It’s been a couple of years since we ran a poll here on ProBlogger about the blogging platform that readers are using, so I’m keen to see the results on this one.
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{democracy:56}
Please answer for the platform you use most if you have multiple blogs (one selection per person). I’d also love to hear some of your “why?” responses below in the comments, along with mentions of any other platforms not listed here.
My blog is about web development on the .NET platform, so the blog engine had to be developed in .NET.
When I started there were very few .NET blogging platforms, so I decided I would contribute to one of those and use it as my blogging platform.
So I’m using Subtext, one of the first blogging engine on .NET, fork of the original .NET blogging engine dotText. And I’m part of the team that works on it
i use squarespace and i love it! easy to create, tweak, customize yourself. hosting, templates all in one spot. perfect for someone with no tech skills whatsoever. awesome. =)
I use blogspot because I am new to blogging. And blogspot is quite easy as compared to wordpress. Further I can easily ad adsense to blogger but wordpress(hosted) don’t allow ads. To self host a blog needs some initial amount which I don’t think I should send as I am new to blogosphere.
I used to use Drupal, which has a lot of functionality. So, as I developed more websites, I realised that WordPress is easier to work with and faster to customise.
I investigated using Joomla but it is far too complex for straightforward blogs and smaller websites.
I’ve used WordPress (hosted), WordPress.org and Blogger. I was never really excited with the Cpanel and the updating with WordPress and the other technical stuff needed when updating. Switched back to Blogger several years ago. I’m pleased at they way the keep improving the platform and would say that it is just as easy to use and as powerful as WordPress.
As far as the blogspot.com ending being unprofessional, that’s just an opinion that’s been circulating for years. No concrete studies to prove otherwise. If you have a .org, .net, etc it does not matter as long as you promote your blog. Promote it and they will come.
I am using blogger from start to till now. There is a lot of reason beyond using it as its free, popular and it gives basic of blogging and it is also easy in Designing, Developing and posting, atleast for me. I am lovin’ it (Blogger)
Self-hosted WordPress. Because I’m building a business, and want to ensure that I have ownership and control of data and advertising etc, not publishing my content to build someone elses empire and hoping they don’t go bankrupt or close down their service etc.
WordPress self hosted blogs are what I use, and they are extremely customizable for myself.
http://thegeekgrounds.com
With close to 200 posts published, I’m sticking with Tumblr now. ;]
I’m going to use Blogspot.
Why?
A while ago I promised myself I won’t register anywhere else unless it’s truly necessary. I already have an account on gMail.
Also, with that account, I have already made connections – I am known in the circles I frequent.
I find the design satisfying, or: I don’t find the WP designs available to me all that.
It has widgets I’m familiar with, and it has all of them I wanted for my blog.
WordPress – Self hosted
I wanted a professional URL, so it had to be self hosted. WordPress is easy to install, has a lot of great features and for almost anything else there is a great plugin. I bought a theme and customized it myself.
I started on Blogger, moved to WordPress.com and am now running three blogs on self-hosted WordPress.
It’s just easy, and minimal effort to maintain. I just want to write, and make good impressions with my sites. For me, that means that the site frameworks should just work without a lot of futzing around from me.
I began blogging on Blogger years ago. It was a great place to start – I was able to decide which topics I was most interested in and develop a plan for longevity there. After about a year on Blogger, I relocated to self hosted WordPress and have never gone back.
I do maintain one blog on Blogger, one on Tumblr, and one on WordPress.com – simply for sharing, linking to my other work and for spreading my personal ‘brand’ around.
I have a difficult time investing a great deal of time in a project that I don’t ultimately own or that I don’t have complete control over.
I’ve used Blogger for three years despite some really irritating issues that I can’t resolve and no one else seems to be able to either. Simple things, like Blogger puts huge spaces between paragraphs that you can’t get rid of. I don’t know about other platforms but Google offers no help for bloggers with issues other than their forums. If any one thing will make me leave Blogger, it will be these relatively minor issues that turn into huge time wasters. I often have to try posting a particular post 20 times before it comes out correctly. Also there are issues with images. For example, you try to move a photo from “center” to “left” and the type jumps up to fill the right-hand margin. Then you scroll it back down and you have all sorts of spacing issues again. Sorry to grouch here but maybe the kind folks at Google read your excellent site and will take note. Thanks!
