Written on February 3rd, 2007 at 10:02 am by Darren Rowse
Which Blogging Platform Do You Use and Why? - Open Mike
I get a lot of questions from people just getting into blogging about which blog platform to choose. I have my own preferences and opinions but try to be objective with my answer. I usually point people to my blogging for beginners post on blog platforms for starters - but I’m aware that even that is skewed by my own experiences of blogging.
So - I’d like to be able to give a more independent set of reflections to my readers also and would love for you to share which blogging platform you use and recommend. Here’s a few questions that you might like to answer in comments below (or feel free to write a post about it on your blog and leave the link below so others can find it).
- Which Blog Platform do you Use?
- Why do you use it?
- What do you love about it?
- What do you wish they’d improve?
- What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
I’m looking forward to reading your responses.
119 Responses to “Which Blogging Platform Do You Use and Why? - Open Mike”
Michelle
February 3rd, 2007 11:02 am
I currently use Blogspot. I have used Wordpress in the past. I am just learning about blogging right now and I am sure I will find something better in the future. I use blogspot because it is easy to publish and update the templates. The one thing I wish they would add is some way of tracking traffic to the blog without having to install a 3rd party script.
Dave Starr
February 3rd, 2007 11:08 am
* Which Blog Platform do you Use?
WordPress ver. 2 on my own (shared hosting) account.
* Why do you use it?
Simple, relatively “bullet proof” and it’s the current industry standard. The fact that it’s free also kind of enters into the picture.
* What do you love about it?
Pretty simple, easy to get up a post, edit, handle comments and administer the blog. More different themes and plug-ins that you can count so there is virtually something for everyone.
* What do you wish they’d improve?
Better documentation of features such as home page, locking a group of pages into separate topic sections, built in AdSense and other advertising blocks easily “floated” in posts without having to explore all the different plug-ins for same.
* What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
Beginners to advanced can all make good use of it. It’s a great tool to use to “learn the ropes” and basically can be extended as far as you would care to go.
Rich Owings
February 3rd, 2007 11:11 am
I started out with TypePad, which is very flexible, and will meet the needs of a wide range of bloggers. I didn’t have the technical skills for WordPress at that time. Using it though, I’ve learned enough that all my new blogs ARE on WordPress.
I wish I would have used my own domain though. I had it, but went back to the TypePad default because Technorati wasn’t picking the blog up when I was domain mapping — one of the stupidest things I’ve done blogging!
I will say this though. If your motivation is commercial but your skill set low, and you have any reason to believe that you will want to graduate to WordPress, start out with Blogger instead of TypePad. You can retain Blogger URLs (on your own domain) when you move to WP, which is either impossible or incredibly difficult with TypePad; I’m not sure which.
All three of these have met my needs at different points in time. I wish TypePad used more standardized URLs that would allow for exporting to another platform. And I wish WordPress weren’t so scary for a non-techie to upgrade.
BlueFur.com
February 3rd, 2007 11:26 am
After testing the various platforms and looking at the community support, themes and plug-ins for them I picked WordPress.
WordPress is a great tool for blogging if you are a do it yourself. If your not adventurous enough to try things then I can see how WordPress can be a bit technically challenging for some. There are many amazing templates and plug-ins that make WordPress a great product.
For improvements I think they may want to have a Beginner version which comes with 20 or so of the most common themes and plug-ins already built in.
Cory OBrien
February 3rd, 2007 11:45 am
I love WordPress. It’s free, it’s easy to use, there is plenty of documentation if I have a problem, it’s stable, and it looks good. I think that any kind of blogger can benefit from using it because they have free blogs if you are just getting started, or a stand alone solution for those who want to set up their own site. My only wish is that it was easier to customize so that your blog doesn’t look like every other blog without some substantial work.
Andreas
February 3rd, 2007 11:52 am
Normally I use Rapidweaver for Mac, but just today I tried Wordpress and it`s fantastic. Easy-to-use, a lot of plug-ins, access by webbrowser, that`s actually much better than Rapidweaver…
João Pedro
February 3rd, 2007 11:54 am
Well, i use blogger because when i started blogging that was the only blogging plataform i knew.
I like blogger, its easy to use and serves all my blogging purposes.
I think its suitable for iniciant bloggers and bloggers with some experience.
Crazykinux
February 3rd, 2007 12:02 pm
I’ve played with a lot of them, blogger, TypePad, WordPress, BlinkLife, iBlog, but in the end came back to Blogger with it’s ease of use and now easy customization.
With the new Blogger (out of beta) I feel as though I have both ease of use, and the ability to play with the HTML code.
I’m satisfied and happy with the service and realibity.
Crazykinux
February 3rd, 2007 12:09 pm
Here’s a wish: the ability to edit your comment/response/reply!
By the way Darren, have you noticed that you use all 3 to mention the same concept. At the end of a post you have ‘x Responses to “blabla…”‘, then at the end of the ‘responses’ you’ve got ‘Leave a Reply’, and finally the button to submit states ‘Add comment’.
So which is it: a response, a reply or a comment?
Sorry for being a nitpicker!
=)
Hannes Johnson
February 3rd, 2007 12:20 pm
I’m using WordPress. I like it because it’s easy to use and it has so many possibilities - you can modify it as you want to fit your needs. All the templates and plug-ins for WordPress are also a good reason for picking WordPress. It’s also fairly simple to avoid comment spam with WordPress - which saves a lot of time.
I think WordPress might not be suitable for total newbies - but for people that are not entirely unfamiliar to the internet and how websites work it could be a good fit. It’s also good for advanced bloggers because they can use WordPress to its full potential.
raising4boys.com
February 3rd, 2007 12:23 pm
WordPress… Mainly because I saw a MacAddict article about it back in Spring 2005 and thought it might be fun to try blogging. I installed WordPress and never looked back. Very flexible, very extensible, and very easy to use.
Simone Chiaretta
February 3rd, 2007 12:26 pm
I’ve got a few blogs, all with different platform:
for my tech blogs I’ve used dotText and then Subtext: they are both developed with .NET technology. The second is the development of the first one, so just focusing on Subtext, I think it’s very nice, but not being extensible with plugin if you need a feature it doesn’t have, then, or u code it, or u forget about the feature.
Then I used DNN blogs, because I wanted the blog to be deeply integrated inside my DNN site (but I’ll not recommend DNN blog unless u want the same effect)
And last, I used Wordpress for my recipes blog: I wanted the most from my blog, and wanted to experiment with features and other gadgets, so I used it. It has a big community around it, so many skins and plugin available.
But really I love Subtext, and maybe in the next release, with the introduction of add-in, it will be as powerful as Wordpress
bill nad
February 3rd, 2007 12:29 pm
I use tow blogging platforms Wordpress and Movable Type. I have used MT for years now and like the way that I can right click in Windows and crate a post from any page, I found that I could do this in Wordpress as well.
I am also very comfortable with making html changes to the Movable Type templates although I am starting to get better with Wordpresses PHP templating system as well.
The one thing that i am trying to find is an easy way to get a bunch of links together so that I can do the speedlinking thing on news stories that I find and at the same time make sure that the pingbacks go to the sites. This is one feature that I have not found a very easy way around.
