhosted and my provider recommends Wordpress over other applications-
Well, that is the point maybe. If someone is capable of programming, the possibilities on Wordpress are endless I guess. And I really, really like that idea. And that is what makes me want to know more each time.
But if you just want to write and do not know much about programming yourself, I think it is far less frustrating to use Blogger or so.
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I'm the "other".
I used Blogger for my Times Observer blog for a few years but I ran into trouble with them last year during the elections.
I wrote an editorial criticizing Obama and someone flagged The Times Observer as spam because they didn't like it. Because of that, every time I had to post or edit an editorial, I had to put in a verification code, which got annoying.
The thing is, if that person actually spent time on my blog, they would see that I both praised and criticized Obama and McCain.
Anyway, to make a short story even longer, Blogger and Google never replied to any of the e-mails that I sent to them and right after the elections, I didn't need to use the verification code to post my editorials or columns. So that was the final straw. In my mind, they didn't reply to me out of spite.
Since I already went back to school last fall for Web design, I decided to recreate The Times Observer and have it hosted by a private hosting site.
It's a bit more work but I like it a lot. I have total control of my content and I'm not at the mercy of Blogger or someone who doesn't like what I write and then have them flag me out of spite.-
That is even 'other' than I could have imagined. That must be really a lot of work.
But it must feel good to have so much more control. -
Well, it's a few more extra steps but really, it's not as long as you would think.
I guess I got used to it and I'm getting faster at it. -
Their lack of response has nothing to do with spite...they don't reply, period.
If I have a complaint about Blogger, that is it...you are blogging in a vacuum as far as customer support is concerned. There is no place to report problems, no technical advice, and their "user forum" (where you are recommended to take you problems) is about as useful as teats on a bull. I have seen truly urgent queries go unanswered for months.
So, it is good that Blogger is so simple to use because there is absolutely no help or support available whatsoever. -
I agree with you SweetViolet that Blogger doesn't reply to e-mails asking for help. And that Web site that you mentioned wasn't helpful either, because I tried. I saw a lot of people asking for help and never got any.
But it struck me as odd that I spent weeks sending them e-mails about my problem and watching that Google bot on my blog and the verification code was never lifted until right after the elections.
I'm sorry but that does sound fishy to me. And from what I read, a lot of people using Blogger who wrote about politics had the very same problems too.
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I use wordpress. it's easy, they're always upgrading it, and you can make some great friends via forums. my wordpress friends know me more then some of my school friends. and definitely more then my family! plus they block spam, you can make post private, and it's just a lot of fun. plus my school can't block it, since they use worpress.org for our homework and they can't use another site since wordpress is cheapest if you need a special site or something.
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Do you mean the Wordpress .com forums? I really like them, but not so much to meet people. For me it is a place where I run into if I am frustrated because there is something that does not work. And I search all forums to get a solution, or ask for it in the end.
And that works really great I must say. But besides that I never look there actually.
But the Wordpress .com forums seem so much more active than the .org ones. I could not find my way so well yet over there.
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Blogger....is easy to use....-
Very easy, I agree.
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I apologize Anthe but I have so much to say on this topic that ut's too much for a comment box and can can easily become a post. Coming soon to a blog near you.
Blogger sucks - WordPress rocks!-
Can't wait to read what you have to say about it.
And I totally agree that Wordpress rocks, and I also think I can see what you mean by 'Blogger sucks'. But when trying Blogger out a bit this week I also can see the beauty of it. I think it works really very intuitive.
In the long run I think I would feel way to limited by its framework, but that is because I got used to Wordpress and its enormous potential.
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I use Blogger. I find it easier to use.-
Do you mean easier to use than others? And if so, which ones did you also try?
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I've been through most of them, Blogger, TypePad, Squarespace, WordPressCOM and WordPressORG (which I am using now) and there are pros and cons with all of them. They all have at least one thing that the other platform doesn't have, and essentially it's like comparing apples and oranges: they're all fruits, but they taste different.
Blogger is easy to set up, but limited, and you look like a million other blogs. Customizable, yes, but it takes too much work behind the scenes.
TypePad is very flexible and customizable, but it costs money.
Squarespace is like TypePad, very flexible and customizable, but it costs even more money.
WordPressCOM is by far the best free platform for pure blogging without monetization, in terms of functionality, and most of all, in terms of ready built-in SEO and SERP (if you know how to make use of it, and TT's blog shows you how).
WordPressORG is the very best for my use and my requirements. And I've found a theme that is 100% customizable in all parts and that doesn't need two dozen plugins or so to work properly.
Until something better comes along, I'm with WordPressORG. One thing for sure though, I'd never blog not having my own domain.-
I looked at the theme you use and it looks indeed a good one to costomise. I must say that I miss that with a lot of themes.
Well, that is to say, so that I can costomise them. But that is because I do not know enough to do that and I am always scared to mess things up.
But as the process goes on, me learing more and Wordpress making it more accessable all the time, it might come to a point that I can do with it what I want (can't wait to be honest).
And yes, I also love to have my own domain and I am glad I took the step, but it really felt like jumping into very deep water without knowing if I could swim.
Fortunately it is not as dangerous as that. -
As far as customization goes I believe it is among the most if not the most customizable free theme for WordPress.
wordpress.org/extend/themes/atahualpa
The good thing is that all the custimization is done within the theme options, simply by clicking and selecting, and there is very little danger of messing things up. That's why I like that theme. But it does take a while to learn how to make the most of it. -
Thanks for the link. I saw there is also a forum and I found a thread with people posting a link with how they used the theme. Very interesting to see.
Certainly something to explore further, especially hoping that the colours can be easily changed as I find that really important.
Well, that and the idea of selecting and clicking and little danger of messing up!
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I use Typepad. I do not like the look of (most) Blogger/blogspot blogs.-
It has indeed a totally different feel than most Blogger blogs. Much more open space looking and no borders.
I am so sorry to read your cat is missing, I really hope you find him back! -
Oh how sweet of you -- thank you :-)
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As a Web designer and coder I love wordpress and the future of Wordpress is very bright. I think Wordpress will/(is) be the ultimate CMS and social networking soft.-
To be honest I can't imagen any webdesigner or coder who would use anything else than Wordpress. As well as I can totally understand why anyone who has no knowledge of that, would choose for Blogger or so.
That probably isn't the only criterium for choosing a platform (having that knowledge or not) but a very important one I guess.
But if you do have the knowledge, I think the potential is almost endless with Wordpress. And also in the way of social networking indeed.
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Blogger: simple to use and easily customised templates -
I'm using wordpress. I love the plugins. -
Blogger...I find it super easy and a lot of templates to choose from. -
I've learned the codes and putting my site together through the years ...so wordpress for me. -
Thanks so far everyone for sharing. I had thought that by far the most where on Blogger here on Blogcatalog, but there are also a lot of others as it seems.
Great to hear everyones experiences and opinions. -
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I use blogger - because its damn so easy. But, i dont like the complication of changing a template in the blogger. If I want to change the template, I loose all the widgets. -
blogger cuz its from google! -
self-hosted wordpress because more control. -
for the one listed I used wordpress (self hosted) for the one that's not listed I use blogger -
quickblogcast! -
Blogger because it is easy to use and with it you can drive easy traffic to your blog. -
I use blogger because it is much easier to use.
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