How do you pick the best platform to write a blog on?

[Chrissy]

I've been thinking about writing a blog for a long time and every so often I try to work out the best platform to go with. One of my pen-pals has written that I should do this to have my ink reviews saved all together.
However, I get scared that I will choose the wrong one so I always withhold my money.

I'm really tempted to go with WordPress because it looks very good on other blogs that I frequently read, but my current confusion lies between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. :confused:

Who has what, how easy is it to get up and running, and how expensive is it?

[Deb]

I did mine on wordpress.com. My only outlay is for my domain and that's just a few quid.

[Runnin_Ute]

I use/used wordpress. The free version with no issue. Can post from the app as well. I am not very good about posting to it regularly.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[Chrissy]

Thank you both. That's good to know. :)

[SIR]

You could use Tumblr to blog (https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-tumblr-4049305), it's free.

[Chrissy]

WordPress is free but you always have to buy a domain and hosting.

[Deb]

WordPress is free but you always have to buy a domain and hosting.

That costs me around £14 annually.

[Runnin_Ute]

Mine is name.wordpress.com rather than a domain I had to purchase.

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[Chrissy]

WordPress is free but you always have to buy a domain and hosting.

That costs me around £14 annually.
That sounds like quite a good buy. :)

[Quantum Sailor]

I use github pages. It has a higher learning curve than wordpress but has more control over the blog

[Deb]

Mine is name.wordpress.com rather than a domain I had to purchase.

Yes, if you do it that way it doesn't cost anything at all. I chose to go with my own domain.

[azkid]

I've done all my blogs on blogger aka blogspot (Google) but had I to do it over again I would do WordPress. It seems like a much better more fully featured product and is the industry standard.

[Jon Szanto]

On top of everything else, when picking a content platform - unless you are a coder - it is really good to go with a well-establishished model. Wordpress is exactly that, which means that you have a huge supply of add-ins, insight and many forums and resources to help you as you get going. If you ever need to move, the format is readily known and used so you don't get locked into some fairly-unknown form of code that makes future moves of your blog pages a burden.

There are times when going with a common, popular format is a smart move. I think this is one of them.

[Deb]

Very good points, Jon! Unlike the situation years ago, Wordpress and some others have made it very easy to get your thoughts and photos onto the Web. There's very little learning involved and you can get down to writing almost right away.

[Quantum Sailor]

On top of everything else, when picking a content platform - unless you are a coder - it is really good to go with a well-establishished model. Wordpress is exactly that, which means that you have a huge supply of add-ins, insight and many forums and resources to help you as you get going. If you ever need to move, the format is readily known and used so you don't get locked into some fairly-unknown form of code that makes future moves of your blog pages a burden.

There are times when going with a common, popular format is a smart move. I think this is one of them.

This is very true. If you have no desire to dig any deeper than just writing what you want to write this is the perfect way to go.

[manoeuver]

Best to just pick a format and get going.

All my sites use wordpress (links in signature) I don't like it, but all the other options seem worse.

[alexwi]

They're both from the same people - wordpress.

The .com site lets you host a blog by just picking a name and going with some pre-determined choices. It's a great option to get your feet wet. You site would be something like chrissy.wordpress.com (or whateveryoupick.wordpress.com).

The .org site is from where you would download the code (the software, if you will) that will run on a server and have visitors see your blog when they go to chrissy.com. This means that you need to buy hosting from a hosting company, register a domain (and renew it every year), and then, depending on the hosting company, install the wordpress code or have it provided by them.

[Chrissy]

They're both from the same people - wordpress.

The .com site lets you host a blog by just picking a name and going with some pre-determined choices. It's a great option to get your feet wet. You site would be something like chrissy.wordpress.com (or whateveryoupick.wordpress.com).

The .org site is from where you would download the code (the software, if you will) that will run on a server and have visitors see your blog when they go to chrissy.com. This means that you need to buy hosting from a hosting company, register a domain (and renew it every year), and then, depending on the hosting company, install the wordpress code or have it provided by them.
Thanks for that. :) I think I eventually came around to that conclusion, sort of. I can still buy a domain from somewhere, so that I don't necessarily have to have whateveripick.wordpress.com, and buying a domain name, then renewing it annually is what Deb does, but I can still have the simple, free part of WordPress.com, that has their adverts on it. That should be OK for now. I'm not sure I want to go the way of buying a domain plus hosting then downloading WordPress.org and working through it with the help of WP Beginner. I am a beginner, and that does seem to work out to be an expensive starting version. :(

[alexwi]

Hi Chrissy,

Let's take care of the language before I try to confuse you further. Si?