One more, Blogger, I have used blogger over the last couple of years and yuck, I am really tired of it’s lack of features and the way that it is so hard to make small changes to a template without it making global changes to all archive pages. The new changes at Blogger are good but still not nearly enough. I fear it is still mostly a place for spammers and diary writers
bill nad
February 3rd, 2007 12:29 pm
I use tow blogging platforms Wordpress and Movable Type. I have used MT for years now and like the way that I can right click in Windows and crate a post from any page, I found that I could do this in Wordpress as well.
I am also very comfortable with making html changes to the Movable Type templates although I am starting to get better with Wordpresses PHP templating system as well.
The one thing that i am trying to find is an easy way to get a bunch of links together so that I can do the speedlinking thing on news stories that I find and at the same time make sure that the pingbacks go to the sites. This is one feature that I have not found a very easy way around.
One more, Blogger, I have used blogger over the last couple of years and yuck, I am really tired of it’s lack of features and the way that it is so hard to make small changes to a template without it making global changes to all archive pages. The new changes at Blogger are good but still not nearly enough. I fear it is still mostly a place for spammers and diary writers
Armen
February 3rd, 2007 12:36 pm
Which Blog Platform do you Use?
Wordpress all the way. I tried blogger and it’s just nowhere near as flexible, nor is it as easy to optimise imo.
Why do you use it?
It’s simplicity, it’s power to do difficult tasks easily because of the available plugins, and so much more.
What do you love about it?
The constant beneficial learning process when you join the Wordpress clan and all the support that’s available.
What do you wish they’d improve?
I can’t think of anything but a far out idea might be that maybe ‘Wordpress’ could provide their own hosting and with it the ability to upgrade the version of Wordpress on request - would make it easier for beginners.
What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
EVERY blogger, except the stubborn ones who refuse to admit the superiority of Wordpress :-)
MillionDollarJourney.com
February 3rd, 2007 12:38 pm
Wordpress. Because it’s FREE, easy to use, and easy to design/manipulate.
FT
http://www.milliondollarjourney.com
Rob O.
February 3rd, 2007 12:44 pm
I’m pretty satisfied with Blogger. Provided you have the willingness and tenacity to slug through the code (Blogger classic), you can tweak and refine your site until it is barely recognizable as a Blogger-based blog - if you so desire. And there’s a large base of experienced users to draw troubleshooting tips, tricks, & hacks from.
I love Blogger because it takes care of the nitpicky bookkeeping details and I can mostly focus on the content I want to present.
Kat Jacobs
February 3rd, 2007 12:52 pm
Which Blog Platform do you Use?
I use Expression Engine.
Why do you use it?
It can do absolutely anything. It’s completely customizable. It can integrate easily into any design.
What do you love about it?
I love EE because, as a web developer, there hasn’t been a project I’ve encountered that EE can’t handle. I recently created a site for a musician that runs three different blogs, a list of touring information, and online store, forums, a photo gallery and a download section…all off of EE. It’s all integrated.
I currently run both of my blogs (The Secret Life of Kat and The Secret MUSIC Life of Kat) which have drastically different designs, off of the same installation of EE and should I ever want to add more blogs each with unique domain names, I could do that as well.
What do you wish they’d improve?
The only thing I can think of is that I wish they’d make it easier for non-technical people to get started with it. There is a bit of a learning curve, but with that curve comes more power and flexibility than I’ve found in any other system.
What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
EE is definitely for the serious blogger. They’d benefit because they could easily expand their site by adding more blogs, ecommerce, forums, galleries etc all off of one integrated installation of EE.
They’d also benefit from the shear flexibility of the system which would allow them to set the site up in any way they can imagine.
Jeremy Steele
February 3rd, 2007 12:58 pm
I use WordPress and Blogger, definitely prefer WordPress, much more extensible and much easier to use. The template tag system in blogger is just messy and confusing.
Jonathan
February 3rd, 2007 1:02 pm
Wordpress hands down. It has, by far, the best templating engine and blogging platform around. I’ve tried them all, but I really like Wordpress the best.
It’s easy to install and even easier to manage.
TrollhattanSaab
February 3rd, 2007 1:19 pm
A vote here for Movable Type, although even I’ll admit that I’ve been tempted to try out WordPress, but I don’t have the know-how to migrate my existing blog over and I don’t want to risk messing things up right when it’s really starting to hit stride (just hit 5-fig status - woohoo!).
MT has been great to use. It’s solid, the templates are pretty easily managed once you get the hang of it and yes, it’s available for free, too, but it doesn’t have the same grass roots support.
WP is tempting, but I can’t see myself using anything other than MT while it’s going so well.
Gala
February 3rd, 2007 1:24 pm
Textpattern. It’s incredibly customisable — my boyfriend & I have contorted it into doing some amazing things.
ericwf
February 3rd, 2007 1:25 pm
I use Wordpress because there is a huge developer community standing behind it. You can get all kinds of plugins, both practical and flashy, and a lot of them are must-haves - the Adsense Plugin, the Akismet spam fighting plugin, the Sitemap generator, etc.
With a one-click Wordpress install available through a lot of hosting companies, you really don’t need to have a lot of technical skills to get yourself up and running on your own domain. Even a person with very few technical skills (like me) can take Wordpress and tweak it here and there, thanks to the zillions of people writing about how to do it.
Oz
February 3rd, 2007 1:33 pm
I also use Wordpress currently after changing from Blogger. Blogger had too many bugs for my taste. I’m not technical guru or web designer, but I found WP extremely easy to set up and host myself. GoDaddy has a one click install for WordPress. Great for newbies like me.
There are also TONS of themes and plug-ins to choose from.
Chris N
February 3rd, 2007 1:50 pm
I use Wordpress. It’s the only one I use and have ever really used. There were a few hosting company provided blog engines I’ve used and others have recommended others, but I don’t see how any can beat the wide variety of plug-ins and themes available for WP. Also knowing absolutely nothing about web site design or coding I would not even attempt to create my own templates. WP has it all and I couldn’t be happier with it.
fiLi
February 3rd, 2007 1:53 pm
I use two -
the obvious Wordpress and the more important and less obvious one for this discussion - Drupal. I think that Drupal is often overlooked for blogging, since it’s mainly used for community websites, and that’s a shame because it’s just a wonderful platform for a blog.
It’s extremely easy to use, has an unbelievable easy-to-setup modules collection to extend already impressive built-in capabilities, as well as the most incredible open-source development support community (help, tweaks, tricks, extensions, etc.). Drupal 5 has really taken this one step up.
It’s a great tool for both beginners and advanced users.
It is lacking in the theme department, and blogging orientation needs to be addressed directly, but that’s also changing slowly.
Give Drupal a try…
Robin Capper
February 3rd, 2007 2:11 pm
I first tried TypePad and it’s my main platform. Have tried Blogger and Vox. I currently recommend Vox for “personal” blogs but I’ll stick with TypePad. It’s about right for me in terms of flexibility and ease of use.
