BlogHer - blogger - Comments

From another Lonely Kid on the playground

renee1956 — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:52:19 -0500

Cameron- I'm commenting just to let you know your blog is still being read all these months later. I agree so much: I too am new to blogging and was wondering how to get mine read more. I found yours under the search setting for blogs about Facebook, as is mine. Yes, I vainly search for it every day to see if anyone is reading it. No one is. Now that I've read yours, (and I'd like to read others of yours if I only knew how) would you read mine? It's called My Facebook Diary pgs. 1-10 about my trip into a Facebook reunion of sorts. I don't know how to tell you to find it other than enter Facebook into the search then click Blogher.com instead of the default Blogher network which is I sense a much larger pool of blogs to get lost in.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Thanks for the info

Blushblog — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:30:48 -0600

I didn't realize that we couldn't run our own ads on the hosted wordpress page. It's a good to know.

I'll be reading your other posts.

Rae

www.blushblog.com

Choice

Melanie Nelson — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:41:50 -0600

As we both noted in our e-mails to each other, I think it boils down to choice. I had some trouble with MT installation, but I also had trouble with WP installation. I chose WP b/c I knew enough other people using WP to get help. Had I had the resources you pointed out (and I did do a search at the time and found very little, certainly not the types of sites you pointed out), I may have gone another way. I do like the idea of having all my blogs in one dashboard. ;)

Melanie
Contributing Editor at BlogHer.com (Web/Tech)
Blogging Basics 101
Bloggy Giveaways

Thanks for the review, Melanie!

Skye — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 09:25:07 -0600

It's good to see Movable Type getting some attention, especially since it's now shifted back to being more open and available to everyone.

A couple of followup comments:

I have no idea why the guys from SmartAlyx had such a time installing Movable Type, that hasn't been my experience at all. I'm sure you can find plenty of posts out there where people have been frustrated with installing or upgrading WordPress as well - that's just the nature of software. There is actually a Quick Start guide to installing Movable Type: http://movabletype.org/documentation/installation/quick-start.html.

In the year since I wrote the post you referenced, "Six Apart Doesn't Want Me to Use or Recommend Movable Type," the theme selection has increased dramatically, and I think it's only going to get better from here. If you're going to want a custom blog design anyway, which many people end up wanting, having only a couple of dozen themes to choose from up front is probably plenty to start with. Many of the available themes can even be applied without downloading and uploading any files, using the StyleCatcher plugin which is included with Movable Type.

And interestingly, a few of the other issues I complained about bothered other people in the community as well, especially the image wrapping code. So Six Apart made a couple of improvements in further versions - and then people in the community jumped in and wrote tutorials for how to override the default behaviors as well.

Cheers,
Skye
a.k.a. The Princess

Oh, yes,

Virginia DeBolt — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:47:19 -0600

you are definitely a writer.

Virginia DeBolt
BlogHer Technology Contributing Editor
Web Teacher
First 50 Words

Wordpress

carlalets — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:06:07 -0600

I would still go for wordpress... I have made myself familiar from the time i started blogging... Anyway thank you for sharing this post, we might not know i would indulge to other form of blogging..

carla

online printing

My Vote is for Blogger

FaMissWomen.com — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:27:23 -0600

I really like Blogger because it is free and because Google owns it. It makes me think that they may favor the content on their own company. Maybe I am wrong about this, but I've hosted and promoted 6 blogs on Blogger and I've always been happy.

Sure the templates aren't that pretty but the important thing about blogging is content not beauty. I encourage all my clients to use Blogger with the understanding that building a history on one blog with a particular address does lock you in a bit unless you want to recreate everything.

But Blogger is pretty user friendly. Although some of my clients do hire me to set up blogger with them over the phone. This service is preferred by my clients who are pretty new to the internet and have never built a website. If any of your readers want help setting up blogger, they can visit: http://www.famisswomen.com/How_to_Set_Up_a_Blog_to_Build_Business.html

Thank you for sharing the information.

Allison Frederick
www.faMissWomen.com

Thanks Melanie..for now I'm a Wordpress.org Gal.

Tre - — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 02:40:38 -0600

I tried every platform available as well as ones still being tested.

