Pretty online diary

September 27, 2005 7:28 AM

Can anyone recommend an online diary host that is beautiful, smart and traditional?

I've got a weblog. Had it for years - we go way back. But that's not what I'm looking for. I want something that lets you post in the style of a real journal, with paper-like pages (limited size, side-by-side even) rather than reverse-chronological order posts. Extra points if it features a beautifully presented look - you know, leather-bound, faux paper, nice typesetting. And I'll throw in an elephant stamp if it has some kind of WYSIWYG AJAX-powered interface. Has anyone made this? Previous Ask.Metas on this topic have all featured either standard weblog applications or offline diary keeping software.

posted by Jimbob to computers & internet (3 comments total)

My thought would be WordPress and the Taft theme (screenshot).
posted by WCityMike at 8:50 AM on September 27, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

I'm confused. You want a standard template that looks like that, or do you want the capability of creating one that will apply to your entries? Because I use Diary-X. It's set up to show one page at a time. You can create any sort of template you want for it, so a "beautifully presented look" would have to be of your own creation. It does lack the WYSIWYG interface.

I feel like I"m missing something in the question?
posted by dpx.mfx at 9:52 AM on September 27, 2005

Well I guess I would like something with a built-in template, to make things easier. My concern is that the exact sort of thing I'm looking for may not work as a template on normal weblogging software. Imagine, for instance. One entry finishes a quarter of a way down a "page". You start the next day's entry and its date / first line appears directly below the last entry, on that page. It then flows-on to the following page, finishes half-way down, ready for the day afters entry to begin after that. Like real text written in a journal, page after page, entry after entry. Something that may be difficult to accomplish on top of a normal top-to-bottom weblog engine that would have trouble splitting posts between columns, for instnace. (Although Taft looks very good - I'll try that, WCityMike)
posted by Jimbob at 1:45 PM on September 27, 2005