MacStansbury
February 3rd, 2007 2:23 pm
I guess I’m rather backwards. I started using static HTML, then tried the open source things, fell in love with Textpattern, then, like everybody else on the planet, started using WordPress. However, as I kept on using it, I found nothing truly endearing to the product. While you’ve got zillions of people working on stuff for it, the main product is clearly not refined.
After beating WordPress around the neck and shoulders, I finally tired of security vulnerability after patch after update after update. For somebody security-focused, it’s a little unsettling using something with so many vectors to intrusion. That, and all the bling I kept installing could easily be handled by other means.
That’s what made the move to Movable Type good for me. I don’t have comments on there, and I’m not trying to start a discussion on my own site. I do track other sites with Technorati, but again, that’s something I don’t need a plugin for.
For me and how I work my site, I think MT’s the best. Here’s some background on my decision to change from WordPress.
http://macstansbury.com/site-updates/moving-to-movable-type.htm
And I’m not saying WordPress is bad, per se. It’s just that WordPress isn’t best for everything.
Chris Baskind
February 3rd, 2007 2:35 pm
I’ve used Joomla on my last several projects.
Yeah: Joomla. A great CMS that can be easily adapted to small or large-scale blogging. You want a shopping cart with that? Easy. Forums? Take your pick. Two sidebars or none? It’s up to you — and it can change from page to page. Without touching code.
The best part of Joomla is being able to arrange your content pretty much any way you want on the page from the administrative back end. That’s because the layout is modular: assign what you want, where you want it. You have almost complete control of your story ordering and media management.
Darren asked for downsides: there’s no native commenting system (plenty of 3rd party options, though). You can’t assign multiple categories to a story in Joomla 1.0.x, but that will change in 1.5.
I think Joomla is a good choice for complex sites, multiuser arrangements, and anyone who wants commercial-grade flexibility without hacking at PHP.
Jim Logan
February 3rd, 2007 2:41 pm
I have to answer this because no one mentioned what I use…Joomla. Although it’s a CSM, it can blog :-)
I use Joomla because it can do and be so many things. On my main site I use but a few features - document management, newsletter, portfolio management. But on other sites I use additional available features such as forums, multi-author, directories, advertising, social bookmarks, ecommerce, etc. It’s a very flexible platform. It’s free :-)
I wish Joomla had better trackback support. There is a commercial plugin that support trackbacks, but an improvement would include a native solution.
Consultants or other professional service providers in need of a blog/site should take a look at Joomla. As a CMS, it’s ideally suited for managing content.
Additionally, it’s a great platform for membership sites.
Joomla is a well supported open source CMS.
Shawn Hoefer
February 3rd, 2007 2:55 pm
I’ve dabbled with most of ‘em… blogger, livejournal, Yahoo and WordPress and I keep coming back to WordPress. It is extensible, easy to use, beautiful and Free!
Sreejith Ramakrishnan
February 3rd, 2007 3:07 pm
I’ve used Blogger, Vox and Rediff Blog before. But, at last, I went for Wordpress because of the powerful and safe code and security. I also liked the fact that it is open source so that I can hack my script and make a lot of tweaks.
The Akismet spam protection is quite efficient and the community is really booming. So, about your question, Darren :-
> Which Blog Platform do you Use? Wordpress (duh)
> Why do you use it? I use it to blog about Webmaster News. I use it because its the CMS in the world.
> What do you love about it? I love the fact that it is Open Source and the whole
customizability and hackability of the script.
> What do you wish they’d improve? I wish they included a feature in which I can
upload themes and plugins right from the browser. I hate going to the slow FTP client.
> What type of blogger would benefit from using it? I think this platform is pretty much versatile. It will be useful for both the newbies as well as gurus. Its easy to use. But, I think the big guys will have great advantage with this script because its Open Source.
Chris
February 3rd, 2007 3:46 pm
I use typepad, but am thinking of using WordPress. I would like to host it myself but don’t know if I have the technical skills for all of this.
Eileen0010
February 3rd, 2007 3:58 pm
1. Which Blog Platform do you Use?
Atom5
2. Why do you use it?
Free subdomain & flickr & no more comment spam
3. What do you wish they’d improve?
Custom sidebar
Adam C
February 3rd, 2007 3:59 pm
I use Google’s Blogger for my site: The Jack Sack. My blog is a fan site for the t.v. show “24.” I post images regularly and I upade the blog daily.
I use Blogger mostly by default– someone mentioned it to me, it was easy to set up the blog, and it became a routine very easily. My biggest complaint about Blogger is the periodic blackouts the system suffers. I had a major posting in which I expected a large amount of traffict last Thursday and as if it were some cruel twist of fate, during the middle of the day Blogger was offline (my readers were met with a 502 Error message).
If my traffic continues to increase, I will explore other options but in the meantime I enjoy the customization tools, I am learning CSS quickly and I am enjoying myself at the moment.
Come and check it out: http://thejacksack.blogspot.com
C. Giardina
February 3rd, 2007 5:34 pm
Wordpress for life!
It’s arguably the best blogging platform in terms of stability, ease of use, expansibility, and amount of resources available on the net.
The only thing they could do to improve it, as of now, would be to add an in-built management system for multimedia (namely, pics and videos). But that would really be only a plus. It’s close to perfection right now..
Kris
February 3rd, 2007 6:06 pm
* Which Blog Platform do you Use?
Now I use Wordpress and I love it :) (one remark, the link on my name doesn’t lead to the blog, I’ll be converting those static pages to wordpress soon)
Before I tried to use blogger but I switched, mostly because I use my own domain now.
* Why do you use it?
Becouse it has many plugins and themes.
* What do you love about it?
Plugins
* What do you wish they’d improve?
Definitely speed is an issue with wordpress, its very slow.
* What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
I think a one that knows a little PHP HTML and CSS, becouse he could tweak the code to his liking, but it’s not necessary others might base on the code created by vast amount of users.
Lode Broekman
February 3rd, 2007 6:39 pm
Blogspot is my choice, worked also with Movable Type and Blogspirit. There are certainly better options, but it workes for me. II must say, that without little bit more than basis knowledge of HTML Blogspot can be very inflexible.
Andrew Williamson
February 3rd, 2007 6:44 pm
I use Expression Engine across my personal blog network, I wouldn’t personally recommend it for less technical people as there’s only a dozen or so templates and there is a general assumption throughout the documentation that you’re reasonably competent with web site building.
But that said if you are technical and you want the ability to shape a site to be exactly how you want it then Expression Engine is an ideal platform, a lot of my blogs don’t really look like traditional blogs, I wanted to create a different environment more corporate like feel to attract corporate advertisers in my niche who unfortunately seem to feel that a blog is somehow a less worthy platform to advertise from!
Expression Engine enabled me to change the feel enough to get the corporates in my niche motivated to approach me for advertising, so if your in a stuffy niche like me and know a thing or two about html, css etc. Expression Engine’s flexibility can have quite a positive effect on your bottom line….
Chase
February 3rd, 2007 6:48 pm
I use Pivot because it does not need a MySql database to work. I used to use B2Evolution for it multi-blog formate but when my provider started charging for it I switched.
