So I have this blog. You might have one, but odds are, we aren't using the same system. Well, actually since I run my own system, there is probably no way in hell we are running the same system. Anyway.
There are a few other systems out there, I'm thinking of moving my other blog off my own server, and want to do some other stuff, so naturally I want to find out about some of these other systems out there.
I'm only doing hosted services, since that's what I want.
LiveJournal
Not at all what I am looking for. It honestly feels like MySpace with less annoying background images. I want a blog, not a community journal.
Tumblr
Tumblr has a lot of nice features:
- Email publishing
- Lots of themes
- Custom themes
- Google Analytics integration
- Third party app support (pushes, eg. Twitter)
- Third party app support (posting, eg. iPhone apps)
- Handles many file types nicely
- Private posts
- No ads
- Custom domains
- Search engine friendly
Definitely in the top picks
Blogger
Blogger, Google's offering, also has a number of great features:
- Auto saving of posts
- Custom domains
- Lots of themes
- Custom themes
- Google account integration (well duh)
- Developer community
- Group blogging (not something I need, but a nice feature)
Wordpress
Wordpress is all good and fun if you can run your own server, but looking at the Free/Premium features on the website, it's not that exciting. Things you have to pay for:
- Remove ads
- Custom CSS
- Custom domain
Those are some deal breakers for me. One thing I can't seem to find anything about on the website is whether or not you can install plugins, of which there are many. That's what made Wordpress so nice to host yourself. A basic blogging engine with a plethora of plugins to handle anything. If you can't utilize these on the hosted version, then what's the point.
TypePad
Pay for. No dice.
Posterous
Posterous is an interesting one. You just email stuff to them; it just works. This is nice for people new to blogging, since you don't have to really learn anything new. They also have:
- Attached files that get served up nicely (eg. audio shows up with a little player)
- Custom domains
- HTML in posts
- Google analytics
- iTunes podcast support
- Auto post to practically everything
The system seems pretty slick. The fact that you email stuff might seem awesome at first, but really it's the same thing as logging into your blogging system and then posting. Instead of that, you just login to your email (or start your email client) and then use that to post; no real difference.
Now what?
From the looks of things, I'll be going with Tumblr. It seems to have
the whole package.
Tumblr failed miserably at doing what I wanted, so I moved to posterous, which imported what I did have in Tumblr. Posterous is the bomb.