Free online blog host that allows post categorization?

January 22, 2005 11:20 PM

Is there a free (some ads okay) online bloghosting service that allows you to categorize posts? For example, could I post something, categorize as "school," and then on the side of the page have a list of categories so I could click there and access those posts quickly?

blogthing seems to do it, but are not accepting new accounts presently. It seems to me that MovableType can do this, but I am awful at learning how to use such things properly.
posted by synecdoche to computers & internet (11 comments total)

Squarespace does, I think. I was messing around with it a couple of weeks ago.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:29 PM on January 22, 2005

If I hear you correctly, you just want a list of all categories as a sidebar on your weblog, and if someone clicks on one of the categories, it will display all entries in that category?

This should do it in movable type...
<MTArchiveList archive_type="Category">
<a href="<$MTArchiveLink$>"><$MTArchiveTitle$> (<$MTCategoryCount$>)</a><br />
</MTArchiveList>


It will display a list of all your categories, plus the number of entries in that category.

An example of this code above in use is at (shameless plug) my running blog about 2/3'ds of the way down the page on the right hand side.

Just make sure you turn on Category Archiving (Weblog Config -> Archiving -> Category Archive)

Hope this helps.

-B
posted by burhan at 11:47 PM on January 22, 2005

Thanks-- Squarespace looks great but it is only free for a month. The MovableType solution looks cool, but I don't even know where to begin setting that up. The letters SQL frighten me.
posted by synecdoche at 11:56 PM on January 22, 2005

It's actually quite easy...

In movable type, go to your templates section and edit the main template.

copy and paste one of the other sidebar sections (i.e. Links).

Change the title from "links" to "Category Archive" (or whatever). Then paste the code from above over the link information that you just pasted.
posted by burhan at 12:35 AM on January 23, 2005

burhan, synecdoche was asking for 'a free online bloghosting service'. Moveable type is neither. Typepad would almost fit the bill, but it's not free. Blogger, I guess, still does not have categories.

synecdoche: Squarespace is free for longer than a month, but with a reduced featureset after the first 30 days. Whether that reduced featureset includes categories, I don't know.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:08 AM on January 23, 2005

The people who run Baltiblogs also run several other location centered blogs, all powered by MT.

ATLANTABLOGS | BERKELEYBLOGS | BOSTONBLOGS | CHATTABLOGS | COVBLOGS | MONROEBLOGS | NOLABLOGS | NSABLOGS | SANDIEGOBLOGS | SEATTLEBLOGS | VERMONTBLOGS | VICKSBURGBLOGS, perhaps one of them will work for you.
(sorry about the formatting, I just cut and copied from the bottom of their page)
posted by TuxHeDoh at 6:26 AM on January 23, 2005

There's a free hosting service for wordpress blogs, but the name and URL escapes me. It'd be a free blog host with categories.
posted by mathowie at 9:48 AM on January 23, 2005

I am going to have to reccommend learning HTML for Moveable Type. I did it. Bitched about it for the first couple of weeks, but there is help out there, and really, you can do it. It's very much worth it.

Otherwise you're just going to have to pay.
posted by scazza at 1:21 PM on January 23, 2005

Matt, is this what you are referring to?: Blogsome.com, Blogthing.com

They seem pretty reasonable - free space in return for the profits from unubtrusive Google text ads. I'd be wary though, as the terms of service allow them to yank your site, basically, whenever they feel like it.
posted by Popular Ethics at 9:30 AM on January 24, 2005

And MovableType can be run without SQL -- that's how I'm running my weblog.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 10:22 AM on January 24, 2005

Popular Ethics: Blogsome does exactly what I want. Thanks very much.

And thanks everyone else for all the input, too!
posted by synecdoche at 4:06 PM on January 24, 2005