Charlie
February 3rd, 2007 6:53 pm
I use blogger, because it’s easy to use and free. I really like it, and my blogs have always been there. I attempted to switch to WP, although, it was too hard to reroute my traffic etc etc. Anyway, I just invested in a .com address, as I felt it would be good!
Charlie - http://www.theapblog.com
Random Good Stuff
February 3rd, 2007 7:22 pm
I started off with Blogger, went to Typepad and I just made the jump to WP 2.1 on own server.
Looking back makes me realize that I needed all the steps before. Because 2 years ago I didn’t even know what an RSS FEED was.
For now I will stick with WP, it gives me all the freedom I want. I can change the looks within a second. Add easily Database content. It just feels right using WP.
For posting I am still using the Qumana Editor - since I run couple of blogs.
Vincent McBurney
February 3rd, 2007 8:17 pm
I blog at an IT blog network which uses Movable Type. I guess my comment is on why I let someone else choose my blog platform for me and control the look and feel of my blog (though not my posts). I figure on a stand alone blog every minute I would have spent tinkering with the stuff around my blog entries, such as widgets and blogrolls and advertising and fonts and headings, is time lost from researching and writing for my blog. With four kids I don’t have a lot of spare time. My blog network is certainly putting in a huge amount of work to bring me readers so I’ve got a better result than if I had set up my blog on my own.
anthony
February 3rd, 2007 8:22 pm
I use both blogger and wordpress.
I like blogger because it is free and very easy to use.
I also like wordpress because it is very customizable and because of the numerous plugins available.
anthony - http://meandthecomputer.blogspot.com
Adnan
February 3rd, 2007 8:26 pm
Which Blog Platform do you Use?
I use Wordpress Version 2.1
Why do you use it?
Its easy to download, easy to setup, and has an awesome base of users and technical knowledge so that you can always ask for help. It also allows you to host your own blog so that you don’t have to use Blogger.
What do you love about it?
I love the great load of plugins that are amazingly simple to use. I love the ease of use. I love the fact that everything and anything is customisable.
What do you wish they’d improve?
Erm…there’s not much which I think could be improving. There coders and programmers always release useful updates as well as anti-hacking protection so I think at the moment, Wordpress.org are at the top of their game.
What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
Any type of blogger hoping to continue with their blog after the initial 3 month novelty stage. If you’re serious about blogging (and perhaps earning a bit of cash out of doing so), Wordpress is one of the only blog management systems that will make yo look more professional.
Great question and thanks Wordpress - yo’re awesome!
Deb Ng
February 3rd, 2007 8:55 pm
I use Blogger. I find it reliable and easy to use. It gets a bum rap, but Ive never had any problems.
Jenia Cherkassky
February 3rd, 2007 9:17 pm
* Which Blog Platform do you Use?
I use Blogger
* Why do you use it?
I’m new to Blogging and it’s the first thing i’ve stumbled upon
* What do you love about it?
It’s convenient for beginners
* What do you wish they’d improve?
They don’t have the TrackBack feature, they should really include it
* What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
Mostly beginners, I think. and people without their own domain and hosting.
steven
February 3rd, 2007 9:37 pm
I use blogspot,because it is the first blog plantform i have found…
And it is easy,simple,and some free templates…
krizdabz
February 3rd, 2007 10:29 pm
I am using WordPress blogging platform for a year or so.. I am using it on my own hosting, so I can tune it as much as I like.
I think that WordPress ir great both for the beginners and more advanced bloggers because it has a lot of options (plugins, themes) but they don’t make whole platform heavy or hard to use. I don’t have to think about technical issues, I just can sit back and write..
Chris Spurvey
February 3rd, 2007 11:03 pm
I use Wordpress. It is free. Easy to install and play around with to get the look and feel the way you want it. I am sure I have only scratched the surface with my http://www.mlm-journey.com blog.
I use Firefox and a couple of days ago I came across a phenomenal Add On for Blogging (you may already be using it). It is called Performancing. Amazing tool for writing blog posts, dragging and dropping images, setting up tags etc… Here is the link for anyone interested: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1730/
justin
February 4th, 2007 12:12 am
Which Blog Platform do you Use?
I was actually introduced to blogging through Xanga. Most of my college friend had them and that’s how I got acquainted with the process. However, when I wanted to establish my own domain for my marketing blog (The Long Process), I chose Wordpress.
Why do you use it?
I use it because of its
Customization ability (so I have the option of making something unique)
Ease of use (so I can actually focus on blogging instead of upkeep)
Signifiant user-base (in case I run into problems)
Technical depth (I have to hunker down and learn things every once in awhile and I enjoy an occasional challenge)
What do you love about it?
I don’t know that I really love anything about it. It’s a good blogging platform, but nothing that gets me super excited. The Wordpress platform happened to be the one I chose, and it suits my purposes just fine. (but I suppose I do enjoy the auto-save function for posts)
What do you wish they’d improve?
I actually don’t mind the program too much, but I wish they would make a user forum that was easier to navigate…maybe some sort of trouble-shooting system. Frankly, when I go to the forum to look for answers, I’m almost always never sure of what the problem is. That makes it a little harder to look for a solution.
What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
Someone that has a decent understanding of technology, likes things to be simple, but doesn’t mind the occasional technical challenge.
Stacy
February 4th, 2007 12:18 am
I use Blogger because I’m a new to blogging and a little technically challenged. I like that it is easy to use and free, although I do use my own domain, and that is a big benefit. What I don’t like? Blogger doesn’t have a good back up system in place. Who would benefit from Blogger? Newbies like me, and people who are looking for something that is easy to use and but allows you to edit the HTML.
Mike Panic
February 4th, 2007 12:19 am
For one site, I use blogger, publishing to my own server. When I started the blog I wasn’t sure that it would be worth the investment to register a domain name and get hosting. 2 weeks later I did. Blogger was one of the easiest to get up and running and is somewhat easy to configure.
My most recent blog is running Wordpress 2.0.6. I did a little more research for this and talked with several people on forums before choosing it. The ability to easily have several authors was one of the bigger selling points, ease of theme instalations and plug-ins is wonderful and the codex is full of usefull info. In the 6 weeks or so that the site has been live, I’ve been very happy with it. It installed on my server in less then 5 minutes and I had it skinned and ready to start blogging inside of 15.
Maleika
February 4th, 2007 1:13 am
* Which Blog Platform do you Use?
I use ExpressionEngine.
* Why do you use it?
Because it is the most intuitive Blogging and CMS Platform I’ve ever come across.
* What do you love about it?
Ease of use, intuitive interface, the most flexible templating system, 100% customization possibilities, wonderful sorting options, sophisticated and easy-to-use administration system, good and clean framework, speed, search engine friendly, excellent modules/plugins/extensions, great support.
* What do you wish they’d improve?
Gallery capabilities. Tagging.
* What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
Anyone who is a hardcore blogger, likes sophisticated and intuitive interfaces and doesn’t mind it’s not an Open Source product.
Cucirca
February 4th, 2007 1:17 am
Wordpress
Because all the best good things in life are free!!!
Dawud Miracle
February 4th, 2007 1:31 am
Which Blog Platform do you Use?
WordPress. Totally in love with it.
Why do you use it?
Flexibility, expansion, hacking, easy-of-use. Has everything I could ever dream of wanting from my blogware.
