What are the best blogging tools?

November 28, 2007 7:54 AM

What is the best blogging tool/site?

I am seeking to more or less start a blog, but there seem to be so many options (blogger, blogspot, etc, etc). I usually send links to articles to friends of mine via email.

I want to expand on that in a sort of blog format. Do people have recommendations on the best blog sites for ease of use, ability to blog via my PDA, and solid design?

posted by copernicus to technology (16 comments total)

It depends on the type of blogging you want to do. For example, if it's mostly pictures, video, quotes, and links that you find on the 'Net, then Tumblr is the way to go. If you already have a lot of friends on MySpace or LiveJournal, then one of their blogs is the way to go. WordPress is a good platform, as is Blogger.
posted by WCityMike at 7:57 AM on November 28, 2007

I basically want to add my add links to other blogs/articles that I have interest in (economics, entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, sports, politics, etc). Also, I want the ability to comment on these things so the ability to add my own content is very important.

I don't envision myself getting to involved in pictures, videos, etc, but who knows. Myspace, facebook, etc are out since I am not a member and don't have any plans as of yet.
posted by copernicus at 8:04 AM on November 28, 2007

del.icio.us? You've got 255 characters to comment for each link in the description field, and if you're using Firefox, you can use the del.icio.us Complete extension to integrate it with your daily browsing.
posted by WCityMike at 8:08 AM on November 28, 2007

I use Wordpress. You can let them host your blog, or you can install their software on your own webserver.
posted by kidbritish at 8:09 AM on November 28, 2007

If you want to roll your own, Textpattern is supposed to be pretty good.

It's easy to set up and customize, but I haven't done much more than that.
You will need to learn or already know CSS though. It's not too tough.
posted by Dillenger69 at 8:09 AM on November 28, 2007

Seconding Wordpress. It works great out of the box, but is also highly customizable. Just checkout all these plugins.
posted by zazerr at 8:13 AM on November 28, 2007

FWIW, Blogger and Blogspot are the same site (maybe they didn't used to be, I can't remember) and I find it to be perfectly affable. It's very easy to use, automatically creates an RSS feed and it's very popular, which means there are lots of 3rd party add-ons, tools, etc. If you're looking for simplicity and ease of use, that's what I'd go with.
posted by Nelsormensch at 8:29 AM on November 28, 2007

If you just want a linklog to highlight stuff you've found on the web, I second del.icio.us.
posted by afx237vi at 8:48 AM on November 28, 2007

Thirding Wordpress. I was on Blogger for a long time and it was fine but Wordpress has more built-in features. Like stats on who visits your blog and how they get there.
posted by yogurtisgenocide at 8:58 AM on November 28, 2007

Another vote for Wordpress, free or self-hosted. It will give you the flexibility to expand in the future if you want, whereas something like del.icio.us won't. Good luck.
posted by entropic at 8:59 AM on November 28, 2007

I self-host, and I used a package called Zomplog. It was dead easy to set up, and the default teplates were easy to adjust to my needs. Requires one mysql database, but you can usually set them up through a web interface and not have to type any SQL commands.
posted by wzcx at 9:14 AM on November 28, 2007

I'm a WordPress fanboy, but based on your description, I'd vote for tumblr. You want to do essentially what I'm already doing at my tumblog
posted by Wild_Eep at 9:19 AM on November 28, 2007

My friend Andrew is developing an entirely new blogging package he calls Minx. I've been using it since last May, and I like it a lot.

You can use it free (ad supported, at least eventually) here. But he's still developing it, so new features keep appearing, and there's the occasional bug.

Here's the official project blog. (And my anime blog, so you can see what they look like in practical use.)
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 10:46 AM on November 28, 2007

Given that things like Blogspot and Mee.nu are free, there's really nothing to be lost by signing up and trying them out for yourself for a few days, just to see what you think of them. Do some experimenting. If you don't like them, abandon and move on.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 1:47 PM on November 28, 2007

I work at the company that makes it, but it seems to me like Vox is a great fit for what you're trying to do. It incorporates a lot of the media-sharing stuff you're talking about, is free, and has various mobile options available for creating posts, including posting via email.

(We also make Movable Type, LiveJournal, and TypePad, any of which can do what you're describing, but Vox is free and easy and well worth comparing to your other options.)
posted by anildash at 9:42 PM on November 28, 2007

Just note that if you decide to go with WP.COM (the hosted version), their support isn't all that great.
posted by divabat at 10:05 PM on November 28, 2007