A friend of mine, who has been following this blog from day it started, has decided to start her own [tag]blog[/tag]. She’s using the popular [tag]Blogger[/tag]‘s blogspot platform, which I would say is a good way for newbies to start.
(Side note: She has since migrated to [tag]Blogsome[/tag]. Hmmm…)
She actually didn’t tell me about the blog, I saw the incoming referral link on my sitemeter, it sort of shocked her I tracked her blog down hours after she set it up, without her telling me about it.
As you can probably tell, I’m hosting my own [tag]Wordpress[/tag] 1.5.2 (i haven’t upgraded to WP2.0 yet). But long ago I used Blogspot too. Most Malaysian bloggers I know start off with Blogspot, heck most of the ones I know are still using it. When I started [tag]blogging[/tag], there weren’t many guides to help me out, so I’m writing a beginner’s guide to Blogger and Blogspot.
In 1999, [tag]Google[/tag] bought over a small blogging platform called Blogger, to further their grand plan for world domination. They hosted it on their servers, and provided the platform for anyone to set up their blog for free, and they call it Blogspot. You can still host your own Blogger platform, but who would want to do that if WordPress is available? Anyway, blogspot is excellent for newbies. It has got a clean and easy to use interface, it can host pictures via Picasa, it provides unlimited bandwidth and disk space, and millions of people use it.
My first blog was on Blogspot. At the moment its still there, and I also have another separate blog about books. It’s actually quite pathetic, so I won’t mention it here. With a little HTML savvy, you can make your blog look awesome, like these examples that I know. Or you can actually download lots of templates designed by other people, but of course it doesn’t hold a candle to WordPress. But if you’re not too particular as to how your blog looks, you can anytime pick one of the standard templates (and share the same look with a few million other blogs).
One downside to Blogger is that is sometimes goes down for maintenance. I don’t keep tabs on it status now, but I remember a time it was unusable for 2 days. But I reckon it’s very stable these days.
So why did I migrate to WordPress? Well, primarily I wanted by own domain name, and at that time I was quite pissed off with Blogspot for a few other reasons. The other reason was that Blogspot used [tag]Atom[/tag] (XML) feed, something I didn’t like. At that time, my blog was featured at the sidebar of the PPS Blog page (not the main page, only the famous Malaysian bloggers appeared there) and they only accepted RSS feed, not Atom feed. PPS is proudly (right, Aizuddin?) running on [tag]MoveableType[/tag], another established blogging platform quite similar to WP.
Well, I had a few options. I tried using Feedburner, which worked quite well converting the Atom feed, but I didn’t like the idea of going through a third party to do it.
So I decided to host my own blog, and got help to migrate all my archives to WordPress. And what of WordPress? Ah, that would be a long story, it is uber-cool. There are innumerable templates and plug-ins to choose from, anyway there are lots of local WP gurus that are more qualified to talk on it than me.
If you want to have a glimpse of what WP is like, you can try the free Blogsome (which, before the release of wordpress.com, I refer to as WordPress Lite), or the official WordPress.com. but its nothing like the real thing…
For some examples of how they look like, I’ve given some examples:
MovableType – Danny is guru in this…
Blogsome – I reckon it started with a bang, then it sort of fizzled out, with only a few regular local blogs running now. Like this one.
WordPress.com – i’ve played around with it quite a bit, but i think not able to put [tag]Adsense[/tag] or any advertising on it makes it a little unattractive for a lot of people…
Wordpress.org – well, you’re looking at one example.
Some other older blogging platforms:
[tag]Blogdrive[/tag] – S-Kay and Jolene are two people I know using it. Is it just me or it’s a little slow to load up?
[tag]Negimaki[/tag] – i can only remember leona‘s, but she’s since migrated to WP, too…
[tag]Diaryland[/tag]
[tag]LiveJournal[/tag] – offhand, I can only remember Prema’s.
[tag]Tabulas[/tag] – Lainie‘s a good example.
[tag]Xanga[/tag]
[tag]MSN Spaces [/tag]– (thanks to Sashi for corrected the mistake, would’nt want MS suing my ass off…)
25 Comments
Nicktay
i started out in Xanga!! then moved to blogspot and finally my own domain running wordpress 🙂
Sashi
Errata: Google bought Blogger (or specifically, the developers of Blogger, Pyra Labs) in 2003.