You register a domain name (i.e. you tell the world that chrissy.com is yours), for which you pay a registrar a fee for at least one year of registration. I use dotster.com for my domains' registration. I've been them since the 90's and they've been good for that.

Then you pay a hosting company for "space" in one of their servers, and this server, and this "space" is where browsers will go fetch your content when someone types chrissy.com. This could be monthly or yearly.

There is managed hosting and unmanaged. Managed means that you have access to space on the server's hard drive and you upload whatever you want there, and the company takes care of keeping things running smoothly. Unmanaged means that you are in control of a virtual server and you have to install ALL the software (web server, ftp server, mail server, wordpress, etc.).

Based on the questions you're asking, you want MANAGED or just plain hosting. Unmanaged would be like someone saying to you "hey," and handing you the keys to a 747 airplane. Your hosting plan is likely to include email, so you can have your own mememe@chrissy.com address.

I run an unmanaged server, so my experience with managed hosts is VERY limited. Doster does this, but I've no experience with them for this. The folk at wordpress.org recommend bluehost, dreamhost, and siteground. Whatever price you'll see now, it's likely to be a one-year promotion, so find out what you'll start paying on month #13, so there are no surprises. Whatever you do, stay away from iPage.com - I had an unmanaged server with them and it was a disaster (they are part of the same conglomerate dotster.com and bluehost.com belong too, which doesn't mean that either of those is bad - I've used dotster for years and I'm happy with them).

Many, if not all, hosting plans already have the wordpress software installed as part of what they provide, as well as tutorials on how to get your blog up and running in a good 2 hours. If the wordpress software isn't installed, you will have to download it from wordpress.org and follow the instructions to install it in the server where you rented the space, but I doubt that this'll be the case.

Once you have wordpress up and running, it's possible to configure it so that when people type chrissy.com, they see the blog, or you could use blog.chrissy.com, or even chrissy.com/blog. It makes no difference, really.

Now, for wordpress, there are a gazillion plug-ins and themes. The themes dictate what your web site will look like (typography, colors, menu formats, etc.). Plug-ins are, in lieu of a better word, applets that let you add things like contact forms, visit counters, photo galleries, etc.

This isn't rocket science, but it's not what I'd call trivial, and, of course, it seems daunting, if you've never done it, but if the hosting company has everything set up and good support, it should take you about 3 days to have a good idea of what you're doing.

Good luck!

alex

[azkid]

I have set up and run several managed sites on services such as A2Hosting and personally that seems like way more trouble than it is worth for just a blog.

I think a hosted WordPress solution would be less learning curve and less dinking with servers and settings and more time for writing/blogging.

[KrazyIvan]

I use Wordpress, don't forget that Wordpress will charge you a monthly fee if you want to use your own domain. I get around it because my domain registrar lets me forward my domain to any address. So while I do have an inktronics.wordpress.com address, I just forward inktronicsblog.com to it. It also helps if I have to setup the blog on another service, I just change the address where my URL points to.

[Chrissy]

Thanks Ivan. :) I have already tried buying a domain, then established that Wordpress won't give their free version if you want to use your own domain. :(

Also, even though I can download Wordpress on the site I used when I bought the domain, I have to buy a hosting package from them before I can do that, and that would include a domain. :(

I'm now cancelling the domain and getting a refund, then I'm going to look into either buying a hosting package that includes one, or getting free Wordpress. :)

[alexwi]

Thanks Ivan. :) I have already tried buying a domain, then established that Wordpress won't give their free version if you want to use your own domain. :(

Also, even though I can download Wordpress on the site I used when I bought the domain, I have to buy a hosting package from them before I can do that, and that would include a domain. :(

I'm now cancelling the domain and getting a refund, then I'm going to look into either buying a hosting package that includes one, or getting free Wordpress. :)

Hi Chrissy,

You can register through company A and get the hosting from company B. There's no reason to cancel the registration. You need that regardless of WHERE you host the domain.

Which company did you use for registration?

alex

[Chrissy]

Thanks Ivan. :) I have already tried buying a domain, then established that Wordpress won't give their free version if you want to use your own domain. :(

Also, even though I can download Wordpress on the site I used when I bought the domain, I have to buy a hosting package from them before I can do that, and that would include a domain. :(

I'm now cancelling the domain and getting a refund, then I'm going to look into either buying a hosting package that includes one, or getting free Wordpress. :)
Hi Chrissy,

You can register through company A and get the hosting from company B. There's no reason to cancel the registration. You need that regardless of WHERE you host the domain.