For the formatting stuff, I have found that using the Windows Live Writer interface (free) is a great tool for Blogger posts.
Using Blogger/Blogspot, I was able to get my blog up and running with almost no learning curve. It has served my needs quite well these past few months, and has allowed me to focus on the content side of blogging without too much concern for infrastructure. I’m currently building an ecommerce site using WordPress, and will eventually migrate from Blogger to WordPress entirely.
I’ve used Blogger, WordPress hosted and now self-hosted. I actually found Blogger more complicated than WordPress. For absolute basics like writing it was ok, but if you wanted to do anything other than write text and add a picture it got complicated. Scheduling posts, static pages, media, sub-categories – all easier on WordPress.
However that was a couple of years ago and it has possibly updated.
I use a wide variety of platforms depending on my needs.
Posterous.com – ease of use, good basic blogging tools
Weebly.com – when I need to integrate e-commerce quickly or need a good looking site very quickly (limited functional options unless you know how to code)
Wordpress.com (self-hosted) – don’t think I need to go into this one
LiveSite.com – if I need alot more functionality without adding my own code
Hope that helps!
After much research I decided on self-hosted WordPress a few years ago and have not looked back. The open source community of developers gives WordPress the flexibility to add nearly any functionality you can imagine, making it a super-powerful platform for blogging and websites.
I use a platform called Textpattern because it allows me total control over the code, IA and features an extensive library of propriety tags for dynamic content (eg. conditionals) without having any knowledge of PHP.
It’s a great tool for bloggers with web design skills that can’t quite get the customisation they need on WP or other platforms.
WP self hosted is the best platform I have ever found … Looks like there are a few who use movable type, expression engine and typepad
Self-Hosted WordPress.org Darren because it’s robust, offers many plug-ins and is easy to navigate in the backoffice. If you want to run a blog, it’s the best platform to use, and make a real impression with.
RB
I use wordpress.org as it is fully customizable and has so many 3rd party add-ons that there is virtually nothing you can’t do with the platform. As a close second, I also use Joomla on a few of my sites which demand more user interaction.
Squarespace, baby!
Blogspot serves me well !
Easy to use.
FREE.
Easy to Edit.
Easy to Optimize for Search Engines
:D
What else for a new coming blogger?
I’m glad to see so many people taking ownership of their content by using the various self-hosted options. This may not be necessary for everyone. If you’re putting time, effort, and money into a website though, I think it’s a good investment.
I started with WordPress.com and after few months switched over to WordPress.org. I am all for hosting yourself and having full control over your content. No one can take THAT from you. It is not about “looking” more professional (which I do believe it does look more professional), but it is about making sure that I am not relying on any specific company to stay in business in order to have my online IP sustainable. WordPress is perfect for that because it is Open Source and I can host it myself.
BTW, when I left WordPress.com, I kept the blog alive and the last post is directing everyone to my new one. That keeps all past links available.
Cheers
Moshe
I started on Blogger but moved to self-hosted WordPress within a couple of weeks. I already had a domain so I was able to register subdomains easily and WordPress has been pretty powerful so far. I’m still working on it, but it’s much more extendable than Blogger, and looks more professional too.
in response to why i would say that
blogger offers free hosting. 100% up time
and most speciallly the themes can be eidted which lacks in wordpress.
Self Hosting with WordPress.
I Started out with another blogging platform back in 2005, but got tired of the lack of spam filters. So I switched to WordPress after a year or so and have stayed with it since.
Recently my hosting company changed their services (without sending out an informing email) and turned off wordpress! So three of my blogs went down and i only found out because I was randomly auditing and “hey, why are these down? .. after much investigating, thinking the sites might have been hacked .. Oh, I see what they did”. Good thing I made a site backup a short while ago.
I haven’t bothered complaining, because I now have a couple of self-hosted systems set up.
