In my search for the best blog software, I am testing two of the most popular platforms: Google’s Blogger and WordPress. I have set up the same blog on both servers, to discover the pros and cons of each. (You’re reading the wordpress one. The other is here.)
Here’s what I’ve learned. Both platforms allow you to redirect a blog to a domain name (and thereby remove any “wordpress” or “blogspot” from the URL (web address). Both also allow you to include photos and videos in your posts. Here are the main differences:
WORDPRESS: the darling of programmers, and Serious Blog Writers.
Cons: WordPress is something of a nightmare for the novice, as the CMS (Content Management System = the behind-the-scenes interface you use to add posts, images, etc) is written by programmers for advanced users. Tweaks to the template are limited and require an extra fee. No custom javascript allowed, so for instance, I cannot add a weather alert or a “subscribe via email” or something I’ve made myself to my WordPress-hosted blog. And if I’m on the road I cannot post to my blog by email. Pros: the look of the finished blog is more refined, in that photo thumbnails are smaller, and they automatically enlarge when you mouse over them. Nice. There is support for podcasts and a built-in groovy Flash animation for all audio files; detailed blog stats to see how many visitors you’re getting and when; reasonable tech support, and even better if you pay for the pro-level service, respect from the cognoscenti: WordPress is for advanced players.
BLOGGER (aka blogspot.com), incredibly popular and recently improved in a big way.
Cons: No support for podcasts (user-generated audio files) yet, though you can add a sidebar widget from sonific.com that links to your favorite commercially available tunes. Tech support limited to an online forum. Not an issue if you have a techie friend. Pros: VERY user-friendly back-end. How simple is it? Here’s my Dad’s blog. Free blog stats available through feedburner.com or GoogleAnalytics.com; custom javascript allowed (see above); customization of template allowed with no fee; you can upload a post simply by sending an email (including photo attachments).
So which is better? Depends on your comfort level with programming. But ultimately, it doesn’t make much difference to your blog readers.
