Everyone, Hello. I've been writing professionally for a while now; even blogging through basic blogspot and wordpress blogs. The problem here is that I'd like to set up one major blog that I can devote my time to; basically, my blog baby. While I've used basic WordPress, I'm not much of a techie and am not that familiar with customizing it. My question to all the experienced Pressers is: to install a theme (other than the ones on the website) or setup AdSense, do I need to buy any upgrades? I mean in Blogger, you can just customize the themes yourself. Can that be done in WordPress? Also, if one doesn't need to upgrade to anything to display AdSense ads, how exactly am I supposed to go about it? Any help will be appreciated.
You don't need to upgrade anything. It is very simple to customize the template from the admin panel.
Nikolas, I like the look of Web2announcer.com. How to get the rssfeed for my blogs? One of them is Blog.SEOgeek.com
You have to make it clear whether you are using self-hosted WordPress or WordPress.com free blog. You need to buy upgrade to use custom CSS but not adsense.
I was using the free blog. I've switched to blogger for now; WP was getting way too complicated for me. But just for learning sake, how does one install adsense on a WP blog? And once again, if I find a template I would like to use, can I install that without upgrading? How would I go about doing that?
Yes the themes can be tweaked, but if you are not familiar with CSS layouts and what they represent, I wouldn't attempt it. Usually you can find a decent template and manipulate the feel with a few additions to the template files.
U think WP is complicated because u try it on WordPress.com with all the restriction and limited option rather than self-hosted WP. Come on you are a pro writer. Buying a hosting isn't that expensive If you want to go on with WP.com there's a VIP hosting http://wordpress.com/vip-hosting/
Haha Zeo, it isn't about the cost of hosting or buying a domain, it's more about how I wouldn't know what the hell to do with them. I may be a professional writer, but I'm definitely not a site-building/developing/marketing guru. I definitely have a lot to learn; which is why I'm going with blogger for now. Once the site starts getting traffic and gets listed in search engines, I'll think about improving the look etc. Thanks again for the advice though!
Simplicity comes at a cost. Saying that I am going to just use blogger for now because it is simpler is kind of like saying that I am just going to walk from LA to New York because buying an airline ticket is too complicated. I am not saying that blogger is bad for everyone, however, your started off by saying that you write professionally and that you want to devote time to major blog which will be your baby. You don't look very professional in my mind when you use a free host.
I agree. Simplicity does come at a cost. But it's a cost I'm willing to take. I've seen a number of popular blogs e.g. postsecret.blogspot.com (makes a lot of Top 10 lists) using free hosts. I don't think that undermines their professionalism. It just shows that they're focussing all their energy on providing their visitors with the best content, instead of worrying about complicated designs (and what they come across as.) I know I'm good at writing and I'd like to offer my advice to (potential) visitors because I know I can bank on it. What I can't bank on is coming up with a working blog by getting into the domain/ hosting/ WordPress game. I get what you're saying though. The blog would obviously look a lot better if I placed it on a domain and got a unique template; it's just that I'd like to experiment with a basic system first - and if it works out - maybe go ahead and jump into the next pool. While the blog is going to be my new baby, I'm not setting it up to generate a great big revenue stream. It's my creative baby. I make more than enough from my writing, so this is just a creative project for me. Oh and taking a walk from LA to New York would probably be more complicated that buying an airline ticket. Bad analogy.
WordPress is very easy to use and customize. If you don't know much about HTML or CSS then just make a post here at DP in the help wanted sections, or search for "WordPress templates" here and you will find quite a few people who will do this for you at a nice rate.
I am glad that you like my site You can use a plugin like this to get the feed to your blog, or our own plugin if you want to integrate our top tags to your blog.
Save yourself the headaches later and use wordpress on your own domain. I promise the blogger decision will be one you regret later.