What do you love about it?
Aside from what I’ve said, it’s really well documented, and the support community is great. By publishing pages, I even use it as a basic CMS solution for ’static’ client sites. They love the ease of use and the cost.
What do you wish they’d improve?
Some minor functionality in the editor. Ideally, someone would devise a link plugin that would easily let people link between posts and pages from the editor. Like a popup window that lists all your posts and pages and lets you choose one/more to link too.
What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
If you’re self-hosting, ideally you have some basic coding skill and FTP knowledge. If not, willingness to learn it. Otherwise, use WordPress.com for a hosted solution.
AmyT
February 4th, 2007 1:32 am
* Which Blog Platform do you Use?
Mainly WordPress. I have several WordPress blogs, and one on Blogger. In the past I have used Moveable Type and LiveJournal.
* Why do you use it?
I first changed to WordPress simply because it was easy to do so. My website host provided a simple installation of WordPress through an installer called Fantastico. I prefer WordPress now because it’s very easy, customizable, and has a lot of useful plugins to enhance my blogs.
* What do you love about it?
My favorite features are themes, Akismet spam blocking, and the upload feature (lets you upload files/photos and put them in your posts easily). I use plugins that let me do really great things with my sidebar, and let me cross-post to my old livejournal, among other things.
* What do you wish they’d improve?
There is very little I would improve. I notice that in my free WordPress blog there is a “statistics” element that tells me how many page views I get. I would love to have this on my hosted WordPress blogs, way easier than digging through my website logs.
* What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
Any blogger, no kidding. New bloggers will love what they get from a free blog at WordPress.com, and experienced bloggers moving from other systems will love the functionality.
Doug
February 4th, 2007 1:59 am
I use wordpress.
I’m on vers. 2.1 right now.
Self hosted not the wordpress.com thing… that’s too restrictive for my tastes. For instance I like having complete control over the domain name and things like the htaccess file. (I’ve set mine up to remove the www if anyone uses it to get to stogiecast.com - just a personal preference but hosting it allows me to do such things.)
I love the extensibility of it.
Tons of plugins - and it’s fairly well documented.
V 2.1 adds a lot of great enhancements… but I’m hoping the next release incorporates the best plugins. It would be nice not to have to think about all the plugins when you upgrade.
Laurie Harshbarger
February 4th, 2007 2:38 am
I’m using BlogCFC created by Raymond Camden. It’s an open soure setup that is fairly easy to modify and customize. If you’re site is running ColdFusion, you might want to consider this option. I’m in the process of changing my layout this weekend, and my blogs should look quite different by Monday.
Laurie Harshbarger
February 4th, 2007 2:39 am
Gees, my eyes are getting bad. That’s “source” not “soure.” :)
media412
February 4th, 2007 2:41 am
I don’t see any mention of serendipity yet! (http://s9y.org/) I’ve started using this for nearly all of my new sites and I love it. Smarty templating, built-in plugins + Spartacus for downloading and upgrading more plugins and themes…. Supports Akismet, media/photos and a bunch of other stuff straight outta the box.
The Smarty templating is nice but its big limitation is you can’t just stick a php include() in there when you need to.
I used to use wordpress but I’m not a huge fan of the admin interface.
Clint Johnson
February 4th, 2007 2:46 am
I’m another one to put a vote in for Joomla. I started back when blogging was online journaling and the only tools where text editing HTML code… and we had to do it in three feet of snow! I used Blogger when it came on the scene and found it to be too limited so switched to Movable Type and while it was better, I was still unsatisfied. Wordpress was better yet… but I kept searching. Since I have a lot of ideas for what I wanted to put up on my website I figured that a full fledged Content Management System was in order. Gosh golly jee willickers there are a lot of open source CMSs out there! I compared features on the exceptionally useful opensourcecms.com website and settled on Drupal. While it is a fine system, about a year later I was switching hosts and had the chance to clean sheet the platform and after revisiting the options I came to the conclusion that Joomla would be a better fit for me. This is no knock on Drupal since there is basically nothing that Joomla can do that Drupal can’t - or vice versa - it is just that the interface philosophy suits me better. Your millage may vary.
# Why do you use it?
Besides the subjective user interface preference, I have to go with the massive feature list. There isn’t much you can imagine that isn’t available for it out of the box or through plugins and extensions.
# What do you love about it?
The huge and ridiculously dedicated developer community. They are constantly adding new capabilities and features. You have a question, drop into the forums and if it hasn’t already been answered then it will be shortly after you post.
# What do you wish they’d improve?
Speed. It is a tad slow to load pages and save changes while you are in the administrative end of things. The templating is a little more convoluted than I would like… but then again I haven’t really invested a lot of time trying to grok it.
# What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
This isn’t for the casual blogger, you need to have some technical skills, although not all that much if you can follow the reasonably well documented step by step installation instructions. If everything goes right it is easy as pie… but if the installation goes all pie shaped then… not so much with the easy. While Joomla is free, you still have to find a place to host it and I don’t know any free hosting sites that have the server side capabilities and backend access that is required so you will have to pay - but there are $5 hosting packages at places like GoDaddy and IX Webhosting.
If you aren’t going to take advantage of all the features of a CMS then it is a little bit of overkill. Actually, it is a lotta bit of overkill. A midway point is a hosted CMS like Bryght.com with Drupal. It costs more than rolling your own but it might be well worth it for the PHP, MySQL and CSS challenged.
AJ Cann
February 4th, 2007 3:01 am
All of them! How else can you stay uop to date with such a rapidly moving technology!
Al-Kanz
February 4th, 2007 3:20 am
Wordpress 2.0
Erek Ostrowski
February 4th, 2007 4:10 am
I use Word Press. I’m a relatively new blogger and the flexibility and price were both attractive to me when I was choosing a platform. One of the challenges I’m starting to deal with is making my Blog look a little less bloggy. I wish there were more options available for customizing the layout and flow of the site. Some of the documentation I’ve read, about creating a static homepage for example, is way over my head as a newbie, so my options are a bit limited by my own ignorance. Other than that, Word Press does allow for alot of simple customization within the limits of the template you choose.
Darnell Clayton
February 4th, 2007 4:10 am
I definitely prefer blogger over wordpress (yeah, you heard me!) and Moveable Type.
Reason? A lot more flexible to use without extra knowledge of HTML, CSS, etc. so that you can focus on blogging instead of coding.
But if you are a coder, Blogger has opened up its gates to allow you to customize the site as well, something the wordpress hosted sites (to my knowledge) don’t allow.
Also, having Google host it on their servers makes it even better, and they have done an excellent job at filtering the spam.
Those are my reasons. :-)
Phil Newton
February 4th, 2007 5:01 am
WordPress with Akismet. I don’t think I’d still be blogging if I didn’t have some form of spam defence, so Akismet is essential.
The only big thing I’d improve would be the use of custom fields and page management. I use WordPress as a CMS for a few sites, and although it does a grand job it still makes life harder than it should be. Custom field declarations in templates and an explorer style view of pages would make me a very happy man.
Anthony C
February 4th, 2007 5:04 am
I really am enjoying reading this blog, I found this article quite helpful…
Great site!
