What app or service should I use for a personal genealogy blog?

November 22, 2022 7:24 PM

I've been doing genealogical research on my very complicated family for a long time. So many people have said, "wow, that's a crazy story, you should write a book/start a blog/etc". I've procrastinated mostly because I don't know what to use to write and share my stories.

Ideally, I could easily write formattable text entries (rich formatting, links, choice of typeface?), add photos within the body text, add and maintain tags, edit entries after publishing them, share links to individual entries or generally to the collection. I'd like to make sure people don't have to have an account to read or access the entries.

Would prefer to write on my desktop computer, so either via a website or Windows app, but I'd like it to have an Android app too (less important). Bonus for a really nice UI.

I know of some possible solutions, but I'd like to hear what folks who've used various blog/journal services would turn to for this usage.

posted by rachaelfaith to Writing & Language (2 answers total)

If I were doing this, I would use Dreamwidth, the most popular LiveJournal replacement at the moment. Really easy to use, super customizable, and, to top it off, it's open source! It has all the features you're looking for except that it doesn't have an Android app, and, while you can style your blog with a certain typeface, users can choose to view it in a different style.
posted by spiderbeforesunset at 9:12 PM on November 22, 2022

WordPress.com would be the easiest choice. Self-hosting WordPress at whatever $8 a month web host you choose would be more work, but give you more flexibility. I'd bet somebody has already created a genealogy focused WordPress theme, too.
posted by COD at 11:42 AM on November 23, 2022