Hi All, Thanks in advance for any and all input regarding my dilemma. I went and got my domain name, and a web server to host it what I want to do now is start my first blog site, but I am overwhelmed by all there is out there, I think I have narrowed it down to either Blogger or Wordpress, can you tell me what I may be in for with either as far as features, and ease of set up, and building functions like adding feeds and such? Do I need any additional software to build pages and publish, i D/L'd Wordpress, but have not run the install, probably because I don't understand the provided directions, I am not at all multi code savvy (php asp ect..), but I have intermediate html skills! Thanks again, TSG!
Hello mate. It seems that you havn't introduce yourself to all of us. Welcome to DP. As far as blogging is concern am facing the same problem. Just today I have brought a domain name and hosting. I can answer your one question. Just Go for Wordpress. Blogger is not a wise choice if you are having your own hosting.
Sorry, for skipping the introduction, as this topic is where I came in, and didn't think of it, not having come in at the forum home page! Well thanks, that's one step in the right direction!
You do need to know a little bit about setting up online databases to run your own hosted Wordpress. Either forget your own hosting and just point the domain at blogger or use some client side CMS software which is easier to set up but doesn't have the facility for others to add comments to like most blogs do.
There are many bettre content management systems than WP im using Drupal which is better but WP is maybe more user friendly for begginer. You can alsoo try joomla, blog:cms, xoops etc... Good luck
Hope to help but exuse me if this sounds like an advertisment. I run many blogs and I use wp. I also use hostgator to host all of them . they use cpanel with fantastico, a one click and your wp blog is installed. Just love it.......
WP is quite popular and because of that reason the support is great too. There are lots of plugins, and if you have fantastico, installing it is easy. There are video tutorials on how to install too.
I'm a bit biased since all my blogs are on wordpress, but I knew dick squat when I first started blogging and using Fantastico with cpanel was a snap. I love all the plugins that Wordpress has, and the support at their forum is great if you ever get stuck with anything. I went with blogger in the very beginning, and I regret that decision big time! I had to start over completely from scratch but I used Wordpress the second timea round and I feel more secure with my blogs now.
I hate to be a dissenting voice, but for simplicity on a plain hosting environment for someone that wants to avoid PHP, databases and anything else, I would highly recommend Blogger. You can post via FTP from Blogger, so that will allow you to host it at your provider with your domain. Yes, on my one Wordpress blog, it was installed through cPanel/Fantastico and it was easy to set up from there. However, if your host does not provide these or you don't install them first and all you have is an empty FTP folder at your web host, then I'd go with Blogger. One of the advertised advantages I saw with Wordpress was that it had more templates. How happy do you think I was after the first fresh install of Wordpress when I looked at the settings and found only TWO installed templates? Sure there are hundreds available online that you can download and install, but if you know where to look you can find the same thing for Blogger. I've never regretted using Blogger, but then again, I've never regretted anything (/liar).
I used a free asp.net blogger from http://presstopia.com It's open source and people are adding on to it... I used it on my ringtones site and it's working well. I put two entries on my home page as a teaser in a control and direct users to the full blog directory from there. PM me if you need assistance setting this up. It's pretty easy though.
I'd definitely recommend going with Wordpress over Blogger. I've heard too many horror stories of people's Blogger blogs getting pulled for no apparent reason. With Wordpress at least you fully own the blog, and have complete control over it unlike Blogger blogs. As far as your self-professed lack of skills when it comes to coding I think you're short selling yourself. Wordpress has a myriad of plugins to do just about anything you want and once you've installed a couple the process just gets easier. In any case, there is no shortage of free help and resources available to you in case you get stuck.
Wow, what a response, thank you all for your input, i went with wordpress for blog, and mybb123 for forums! TSG!