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WordPress vs. Blogger


KathyBC
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I'm curious about the replies to your question. I started a blog just for family and friends, since I don't do FB. One thing that's kind of annoying with Blogger is that I don't see how to group entries by subject rather than date. I figure you can just scroll back if you want to go by date. Archiving things by subject just makes more sense to me.

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I have been blogging for 9 years. :thud: Yep. I started my first blog in January 2006. 

 

Blogger is good if you want simplicity. It is bad if you like customization. 

 

Wordpress can be overwhelming to a newbie that is just starting out. However it is completely customizable. 

 

Depending on what you are going to do with your blog, you may also want to think about domain names, and hosting services. 

 

I started out with a blog on blogger. After my DD died, I started a new blog also on blogger. After a year or so, I merged my 2 blogs as I was referring to my first blog often. A few years after that I decided that I needed an easier blog address so I got my own URL. Then I ran out of room on blogger and did the works. My blog is now hosted that I pay for (did this for 5 years as I seem to be doing this for the long haul. It is also cheaper to do this.) and I have my own URL. I have moved from blogger to wordpress (a bit of work) and my blog has 1485 posts. My blog is my life. There is little that isn't on there that is major that has happened in the last 9 years. It is also my memory at times. I hope that one day my children will read the blog and get a sense of what life was like for us when they were little. PM me if you would like the address to see what I have done. 

 

Good luck and have fun! It has been a lot of fun for me over the years. 

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Like 3 ladybugs, I have been blogging since 2006.  I started out on blogger, then moved to wordpress sefl-hosted, and I really like wordpress more than blogger. I am currently in the middle of moving over to squarespace, though.  I'm tired of being a non-techy person trying to deal with tech things.  I will really, really miss the plugings, though, they are really handy for doing whatever you can think up.  Squarespace you do pay for, but I figure it is the same as I am paying for my hosting right now, and hopefully I will have less headache and can design/change my blog without having to hire out. 

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I like wordpress EXCEPT for private (like login to view content) blogs you have to invite people and are limited on how many people you can invite.

 

 

Crabby since 8-13-14

Es Bullseye, Buzz and Bo Peep

PPs Rex, Woody, Jessie and Mick

(Bo Peep and Rex coming March)

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I have a little experience with WordPress which seems to be the "Gold standard" these days. I am about to begin learning Microsoft Expression Web 4, which is now available free, legally, from Microsoft, and begin learning how to produce standards compliant static web sites. I have been using Microsoft FrontPage 2000 which was part of the Microsoft Office Suite.

 

This is the BEST advice I can give you:

(1) Do not use free hosting   (2) Purchase your own .COM domain name from a reputable Domain Name Registrar (I use Name.com but NameCheap.com and GoDaddy.com are also reputable  low cost Registrars. The charge for a new domain name registration is usually lower than the renewal years. Look for discount codes on RetailMeNot.com and you will save a little  (3) NEVER use the same company for your domain name registrar and your web hosting provider, doing so has caused many people to lose everything (4) Make your own, frequent backups and keep them locally. Never depend on your hosting provider to make backups and if they do so, they may not work properly if needed.  (5) Do not sign up for a web hosting account where you need to pay for a long period of time. Pay month by month.  Probably an inexpensive hosting account of approximately $5 a month will be far more than what you need. I have been using a $2 a month "Reseller" account since January and it is better than the $13.90 a month I paid to my previous provider of 13 years...   GL

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WP does require some upfront tech savvy, but you can be as techy as you want to be with Blogger.  It is easy to set up and easy to grow with---you get full access to your code and can customize it to your heart's content. 

 

I agree. I'm kind of baffled by the people claiming Blogger is for neophytes and WordPress is for those who are tech-savvy. That may be true for the self-hosted version of WordPress, but unlike the free version of WordPress, you have complete control over editing the template in Blogger. It's actually more customizable than the free WordPress if you are familiar with HTML and CSS.

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I think it depends upon what it is you want to do with a blog, op.  You might also look at Weebly.

