Do I want to create a website? a blog? Which platform?
September 17, 2020 10:09 AM Subscribe
What platform do I want to be using that combines the aspects of both a blog and a website?
I have a Facebook group that seems to need a companion internet presence that might one day be monetized in some way. This web presence would have quite a lot of informational mostly static web-page-y components, but also frequent one-off bloggy updates. I'm not super-techy but not afraid of learning. Ideally there would be a free option to get my feet wet and see if I want to grow it into something full-fledged, but that might then require awkwardly switching platforms, so if I started with a simple inexpensive paid option that I could grow with, that would be OK.
I have a Facebook group that seems to need a companion internet presence that might one day be monetized in some way. This web presence would have quite a lot of informational mostly static web-page-y components, but also frequent one-off bloggy updates. I'm not super-techy but not afraid of learning. Ideally there would be a free option to get my feet wet and see if I want to grow it into something full-fledged, but that might then require awkwardly switching platforms, so if I started with a simple inexpensive paid option that I could grow with, that would be OK.
I'll second WordPress, and starting on WordPress.com. It's quite easy to set-up and a very popular platform so if you do decide you need additional customization or features in the future there will be ways to either do it yourself or hire someone experienced to do it for you.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:50 AM on September 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 11:50 AM on September 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
Wordpress is good. As noted above, you can kick the tires on WordPress.com to see what the software does and what you can create with it, and how much work it takes to do that.
If you decide to commit, you can migrate your Wordpress.com site data to an instance of the Wordpress software hosted on a domain that you own. "Host it yourself on a domain that you own" is crucially important advice for any content you spend more than trivial effort creating.
Make backups, yourself, that you control and can verify. Do not rely entirely on backups made by your hosting provider.
If you enable comments, you will need to run the Akismet plugin or take other effective anti-spam measures. You will also need to spend some time and effort (proportional to the level of traffic and size of your community) on moderation. Past a certain size, delegating this effort is a must.
posted by sourcequench at 11:57 AM on September 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
If you decide to commit, you can migrate your Wordpress.com site data to an instance of the Wordpress software hosted on a domain that you own. "Host it yourself on a domain that you own" is crucially important advice for any content you spend more than trivial effort creating.
Make backups, yourself, that you control and can verify. Do not rely entirely on backups made by your hosting provider.
If you enable comments, you will need to run the Akismet plugin or take other effective anti-spam measures. You will also need to spend some time and effort (proportional to the level of traffic and size of your community) on moderation. Past a certain size, delegating this effort is a must.
posted by sourcequench at 11:57 AM on September 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
Yeah, Wordpress is easy. It has two ways to organize information: "pages" and "posts". Posts are chronological and can have tags and categories (this is your blog). Pages are organized into an outline structure and their chronology is not important (this is your "website"). So those two things have you covered. If you really want to get fancy, you can create your own "content types."
posted by adamrice at 1:02 PM on September 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by adamrice at 1:02 PM on September 17, 2020 [2 favorites]
I'll nth Wordpress too. I had a blog that started on wordpress.com that I then migrated to my own hosting. I have a current site on a paid wordpress.com plan. I'm setting up a site on wordpress.com similar to what you want to do on wordpress.com. I sound like a shrill. I'm not. I've just been using their services for about 15 years now.
I'll also second hating the new editor, but I just need to get used to it.
posted by kathrynm at 8:26 AM on September 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'll also second hating the new editor, but I just need to get used to it.
posted by kathrynm at 8:26 AM on September 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
I was going to suggest WordPress as well. Not only will it suit you needs (as I understand them) right out of the box, WP is infinitely customizable with a large industry of contractors and products should you need them.
Although you can host WP yourself, I strongly suggest you go with a hosted solution. Keeping WP up-to-date is an uphill battle that you want someone else to deal with.
You can always change later as your needs grow.
posted by AndrewStephens at 10:32 AM on September 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
Although you can host WP yourself, I strongly suggest you go with a hosted solution. Keeping WP up-to-date is an uphill battle that you want someone else to deal with.
You can always change later as your needs grow.
posted by AndrewStephens at 10:32 AM on September 18, 2020 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
I do not love the direction WordPress has taken recently with its new Gutenberg editor or whatever, but it's probably still the easiest way to get started.
posted by jzb at 10:17 AM on September 17, 2020 [6 favorites]