Which company did you use for registration?

alex

There is if they charge you £11 to remap it to them. I started off by using Fasthosts, a Company I previously used in the UK. In order to get Wordpress, I had to buy cluster hosting and that includes a free domain. So I cancelled my domain.

I'm now completely free on Wordpress. My domain lasted less than 24 hours before I got my money back. My website is now : inkyfountainpens.wordpress.com (https://inkyfountainpens.wordpress.com) A bit of a long domain, but free so far. If I run out of space, I can pay for hosting and get a free domain later. :)

[Deb]

Congratulations!

[Chrissy]

Congratulations!
Thanks Deb. :)

[Jon Szanto]

Well done!

[alexwi]

There is if they charge you £11 to remap it to them. I started off by using Fasthosts, a Company I previously used in the UK. In order to get Wordpress, I had to buy cluster hosting and that includes a free domain. So I cancelled my domain.

I'm now completely free on Wordpress. My domain lasted less than 24 hours before I got my money back. My website is now : inkyfountainpens.wordpress.com (https://inkyfountainpens.wordpress.com) A bit of a long domain, but free so far. If I run out of space, I can pay for hosting and get a free domain later. :)

I just checked on their web site. REGISTERING something.co.uk for two years is £11 (I believe that this is what you're referring to). That would be just the registration, and then you would host the content wherever you want, for an additional monthly or yearly fee. That's the way it's supposed to be.

You can also follow Ivan's strategy and register chrissy.co.uk and have it forward visitors to chrissy.wordpress.com, which results in free HOSTING, but if you want to have your own domain name (whether you host like Ivan or how I described), so people can find you easily, you NEED to REGISTER the domain name somewhere (fasthosts, dotster, etc.).

Fasthosts' registration prices are a bit above industry averages, though. A cursory read on bluehost yields $12/yr for registration of the domain name, $4/mo for hosting for the first year and then $9/mo.

If you HOST the content at fasthosts, they give you the registration service for free. While £5/month for their Cluster plan isn't prohibitively expensive, you could probably do better.

Regardless of how you choose to host your content, I strongly recommend that you register whatever name you want as soon as you can, even if you can't put it to use immediately. Domain names have a tendency to be snatched up.

alex

[Chrissy]

There is if they charge you £11 to remap it to them. I started off by using Fasthosts, a Company I previously used in the UK. In order to get Wordpress, I had to buy cluster hosting and that includes a free domain. So I cancelled my domain.

I'm now completely free on Wordpress. My domain lasted less than 24 hours before I got my money back. My website is now : inkyfountainpens.wordpress.com (https://inkyfountainpens.wordpress.com) A bit of a long domain, but free so far. If I run out of space, I can pay for hosting and get a free domain later. :)

I just checked on their web site. REGISTERING something.co.uk for two years is £11 (I believe that this is what you're referring to). That would be just the registration, and then you would host the content wherever you want, for an additional monthly or yearly fee. That's the way it's supposed to be.

You can also follow Ivan's strategy and register chrissy.co.uk and have it forward visitors to chrissy.wordpress.com, which results in free HOSTING, but if you want to have your own domain name (whether you host like Ivan or how I described), so people can find you easily, you NEED to REGISTER the domain name somewhere (fasthosts, dotster, etc.).

Fasthosts' registration prices are a bit above industry averages, though. A cursory read on bluehost yields $12/yr for registration of the domain name, $4/mo for hosting for the first year and then $9/mo.

If you HOST the content at fasthosts, they give you the registration service for free. While £5/month for their Cluster plan isn't prohibitively expensive, you could probably do better.

Regardless of how you choose to host your content, I strongly recommend that you register whatever name you want as soon as you can, even if you can't put it to use immediately. Domain names have a tendency to be snatched up.

alex
The charge just to register a domain on Fasthosts was £16.79. Wordpress wanted an additional £11 to map it to their site. Then they said don't offer a free web-site with an existing domain, so I would have had to go for their cheapest package at £5 per month.
That was the point where I went back to Fasthosts. They wanted £2.50 per month special deal for their cheapest package, which would have given me a free domain, but I had already purchased it by then. So I was already somewhere I didn't really want to be. I didn't want to commit to paying £X per month for some number of years while I don't have a clue what I'm doing. :confused:
Wordpress free fits me well enough for the moment. If I run out of space I will have to rethink the plan. :)

The $$ prices you quoted don't apply to UK addresses. Tax is added on. I already checked Bluehost for their price. That's the one I wanted to go with.