I blogged for a year on wordpress.com....but because I wanted to be able to control more the design, layout, have options of plugins and overall be in charge of my content, I bought a domain and researched a ton of hosting plans..finally settled happliy with acornhost...they're women owned and green powered and not so huge feeling.

but in the 6 months since that move, while i love that my domain name is now my blog's full name without .wordpress.com at the end (simpler) i haven't done much on the design/plug in side. and it's just my slow pace way. i will though and intend to.

i enjoyed practicing on typepad (offers free 2week trial) and i also enjoyed trying out squarespace (2 week free trial)

part of my unsettledness even now, i've recently bought a mac laptop, am aware of designing options it has (included software) and ultimately I may simply want to know Css and xhtml and html coding.

if you currently could recommend any resources for self hosted wordpress sites for how to do plugins, how to set up things like several posts as mini posts on your front page...you know the silly detail things like that, please say. i tend to google my questions and spend tons of time researching answers.

in the end, i think everyone needs to buy their domain (name of your blog) and then it's always yours....and find a way to host it.....

but i will absolutely advocate NOT HOSTING with godaddy. the exploitation of women that hosting company does is truly degrading. I originally signed up with them, then found out about their advertising and had to wait 30 days.

who you host with matters. choose a hosting company that you support its philosophy, mode of business and check them out--their customer service, etc....i highly recommend acornhost.....

thanks for the post!

Tre~

http://thoughtbythought.net

evolveserenity@gmail.com

Moving to Movable Type

Blagica — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 21:33:38 -0600

I am a BIG fan of Typepad, but to Melanie's point, it's time to move to MT. I'm researching installing everything myself or using 6A's support services.

If anyone out there has experience with doing things yourself, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Great post, Melanie

Blagica (blah-gee-tsa) StefanovskiChief GuideLink Text

I'm Prefer Typepad, too

WEBBMARENT — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 15:05:50 -0600

I am quite happy with my blog on Typepad. I had one on Blogger and still have a personal / family blog on another platform. However, for my blog at ThePromoMarketer.com I find the features of Typepad the most beneficial to my business.

Like many things, we all have different reasons for blogging and will find a platform that will cater to all our needs and / or requirements. I appreciate your comments and observations.

http://www.thepromomarketer.com

Movable Type is not as malleable as WP?

Skye — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:01:56 -0600

How so, exactly?

Skye Kilaen

Flooded Lizard Kingdom | All Access Blogging | Heroine Content | Bad Personal Ads

Mama may have to upgrade the real estate...

Lovebabz — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:12:55 -0600

I am on blogspot I like it. I have been on it for a year. I found it to be just the perfect fit for me. I would like to have a new swanky look...they don't have many templates to choose from. But I hear you...I am thinking Mama may need to move on up like Weezie & George (The Jeffersons...late 70's Black sitcom) Anyway...I now have 3 blogs...2 on blogspot and one on word press...which I haven't learned to use...LOL But am committed.

I am so looking forward to your next posts

Be loving & Be in LOVE

My advice on first time

Joyce Porter — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:05:57 -0600

My advice on first time blogger is used the free hosted blogs such as blogger, typecast, wordpress and many more. Then practice doing SEO once you've got enough traffic and feels that you can pay for a dot com and a hosting site then its time to move on.

Joyce from My Window Treatment Pro

I'm A TypePad Lady

Megan Smith — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 17:28:49 -0600

Hi Melanie,

Great post with great info. I've had my blog Megan's Minute on TypePad from the beginning. Before I picked it I researched all the platforms and TypePad seemed the one that would grow with me the best if I decided to continue. I started out at the $4.95 a month rate with a standard template and worked my way up to the top tier as my blog grew.

Last year I hired someone to design a new layout for me and since that time I've learned how to work with the CSS code and my Advanced Templates to make adjustments.

I will say that in the beginnning the TypePad customer service was first class but that has suffered a little since they've been rolling out a host of new features the last couple of months. I'm thinking that will get better as things move along, and after having a Word Press blog and a TypePad blog, I still like TypePad the best.

By the way, the new TypePad dashboard does allow you to make your post address anything you want it to be. You can even go back to previous posts and change those addresses as well.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

My Personal Blog: Megan's Minute

After having a Wordpress

kperfetto — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:23:02 -0600

After having a Wordpress site hosted on a shared site, I went back to Blogger. Why? It's free, and I don't have the traffic to justify even a $10 a month host fee. Plus I hated my host. (I not naming names, but it was a nightmare.) I've found Blogger to me more than customizable as long as you're willing to learn a bit of HTML. (And it's WYSIWYG editor has improved greatly in the past couple years.)

Available Light & Five Dollar Radio