about a blog.

December 23, 2005 9:57 AM

All about blogs. - I, like many others, began blogging on blogger... I find that I want to do more with my blog and I would like to move to a better service... I love Typepad but I do not want to pay for ithe service..... I have heard good things about Wordpress.... any other suggestions...?? Also, I read that it was possible to move my blogspot entries to my new blog, can anyone guide me through this process or can anyone refer me to a site that does? TIA!
posted by libelula to Computers & Internet (18 answers total)

I definitely recommend WordPress. There are a lot of features and you can easily customize it to your likings. WordPress has a script that automatically imports your Blogger posts for you. Make sure to get version 2.0 when it comes out in a few days.
posted by Anamith at 10:09 AM on December 23, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks Anamith, one thing about word press is that I do not like their screen templates that much.... you think that i can use my own as with blogger?
posted by libelula at 10:18 AM on December 23, 2005

"Screen Templates" -- do you mean how the blog is displayed on the screen? Or do you mean the WordPress interface that you (as the user) see when you are creating posts and such?
posted by davidmsc at 10:34 AM on December 23, 2005

a search via google for wordpress styles should help answer that question. :-)
posted by twiggy at 10:34 AM on December 23, 2005

Also see.
posted by panoptican at 11:34 AM on December 23, 2005

you think that i can use my own as with blogger?

If you're talking about the theme, the WordPress codex has plenty of information on how to make your own or recreate the one you used with Blogger.
posted by Anamith at 11:37 AM on December 23, 2005

WordPress is very cool. I had no idea 2.0 was coming out in a few days, but if that's true, I'd recommend holding off until then.
posted by danb at 12:19 PM on December 23, 2005

I don't have anything negative to say about Wordpress, but if you like Typepad, you should at least explore Movable Type (on which it is based). IMO, MT's templates are easier to customize than WP's themes.
posted by adamrice at 12:48 PM on December 23, 2005

I moved from blogger to WPress and am happy with it. If you want to glance at it (for layout comparison) you can find it eventually trough my profile linked at bottom of the main page of edgewaysproductions
posted by edgeways at 2:12 PM on December 23, 2005

Has anyone tried the new hosted Wordpress service yet? And does anyone know is there are plans to open source it?
posted by Pinwheel at 3:35 PM on December 23, 2005

Response by poster: if it is launching the 2.0 version does this mean that I can change to that version later or that I am stuck with my old version?
posted by libelula at 5:34 PM on December 23, 2005

You will be able to upgrade, no problem (unless you heavily modified the original install, then you'll have to tweak).

I highly recommend WordPress. Lots of templates to choose from and I think it is pretty easy to tweak. I would also recommend you take a look at the K2 theme, which is still beta, but works great for me.
posted by qwip at 5:53 PM on December 23, 2005

Also the benefit to K2 is that your tweaks to CSS reside in a separate style sheet, so you don't overwrite the theme's when making changes. Pretty spiffy. You can see the one I've tweaked by following the link in my profile and clicking on the burningkoala link.

Not sure about a utility to transfer blogger post over to WP, but I would assume there is one.
posted by qwip at 5:58 PM on December 23, 2005

(I work for the company that makes Movable Type and TypePad.)

If you're paying for web hosting anyway, you can get Movable Type bundled with web hosting from a variety of companies. If you really like TypePad's features and don't mind ads but don't want to pay, Friendster's blogs are powered by TypePad and have a free, ad-supported level.

One thing to check with all the platforms you're considering is that there's a way to export your posts. If you outgrew Blogger, you could outgrow any other tool, and not all of them let you get your posts out and move to another tool.
posted by anildash at 9:24 PM on December 23, 2005

I switched to Typo and never looked back....

From what I hear, Site5 is an expert at hosting Typo blogs, and for reference, I'm a dreamhost user, but the install there is a bit too involved for a non-techie

Typo recently held a themes contest, see: TypoGarden.Com
posted by hatsix at 10:35 PM on December 23, 2005

Response by poster: so in Typepad it is not you who gets paid for the ads in your blog, but the host company? I though that was the way some bloggers made money...
posted by libelula at 4:00 AM on December 24, 2005

libelula - that's not quite right.

As I understand it, in the main Typepad service operated by Six Apart, the company that built the system and that Anil works for, there is no free service (except for the trial). See their pricing page for more information. When you advertise using that service, it's the blogger not the company that gets the proceeds.

What Anil was referring to was the Typepad service offered by Friendster (a different company that offers a branded version of the service), which does offer a free service supported by advertising.

In general, someone planning to make money from their blog would do so with either the top-of-the-line Typepad service or (more likely) using Movable Type, WordPress, or one of the other programs out there.
posted by mikel at 5:43 AM on December 24, 2005

Response by poster: Thank you all so much for your replies... I opened an account in wordpress but I am finding it a bit difficult to navigate.... (blogger is sooooo simple).... I find it difficult to post images for example....and the whole concept of the "pages".... but I guess its just a matter of getting used to it....
Hopefully the 2.0 version will be much straightforward...

Thanks a million. Merry Christmas to all of you!!!
posted by libelula at 8:38 AM on December 24, 2005