Self-hosting via traditional single server installs and recently a Network Multi-Site I’m putting up for my own sites plus to have easy space for some friends now. I’m also testing an eCommerce WP site which looks promising so far, faster and easier than a couple of the traditional systems I was installing and testing. I’m still in the middle of all the construction tear-up but will soon be back online. And back in control.
J
I use Serendipity and love it’s flexibility. It’s just great for dynamic and static pages and can be hosted anywhere.
At first, I didn’t realize that what I was going to do was “blogging” — I just thought of it as a web site with articles. Went with Intuit — huge mistake! After 2+ months, switched to self-hosted WP. I love it, but I’m the type who likes to play with software to get the most out of it. Wouldn’t call myself a programmer, more of a power user type. Have a friend with a blog she started 6 months ago, I recommended WP — she’s a LOT less techy and she HATES it.
Self hosted wordpress. Main reason for this is full control over the website, incl ads, themes/templates and plugins.
I was in blogspot before…but went on to WordPress(self hosted) pretty much for control.
Self-hosted WordPress.org
My husband is a web developer, and suggested that I use it. As a newbie blogger many years ago, I dabbled with blogger, but felt comfortable making the switch to WP based on his recommendations. I am very happy with it so far, and we just launched my custom-designed layout (that he and I built from scratch) this month.
WordPress – Self host
WP is simply the most powerful and dynamic platform for someone to use and a website fitting his needs.
WordPress Self hosted
Looking to build a domain and site that will be memorable over a long period of time within the travel industry.
Been using Squarespace for 4+ years with a custom domain. LOVE the visual editing tools. I’ve used Headway with WP and done work for a friend on her Blogspot blog. Squarespace is easiest to use and most versatile, hands down.
However, wish they offered more magazine style themes and threaded comments. Heard that might be part of their upcoming version 6 release. We’ll see.
I’m currently using WP.org mostly, but within the next six months almost all my content will be moved over to Squarespace. I love the platform and it’s sleek, easy-to-use interface. It has some limitations but many will hopefully be addressed with v6.0. I’m really tired of the amount of time I have to spend looking for the right plugin on WP. The time I’m saving on Squarespace more than makes up for the increased cost. What they have works. Anything they don’t have I can still find a way to add. That’s all I want from the platform I use.
I use joomla, it’s a little but more complex then word press, but it’s worth it.
WordPress all d way ;)
I used Squarespace which is very good. Also you can post from your phone.
WordPress self hosted. For building my business, I need total control in the back office over content and operations.
I run 3 blogs on self hosted wordpress installs. 1 site is an entire portfolio site with blog. The second is a large photography magazine and the third is a new one much like tumblr but i own the content. I’m not really a fan of the wordpress UI i much prefer moveabletype but i know wordpress and how to customise it easily. So self hosted wordpress it is.
I’ve been using Typepad since I started blogging in 2008. When I was investigating blog platforms, Typepad was the one I understood–instantly. And now, well, I know where everything is and my needs are met so I’m not likely to switch. Cheers, K.
I personally use Squarespace, but guest blog on WordPress sites and see the benefits and applicability of both.
However, since our blog is a component of a business website, the flexibility, customization opportunities and very responsive customer support offered by Squarespace has been invaluable…
I use blogger, do not really see much difference between the features offered by WordPress and Blogger as of now.
WordPress for the win! I love both platforms (hosted and self-hosted). Just hate Blogger.com
I use and love WordPress.org (Self Hosted).
Besides easy to use, it has great features and update versions (plus is compatible with great plugins).
There are also many top bloggers (like Darren) who use the platform.
I begin to blog since April 2007 using WordPress, even tried to use blogger on the several early months of blogging too. But what I found in WordPress like more features in dashboard, easy to write a post with images, stats and multiple pages capabilities make me choose WordPress. I had two retired blogs and two active blogs hosted using WordPress, and never use a domain upgrade of blogger. From that long experience of blogging, I conclude why blogger sucks and WordPress shines here http://sevenroots.com/11504-wordpress-org-vs-blogger-com/
I love the blogger/blogspot platform. I’ve been using it for several months now. I found it easy to set up and design my page, even though I have no techie background. Posting photos and editing are easily done. Occasional spacing issues as noted above by another respondent.