 

I'm gonna go against the flow here and recommend Blogger if you are a casual blogger and/or want free---I have found it to be the most flexible free platform, especially if used in conjunction with Windows LiveWriter (if you have a windows os).  If you want paid hosting, there are a number of other options you might look at, but for free I recommend Blogger.  You can always transfer later if you decide to go another route. 

 

 

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Why not? For the vast majority of bloggers, there's nothing wrong with using a free blogging platform.

:iagree:

 

I have never had trouble with my free hosting.  I think Blogger itself has been down 1 time in the past several years (all blogger blogs were inaccessible for about a day, but they all came back).  It is common for self-hosted blogs to go down due to hosting issues. 

 

It is always a good idea to back up your content frequently, regardless of your platform.

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I like wordpress EXCEPT for private (like login to view content) blogs you have to invite people and are limited on how many people you can invite.

 

 

Crabby since 8-13-14

Es Bullseye, Buzz and Bo Peep

PPs Rex, Woody, Jessie and Mick

(Bo Peep and Rex coming March)

Do you know offhand to how many you are limited?

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Why not? For the vast majority of bloggers, there's nothing wrong with using a free blogging platform.

 

 

People using a free account do not fully own or control their content.     For example, many sites that provide free hosting prohibit the placement of Affiliate advertising links.  They may place their own Advertising on your content.  Legally, they may own your content, not you.

 

For people who hope to be in this for the long haul. and, possibly monetize their web site, there are many advantages to paying for your own domain name and your own hosting and being in control of everything.

 

Another issue is how much is available with free versions. With WordPress.com I believe they limit the Themes that can be used and if I recall, they prohibit the use of PlugIns, or severely limit them, and in WordPress the majority of things one wants to do are done with PlugIns. For someone who has their own domain name and their own hosting, they can use whatever features they want to use, after installing WordPress in their web space. They have absolute and total control.

 

Free accounts are often on slow servers,

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I agree that it matters why you want to start a site.  There are so many variables.  But I did want to add some info here:

 

People using a free account do not fully own or control their content.     For example, many sites that provide free hosting prohibit the placement of Affiliate advertising links.  They may place their own Advertising on your content.  Legally, they may own your content, not you.

 

As always, you should read the terms.  Provided you haven't signed over your rights, you own the copyright to your content and are free to save it or transfer it elsewhere.  Blogger, for instance, allows you to export your content to your computer or to another blog. 

 

Blogger does allow you to place your own advertising, affiliate links, sponsored posts, etc. on your blog. Wordpress.com (free WP) does not.  This will vary by platform.  Some will place their own advertising on your blog (Blogger doesn't do this).  Some will have a pay option where you can remove their advertising.  Read the terms. 

 

For people who hope to be in this for the long haul. and, possibly monetize their web site, there are many advantages to paying for your own domain name and your own hosting and being in control of everything.

 

Unless you own your server or have a dedicated server (most bloggers do not), you do not have 100% control.  Most bloggers who use a paid host have a shared host---your host can bump down your bandwidth, slow your site, or take you offline (without warning), even if you are paying them.  It's in the terms.  Read them carefully. 

 

Point being---the web is ephemeral.  You don't even "own" your domain name if you buy one (you rent for a certain amount of time after which someone else can snap it up if you forget to renew). 

 

Another issue is how much is available with free versions. With WordPress.com I believe they limit the Themes that can be used and if I recall, they prohibit the use of PlugIns, or severely limit them, and in WordPress the majority of things one wants to do are done with PlugIns. For someone who has their own domain name and their own hosting, they can use whatever features they want to use, after installing WordPress in their web space. They have absolute and total control.

 

This is a Wordpress thing---other free platforms that also have paid options may also do this.  Blogger does not.  You can use a purchased (rented!) domain name on Blogger.

 

Free accounts are often on slow servers,

 

Possibly---I think a lot more depends upon your site itself and how much bandwidth it takes.  Plug-ins take extra bandwidth, so even sites that pay for their hosting may have slow load times if they are plug-in heavy.  Simple sites load faster.

 

 

I have seen "gurus" say that everybody ought to start with a WP self-hosted site with Genesis installed (just in case you want to monetize later) and it simply isn't so.  You can easily start simple and "upgrade" later.  It just depends upon what you are trying to do.

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