~Anthony C
Mark Rogers
February 4th, 2007 5:06 am
Textpattern because it is easy to customize. I like the fact that I can create a website with a text editor using modern web design standards, then just plug the whole thing into Textpattern.
Jonk
February 4th, 2007 5:11 am
http://www.theage.com.au/news/cricket/save-the-wave/2007/02/03/1169919581889.html
I was in the news again today yeh yeh yeh!
QMusings » Blog Archive » Why I Use WordPress As My Blog Platform
February 4th, 2007 6:47 am
[…] Darren Rowse of ProBlogger asks :Which blogging platform do you use and why? […]
bernard
February 4th, 2007 6:49 am
I have been using Pmachine since 1997 and recently also Expression Engine for starting up a corporate blog as it had to hold all kind of keywords in the generated urls, something the Pmachine set up did not handle.
I do prefer working with Pmachine though as it is to me a lot easier to handle and I only wish they would have continued offering commercial licenses. Now I am forced to go Expression Engine though… :)
Ms. Q
February 4th, 2007 6:50 am
I’ve posted why I chose WordPress and Darren is partially to blame!
http://qmusings.com/blog/2007/02/03/why-i-use-wordpress-as-my-blog-platform/
Alex
February 4th, 2007 7:21 am
I use WordPress, as it’s fast, stable, and the functions are easy to tweak into new designs. Simple, reliable.
I don’t create typical “blogs” that often, but I use WordPress as a CMS for most sites, just because of its versatility.
Webmaster Mike
February 4th, 2007 7:27 am
Why I like Movable Type…
We use Movable Type to look after eight websites including two that are not blogs. If you have a lot of content and it can be categorized and tagged, it probably makes sense to use a content management system like Movable Type….
Wizard of Auctions
February 4th, 2007 7:55 am
I use Blogger. I investigated other platforms, but it looked like the learning curve was too steep for me to invest the required time.
This probably makes me typical of the average person who contemplates launching a blog: limited technical skills and a desire to be up and running as quickly and painlessly as possible. Sure, it’s not the most feature rich service, but life is about balancing your considerations.
Cameron
February 4th, 2007 8:08 am
I’ve been using Wordpress for about six months now, and love it. I originally started with the wordpress.com hosted version, mainly because it was free and had some good features. Now I’ve switched it over to my own server, and have integrated it with a broader website. Now I’m happy because of the ease of use and flexibility. It only took me about 10 minutes to get set up on my new server and get all of my posts imported. I’ve found that the structure does a lot for my google rankings too. I’ve had a few websites in the past that never did well in google, but my blog does pretty decent!
l0ne
February 4th, 2007 8:13 am
I’ve used Blogger. I’ve used Splinder (ita). I’ve used Wordpress on my own hosted space. They were too much, not customizable enough, hard to make a custom theme, not quite what I wanted.
In the end I just wrote my own, that I call Scripta (as in “verba volant, scripta manent”).
http://millenomi.altervista.org/blog/
Danny
February 4th, 2007 8:15 am
I use Blogger, no reason in particular. When I got the idea to create a blog a couple of days ago, the first blogplatform I found was Blogger. I consider it an easy to use platform, but I have no idea if there are free platform which have an easier UI. The only thing that bothers me though is the bar at the top, but thats about the only price you pay for free blogging.
iloilo
February 4th, 2007 8:31 am
I can see that Joomla guys outnumbered the Drupal guys so I’ll have to say Drupal. It can a wholelottathings.
_leech_
February 4th, 2007 8:34 am
I started out with Blogger but moved on to Wordpress. I still use Blogger for quick personal blogs or when I just want to write something, but Wordpress is definitely my choice for something more professional. There are some really well thought out and clean themes available, it has full widget support, and it supports hundreds of plug-ins. It all comes down to the amount of control I have over the look and feel of my blog, and Wordpress offers plenty of control and customization options. Some people aren’t comfortable messing around with CSS and HTML or simply don’t have the time, and that’s understandable, but it’s definitely worthwhile and the rewards are great.
Brennan
February 4th, 2007 11:08 am
I use (and recommend) Wordpress 2.1 (hosted on my server), for several reasons. Once you know your way around, its pretty easy to use. It publishes posts quickly, and the posts show up immediately. Out of all of the blog platforms I’ve tried, its no doubt, the fastest.
WP has been reliable and hack-proof. The system’s user registration is very simple, but effective. I love that it is free, and is constantly being updated, upgraded and developed by the owners. There are countless plugins and templates for WP, making it very compatable. The system is flexible, and just overall easy.
I don’t really have any complaints about Wordpress, right now. It probably wouldn’t be a great (but not horrible) idea for “new” bloggers. It does involve some established knowledge of blogging.
Steve N.
February 4th, 2007 11:32 am
On my main site I use Joomla’s CMS, which is great. What I did was to use a wrapper linking my blog from Blogger. As some have shared, for a quick entry, I like Blogger and because I found some decent templates outside of those offered by Blogger, it’s fine. I might venture into WordPress later on, but for now Blogger suits my needs.
egon
February 4th, 2007 12:14 pm
When I first decided to start blogging, I didn’t know anything about any of the platforms or anything. I looked around at all of the free ones I could find, and saw that most people were using Wordpress and it looked very popular. I wanted full control and to host it myself, so I didn’t consider blogger or any of those. I went with Wordpress because it was the most popular, and I figured there was a reason for that. I didn’t want want to spend the time trying all of them and Wordpress worked fine.
There are a few things about it that bother me, like it’s picture uploading for example, it’s not very convenient. And when I want to use an original-size picture, it automatically resizes it to thumbnail size and I have to go in and resize it manually, that’s frustrating. And when it tries to auto-correct my HTML and removes breaks where I want there to be one, stuff like that. I don’t like having to hack around things just to make it work right.
Talia Mana, Centre for Emotional Well-Being
February 4th, 2007 12:37 pm
I use blogger but I am not a big fan of it. Their customer service is poor and they release products and enhancements that have not been properly tested.
I think blogger is great for personal bloggers and journals but for probloggers I think other platforms are better. I will migrate (one day), but I haven’t had the time to sort it yet.
Shiva
February 4th, 2007 1:43 pm
* Which Blog Platform do you Use?
— SubText 1.9.2.30
* Why do you use it?
— Easy to set up and configure. Very simple and built on .Net Technology.
* What do you love about it?
— Like I said, very easy to set up and configure. I was also looking for a .Net based blogging engine so that I can customize and extend it to specifically be what I want it to be.
* What do you wish they’d improve ?
— Include more SEO related changes in future releases. Also better Skins i.e. templates.
* What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
— Anyone currently using Wordpress or PHP based engines. SubText is so much easier to manage !.
feral cat
February 4th, 2007 2:07 pm
Textpattern, light and flexible and I feel most comfortable working with it. I’ve played with Wordpress but never used it for a production site; I may do in the future when I have time to mess about with it more. More people should take a look at Textpattern though it’s got great potential for creating all kinds of sites not just blogs.
