Comments on: Egalitarian blogging for a pair?

Question: Egalitarian blogging for a pair?

Captain Cardanthian! — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 21:30:38 -0800

What is the best (free or very cheap) blog platform for a dual-authored blog in which both authors have their own logins, but neither is the administrator?

I'm looking for something that is both relatively simple to use and customizable without hoops or fees. My ideal situation would be that when either of us posts to the blog, it will automatically say "posted by Cardanthian" or "posted by Friendanthian" as appropriate. Both logins should have equal power in the blog, so either A) neither one of us needs to approve the other's posts, or B) we both have to approve the other's posts. A notification when the other person posts would be nice but not mandatory. I'd also like a way to make collaborative blog posts, both from the same computer (pretty easy) and over the internet (maybe harder). This is going to be a project where uploading photos and videos is vital, so that needs to be hassle-free. Is there anything out there that fits these criteria? Is there anything else I need to be looking for in a collaborative blog?

(I have seen this question, but as it's nearly three years old and I've read conflicting reports about Wordpress in general, I thought I'd look for new options.)

By: misterbrandt

misterbrandt — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 21:52:30 -0800

Posterous? You could both be administrators, although technically one of you would be the "owner" I think (invisible to your visitors). But nobody would need to approve anyone else's posts, if that's all you mean. You can both sign up for email notifications (they just added an "instant" option, rather than the old "daily digest" email).

By: fifilaru

fifilaru — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 21:59:08 -0800

I have made collaborative blogs at Blogger. It will do what you want.

By: John Cohen

John Cohen — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 22:02:04 -0800

This explains how it works on Blogger.

By: myrrh

myrrh — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 22:26:50 -0800

I've done this in Wordpress; my solution involved creating a (basically unused) administrator account, and, in your case, two additional user accounts at the "Editor" level (Wordpress codex: Roles).

By: patricking

patricking — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 23:05:10 -0800

WP does it. we use the functionality on a regular basis at imprint.printmag.com; there are two of us who post daily and a revolving cast of extras throughout the week. works like a charm; never had any conflicts with the admin account.

By: Mad_Carew

Mad_Carew — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:19:41 -0800

We do this using MovableType. We started out with blogs for ourselves, added some friends, and got bored before they did.

There are a variety of licenses, but for non-commercial use by individuals, it's free

By: thsmchnekllsfascists

thsmchnekllsfascists — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 12:25:05 -0800

Wordpress is going to be, by far, the most versatile option out there. It can easily handle what you're trying to do. As far as collaborative editing/posting over the internet—at least if you're planning on editing the same document in real time—you might have to find a plug-in.