Sashi
Oh, and I think you’re confusing MSN Spaces with MySpace. MySpace has the predators, MSN Spaces just had clunky blogging tools. Typical M$, have to make a simple blog application hard to use.
boringest
BLORC counted in the list? We host WordPress blogs for free, similar to Negimaki!
Ken
I wanted to use wordpress + have my own domain. But I gotta pay for those two things right? No time to create my own template also… Heck, ChuBiKia isn’t that popular anyway… Hahaha…
Jayelle
sob sob..i’m using an old platform?:(
I want my own domain too!
jayelleenelial.com now how cool is that?
i’ll need your advice soon.
lucia
many newbies, esp. the very young ones started on friendster blog.
i started with blogspot then moved to wordpress. made a mistake to have my blog domain name with an ‘org’ instead of ‘com’ or ‘net’. (some confusion over 2 other domains i bought at the same time – choose org, net and com).
bibliobibuli
thanks very much, simon, for this. i’d love to have a much cooler looking blog but i’m a bit of a technophobe and am scared to leave the familiar turf of blogspot. would really love to find someone who could help me to customisze my template and add a boookish looking banner at the top of my page (would be happy to pay for the help even.
simon
nicktay – xanga, huh? is your blog still around?
sashi – thanks for the heads up. wouldn’t want M$ to sue my a$$ off…
boringest – just checked out blorc, it looks quite interesting. good set-up, easy for newbies to understand…
ken – WP is free, but the domain you have to pay. but yeah, nothing beats having your own domain… even if it’s just for kicks.
jolene – how about just jolenelai.com? easier to remember…?
lucia – i see… i had always wondered why you chose .org!
bibliobibuli – i think there’ll be quite a lot of people who can do it for you for a small sum, maybe you can post something on it in your blog? then they’ll come to you.
Alynna
Haha, I’m one of those few on blogdrive. Who doesn’t want their own domain name, but it’s so hard to leave the security of the familiar. 🙂
Sashi
Might I also suggest to all bloggers who are considering WordPress to get a free hosting account at wordpress.com in order to give it a spin. That way you can get used to it without actually having to pay money.
ah pek
I migrated from blogspot to blogsome last week. Blogsome is awesome! Unlike the free blogging thingy offered by wordpress, Blogsome give you a free hand to do whatever you like with your blog.
Although they only offer a limited number of default themes, tweaked to Blogsome’s requirements, if you are good enough in css, php and stuffs like that, you can use all the free wordpress themes for your blogs.
Come and look at mine, I simply love it.
Adam
I have been a loyal Blogger user since 2003. never felt the need to upgrade because I can’t be bothered with domain name registration, hosting and other stuff. Quite satisfied with their service.
Swifty
Yeah, I did experiment a little with WordPress and could see its flexibility and features that Blogspot does not have (… categories, especially), but ultimately, I remained with Blogspot due to its bigger amount of bandwidth (I’m sure it’s almost unlimited compared to the one server I have). So yeah, I remained with Blogspot.
LMF
i think you should explain on the RSS & Atom thing also.
i felt lost.
simon
ahpek – the other thing is the limited plugins. they should seriously offer more…
Lmf – RSS & atom…? okay, one day if i’m in the mood again… 🙂
fred
I use blogsome and I’m loving it. It offer more freedom than wordpress.com free blog.
cheers
anjali*
Blogspot okay wot! No meh? I have no issue with them. As long as I don’t have to spend money, it’s okay for me. Aiya, and not as though my blog so famous and award winning (*ahem*), so I don’t see the need for own domain name.
The one common trait I share with PCK is being super cheap. Anything C&G (Cheap & Good) get high ratings in my book. Heh.
Hidup Blogspot!
scaturan
hey, thanks for recommending Negimaki 🙂
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leona
hehe i’m actually still on Negimaki…it’s always using WP…the bestest
simon
oic. i thot you were hosting it yourself… 🙂
Danila
i compare your blog with other and it is best.
Ann
I didn’t find this when I was deciding which new blog to move to!
But either way I think I still would have choosen Blogspot. Not technically inclined to learn up the languages or perform any stunts in my blog.
Before reading your blog, didn’t even think of adding adverts etc. to my blog ! Sigh….prehistoric times approaching !
simon
better late than never… with so many on blogspot, it’s quite stable these days.