Alternatives to CaringBridge

November 22, 2012 7:29 PM

Are there any good alternatives to CaringBridge?

I have a friend who was just diagnosed with breast cancer, and she is concerned that some of the people she's trying to keep in the loop are not going to be able to navigate CaringBridge. Are there any good alternatives? She considered Facebook, but privacy is a priority and of course you need to have an account to see anything on FB. She's also considering a password-protected blog.
My google-fu is letting me down, here.

posted by gingerest to health & fitness (8 answers total)

I have used SignupGenius to organize meals/errands/childcare for a friend with cancer and would recommend it. Good luck to you and your friend...
posted by lgandme0717 at 7:44 PM on November 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

I've been "in the loop" twice through Caring Bridge, and as a way to get information posted by the family, and to send encouraging emails, it seemed very simple to use. She can also designate someone(s) to post updates if she doesn't feel like it.

If your friend wants a way to organize help, I've heard good things about lotsahelpinghands.com. I haven't used it myself. Best wishes to her.
posted by kestralwing at 7:58 PM on November 22, 2012

When my boss was ill with her brain tumor a friend set up the caringbridge account for her. A lot of Carol's friends were not that websavvy but all they needed was just the password and voila, the site came up. I explained it to a ton of people myself, and very few people actually had any trouble with access, and those few with a bit of help managed just fine.


If your friend is considering a password protected blog, she might as well go ahead and use caringbridge as functionally that is how it wound up working.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 8:00 PM on November 22, 2012

You don't need to password protect CaringBridge if you don't want - it makes it way easier for users to navigate.
posted by radioamy at 8:32 PM on November 22, 2012 [1 favorite]

During cancertimes, I used a WordPress blog, and blocked it from search engines. I adjusted the comment settings so I only had to approve the first comment posted by any of my people. My circle's kind of small, so maybe this won't work for her, but I've only been aware of visitors to whom I've given the URL; otherwise, it feels pretty private, and I don't have to explain to my father how to sign in with a password. Also, I don't have my name on it anywhere, though there are some photos of me in posts.
posted by strivesc at 9:01 PM on November 22, 2012

I found CarePages to be a little more intuitive to navigate (plus it doesn't have the giant DONATE button at the top of every page). Our CarePage has four non-technical great-grandparents in their eighties as subscribers, if that is any indication of its ease of use.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 12:57 AM on November 23, 2012

I'm far from being the most computer-competent person around, but I actually found CaringBridge pretty easy to use when a set up her account.
posted by easily confused at 6:07 AM on November 23, 2012

Thanks, all.
posted by gingerest at 2:18 PM on November 25, 2012