Vern
February 4th, 2007 2:35 pm
Hmm, I use Blogger now for everything. I have 9 blogs. I tried WordPress and I just don’t “get it”. What really turned me off was their wording to the effect of…”we don’t allow javascript on our blogs because it is not secure… a hacker shut down some sites through a javascript code vulnerability… blah blah blah… and then to end it, “Is your site more important than every site on our server?” or something childish like that. Blogger does it - why can’t you guys figure it out?
I had just started a blog on WP, posted about 8 times and then I realize - I can’t add ADSENSE to my blog! What the heck? I looked for some plugins that would allow me to do it and couldn’t find any. From what I’ve just read here - it can be done - yes? No matter. I ripped the site down and started again at Blogspot address and no worries.
I like (not love) Blogger because it’s integrated quite well with Adsense, Google Analytics, Google groups, my personalized homepage with Google. I have all my blogs at the homepage via their feeds. Blogger is easy for neophytes like me. They even allow me to buy my own domain and they’ll point it at blogspot for me - but visitors think it’s all at my site. I have yet to try that but it may be an option later. I’m excited about whatever changes are in the works for Blogger since they have some talented people working on it.
I wish they had some way for me to add link units into my posts - not just at the end of my post, but WITHIN them… the link units of 4 or 5 links going across the page do well for me on my regular site - but with my blogs I can only put adsense on the right column or after my blog entries. I want to be able to put adsense ANYWHERE I need to. Especially within my posts.
Bloggers that would benefit from it are those that need something intuitive. It’s blogging for dummies 101. I had zero knowledge of blogging coming in just a month ago. Already, after using blogger and reading Darren’s and 3 other blogs I’m indexed at Google and have $2 per week coming in! :) Big money coming… it’s coming…
Mike
February 4th, 2007 4:38 pm
For some “quickie” blogs, I use WordPress. However, I have a home-grown solution I use for my main blog. I’m enamored with WP - the depth into which it goes is simply amazing. For something to be that good and to be free is unbelievable. I host my own WP blogs rather than using the free WP service — I own the server, so why not?
kca
February 4th, 2007 5:05 pm
i was thinking to make the move on WP, until Blogger upgraded their platform, and now i quite “satisfy” with Blogger and i will stick with it.
And with regards to the previous comment, it seems that Blogger got the point:
- Easy to use (even a 7 years old child can use it)
- No hosting requiered
- FREE
- Free image hosting (very important for me @.@)
- Compatibility with the Google services
- Free bandwidth
- Fully customizable.
Now the bad point is:
- You r marry with Google: They have a right of life or of died on your blog.
- No PHP
- Too many bugs
- Lack of support
- Lack of plugins and themes (it s killing me)
online digital photo printing
February 4th, 2007 5:57 pm
wordpress. Too many hacking but I still use because of all the plugins. Wordpress=World of Plugins
Elber
February 4th, 2007 6:19 pm
* Which Blog Platform do you Use?
I started with Blogger in 2003. I moved to Wordpress in late 2006 when I got my own domain.
* Why do you use it?
* What do you love about it?
I liked Blogger because it was the first thing I came across. I also liked it better than LiveJournal because I could edit my HTML files directly. I couldn’t be bothered with learning LJ’s management system - not when I had some knowledge of HTML and CSS.
I switched to Wordpress on the recommendation of some of my friends (the same ones who convinced me to get my own domain). I like the fact that I can rely on plugins & widgets to automate a number of things I used to do manually, and still tweak the HTML. I also like the fact that my friends and I can share tips when we learn new things about WP.
* What do you wish they’d improve?
I’m not sure yet. Some of the things I wished for were answered by v2.1, but I haven’t upgraded yet.
* What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
Practically any blogger. It’s easy enough for a beginner to use (I know somebody who never blogged before using it) and the use of plugins should allow more advanced users to customize it to their needs.
jhay
February 4th, 2007 7:45 pm
I use WordPress, and would continue to do so until I stop blogging. I love it because of its great features, easy to use. hundreds of free themes, functionalities via the plugins, everything that a serious blogger needs.
Swollen Pickles
February 4th, 2007 9:46 pm
Which Blog Platform do you Use? WordPress
Why do you use it? 1) because it’s free 2) because it’s easy enough for me to use 3) the range of plugins you can download to make you blog better and easier to use.
What do you love about it? The price :P the plugins, and the fact that it doesn’t take much to learn how to customise it.
What do you wish they’d improve? Possibly the side bar widgets, if it would be possible to use a drag and drop style thing for the whole page, so you can drag content fields to different spots etc.
What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
Someone who wants to move off a blogspot site and start something with their own domain but isn’t really big on programming etc.
Walter Cruz
February 5th, 2007 12:00 am
I use b2evolution since 0.92, cause it supports multiple blogs, has a cool comunity, has a very clean and well manteined sourcecode. I love the plugins API! In this year, I wait clean URLs for categories in b2evo.
Sharon
February 5th, 2007 12:59 am
I was all set to use Wordpress but because of the comments here, I checked out Joomla and… wow, that seems really slick. Now I’m not sure but leaning toward Joomla!
Tamar Weinberg
February 5th, 2007 2:09 am
I currently use Wordpress. I used to have MovableType (from the 2.x days) and I loved it even though I found it considerably difficult to install.
When I got into reading more blogs, it was all about seeing them running on Wordpress, and there were so many plugins and themes available which made things easier.
I made the switch to Wordpress and don’t think I am going to consider MT in the near future. I personally found MT’s setup as of lately (even today) extremely cumbersome with requiring files to go in the cgi-bin directory (Wordpress doesn’t have such restrictions)… it’s an absolute mess compared to the ease of Wordpress. Worse, certain hosts have even more frustrating restrictions (like if you run the site on a Plesk control panel, you have to make sure that you disable cgi-bin support — or at least that’s how I got it to work!
The reasons why I previously didn’t use Wordpress have been because it felt more unsecure and I heard about it being exploited all too often — but even those fears have been alleviated and I also update frequently enough that I feel more comfortable using it.
Vera
February 5th, 2007 2:10 am
I currently use Wordpress - although I am not happy with it. My server company insists a lot of my troubles come from issues with the Wordpress software. The only reason why I haven’t switched over to MT is because they don’t have the “next page / previous page” functionality yet. It is my understanding that you have so many posts on your page and then the rest is in archives OR you have to hard code the page numbers on the bottom of your screen.
As soon as they make that part of their design, I will switch over.. I make money off of my page views (as I am sure we all do) and cannot risk losing out on functionality at this time. So I wait… patiently.
Siddharth Thakkar
February 5th, 2007 5:27 am
▪ Which Blog Platform do you Use?
I’ve recently started a Wordpress.com blog.
▪ Why do you use it?
It’s simple, works on my BlackBerry’s browser perfectly and it’s free!
▪ What do you love about it?
It’s really simple and has a whole lotta themes that are clean and neat. It works very well on my BlackBerry and posting from my phone is damn easy. It also has a great support team and a buzzing community forum for help.
▪ What do you wish they’d improve?
Get faster servers! Their speed sometimes is slooooow!
▪ What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
Definitely hobby bloggers. Since you cannot insert java script based ads (like Google Adsense), you cannot monetise the blog. So, it’s a great place to start for beginners and hobby bloggers.
Overall, I find WP.com a wonderful platform. Although it is not as customizable as self-hosted WordPress blogs, it’s definitely a place to be if you want something right off the shelf.
Siddharth Thakkar
Tom
February 5th, 2007 5:37 am
I’m trying to get South Africans to blog, so my extensive (and hopefully educational) answer to this post can be found here.
Allie
February 5th, 2007 8:26 am
* Which Blog Platform do you Use?
Blogger
* Why do you use it?
I googled “blog hosting” and of course it came up since it is part of Google, a company I have great respect for.
* What do you love about it?
Its soooo easy. It does all the book-keeping and archives for me. Its very simple to add images to and the templates are easy to customize and look proffesional, unlike most WP designs, the blogger ones seem very pulled together.
The editing for your posts and settings are easy to navigate. If you need to change something, you never have to click thru 2000000 pages to find the one you need, its very organized and proffesional. You also get better listing with the Google search engine since you are automatically part of Google. You also get a subdomain, not a domain.com/~yoursite. You can even change the subdomain if you want to! Lastly, it isnt overly simple, so I can fool around with the HTML at will.
* What do you wish they’d improve?
I dont have a problem with much, except for the blackouts, but they are almost always scheduled so I dont really have a problem with them.
* What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
I think any blogger would benefit from using Blogger. Its very simple to use, but allows for incredible changes if you can do the coding. Beginners and gurus alike can take advantage of its many benefits.
http://aveganlife.blogspot.com (freely hosted by Blogger)
engtech
February 5th, 2007 9:03 am
* Which Blog Platform do you Use?
Wordpress.com
* Why do you use it?
Free wordpress hosting, high search engine rankings from using it, it’s better than blogger :)
* What do you love about it?
I like getting the new Wordpress features before everyone else, and being able to provide feedback.
* What do you wish they’d improve?
The lack of javascript support, being able to change your feed address, and CSS being a custom upgrade makes it a less attractive platform for power users. The way themes are done for the multiuser platform are borked. No theme can satisfy all needs for a user… I’d like to see people making less themes and doing more CSS stylings for existing themes — and more focus on making themes like Sandbox that are designed to be solid frameworks for CSS.
* What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
Someone who is not trying to monetize their blog and would rather choose from an existing design than create their own — they just want to put their content on the net with minimal hassles and without having to learn PHP, HTML, CSS, etc.
Blogging Jace
February 5th, 2007 11:23 am
* Which Blog Platform do you Use?
Wordpress
* Why do you use it?
I find it is the easiest to set up and admin. Plus I can use software like rsstoblog and rsbmi with it
* What do you love about it?
The ease of use and compatibility with other blogging tools
* What do you wish they’d improve?
The upgrading procedure, a one click upgrade from the admin would be amazing
* What type of blogger would benefit from using it?
Anyone from a beginner to advanced user
isa costa * the geek side » Que plataforma para “blogar” usas e porquê?
February 5th, 2007 12:36 pm
[…] O Darren Rowse desafiou os seus leitores a responder a um questionário sobre a plataforma que estes usam e recomendam para manter um blog, de modo a recolher experiências que possam ser úteis a outros (futuros) bloggers. […]
Bob
February 5th, 2007 2:09 pm
I use blogger since they started up the beta. I really like how it is intergrated into google and my blog was almost immediately crawled by google. The coding is a little hard at first but I fingured out how to but up a custom banner and add another column. I would recommend it for the ease of use and preference by google. I hear that wordpress is better though for an advanced user.
Simon
February 6th, 2007 3:41 am
I use blogger because it was the first one I found that did what I initially wanted, two and a half years ago. Generally happy with it.
volkan.ozcelik
February 6th, 2007 5:31 am
I moved to wordpress after having seen that blogger beta could not handle my large blogs properly for some reason (which I simply name ‘blogger beta sucks’ in my blog — I don’t care whether or not the problem persists. I actually thank the blogger team for that accident since it pushed me to consider using wordpress)
If you are a developer/designer kinda guy and you know php to a certain degree, wordpress is an excellent blogging platform to tweak (many wordpress blogs do not even look like a blog).
If you are not one of those (quote unquote) “geek”s, then wordpress has thousands of free templates you can choose (a much large set than blogger’s builtin templates). There are also commercial templates around sold at quite resonable prices.
HTH.
Plataforma de blog: o quê e porquê? ‹ lâmpada azul
February 6th, 2007 5:35 am
[…] Tendo tomado conhecimento pela Isa, decidi divulgar (e, de certa forma, aderir) à iniciatia de Darren Rowse: Which Blogging Platform Do You Use and Why? — Open Mike. […]
João Craveiro
February 6th, 2007 5:38 am
It is in Portuguese, but still might be useful for those able to read it that pass by:
Plataforma de blog: o quê e porquê?
(title translation: “blogging platform: which and why?”)
For the purpose, I dissected both WordPress and LiveJournal — which I use for antipodal kinds of blog.
Malcolm Owen
February 6th, 2007 6:56 am
Which Blog Platform do you Use? - Wordpress
Why do you use it? - I have another smaller blog on Blogspot, and I found the system to be a bit of a pain to use for updates. It’s me just being a User Interface Snob. Wordpress did attract me for a few things. Aside from Dreamhost having it as a one click install, it also meant it would be on webspace that I had control over, so I had more freedom compared to a Blogspot hosted account.
What do you love about it? - The fact that Ecto works with it…
What do you wish they’d improve? - …Can’t think of anything really…
What type of blogger would benefit from using it? - One that is fed up of using services that are hosted elsewhere to where you want it hosted at.
VarDump
February 11th, 2007 3:33 am
Qual o motor deste Blogue e Por que?…
Introdução
O Darren Rowse fez uma provocação aos seu leitores para descobrir qual a plataforma que eles usam e por que? Como eu não acompanho o blogue dele, fiquei sabendo graças a esta entrada no blogue do João Craveiro, que descobri graças…
Sérgio Blog 2.3
February 11th, 2007 3:34 am
Qual o motor deste Blogue e Por que?…
Introdução
O Darren Rowse fez uma provocação aos seu leitores para descobrir qual a plataforma que eles usam e por que? Como eu não acompanho o blogue dele, fiquei sabendo graças a esta entrada no blogue do João Craveiro, que descobri graças…
Erjati
February 11th, 2007 2:05 pm
I’ve done two sites for clients using Joomla and while the backend is someowhat complex, its really only a matter of remembering where all the various settings are, and learning how to make the pages as you want them. I used to do sites in Dreamweaver, but I may never again, after using Joomla. Blogging is fully supported, and you can make it more than a blog with all manner of pages, all of which can end up in the blog. Timed publishing is built in, and there are litte buttons you can make appear that will link to a generated acrobat file, mailto link, and print link for the article being viewed. There are modules for creating complex forms and all sorts of things.
I was looking over Wordpress for my next two projects which will be a fiction blog and a philosophy blog, but now I’m realizing I may really want to stay with Joomla. There are over 1300 extensions, many of which are free, and over a thousand templates/themes, all of which can be edited.
Wordpress has a good rep, and so