[alexwi]

The charge just to register a domain on Fasthosts was £16.79. Wordpress wanted an additional £11 to map it to their site. Then they said don't offer a free web-site with an existing domain, so I would have had to go for their cheapest package at £5 per month.
That was the point where I went back to Fasthosts. They wanted £2.50 per month special deal for their cheapest package, which would have given me a free domain, but I had already purchased it by then. So I was already somewhere I didn't really want to be. I didn't want to commit to paying £X per month for some number of years while I don't have a clue what I'm doing. :confused:
Wordpress free fits me well enough for the moment. If I run out of space I will have to rethink the plan. :)

The $$ prices you quoted don't apply to UK addresses. Tax is added on. I already checked Bluehost for their price. That's the one I wanted to go with.

A bit convoluted, but I think I got it.

Unless you upload a gazillion pictures or videos, it's unlikely that you'll run out of space any time soon.

If you haven't done so, and are committed to this project, register the domain and keep the free hosting you have as it is right now. You can call the company and ask them if they provide forwarding with the registration. If they do, setting that up should be simple. Calling is better than emailing in this case.

If you registered the domain, look for instructions on how to set-up forwarding or call to have someone help you.

I do this for a living, and can tell you that you're doing great. At least you are DOING, which leads to problems, which leads to questions, which leads to learning.

alex

[KrazyIvan]

The free Wordpress account has very little space for hosting photos. I use my Flickr account to host my photos then use the HTML share links to add them in the HTML editor in my Wordpress posts.

[Chrissy]

The charge just to register a domain on Fasthosts was £16.79. Wordpress wanted an additional £11 to map it to their site. Then they said don't offer a free web-site with an existing domain, so I would have had to go for their cheapest package at £5 per month.
That was the point where I went back to Fasthosts. They wanted £2.50 per month special deal for their cheapest package, which would have given me a free domain, but I had already purchased it by then. So I was already somewhere I didn't really want to be. I didn't want to commit to paying £X per month for some number of years while I don't have a clue what I'm doing. :confused:
Wordpress free fits me well enough for the moment. If I run out of space I will have to rethink the plan. :)

The $$ prices you quoted don't apply to UK addresses. Tax is added on. I already checked Bluehost for their price. That's the one I wanted to go with.

A bit convoluted, but I think I got it.

Unless you upload a gazillion pictures or videos, it's unlikely that you'll run out of space any time soon.

If you haven't done so, and are committed to this project, register the domain and keep the free hosting you have as it is right now. You can call the company and ask them if they provide forwarding with the registration. If they do, setting that up should be simple. Calling is better than emailing in this case.

If you registered the domain, look for instructions on how to set-up forwarding or call to have someone help you.

I do this for a living, and can tell you that you're doing great. At least you are DOING, which leads to problems, which leads to questions, which leads to learning.

alex
Thank you for your encouragement. It's been a very stressful time, and I'm old. I just wanted to get something up and running, and free seemed the way to go at the moment. :)

[Chrissy]

The free Wordpress account has very little space for hosting photos. I use my Flickr account to host my photos then use the HTML share links to add them in the HTML editor in my Wordpress posts.
This is a concern. I will have to wait and see if I run out. :blink:

[KrazyIvan]

The free Wordpress account has very little space for hosting photos. I use my Flickr account to host my photos then use the HTML share links to add them in the HTML editor in my Wordpress posts.
This is a concern. I will have to wait and see if I run out. :blink:

It sounds scarier than it really is and the HTML editor is easy to understand once you have your text, inserting the HTML code is easy as copying and pasting. Then you just switch back to the WISIWIG editor and you can double check your photos are in the correct position, edit the photos, add tags, etc.

[Chrissy]

The free Wordpress account has very little space for hosting photos. I use my Flickr account to host my photos then use the HTML share links to add them in the HTML editor in my Wordpress posts.
This is a concern. I will have to wait and see if I run out. :blink:

It sounds scarier than it really is and the HTML editor is easy to understand once you have your text, inserting the HTML code is easy as copying and pasting. Then you just switch back to the WISIWIG editor and you can double check your photos are in the correct position, edit the photos, add tags, etc.

Thanks Ivan, I did it your way, and eventually got it to work. Now my review image is hosted on my Flickr account, so I assume that, according to Wordpress, it's just text. :thumb:

In fact, the image is now slightly larger and fits the page width better than the original image did. So your tip made a great improvement. :applause:

[KrazyIvan]

The free Wordpress account has very little space for hosting photos. I use my Flickr account to host my photos then use the HTML share links to add them in the HTML editor in my Wordpress posts.
This is a concern. I will have to wait and see if I run out. :blink:

It sounds scarier than it really is and the HTML editor is easy to understand once you have your text, inserting the HTML code is easy as copying and pasting. Then you just switch back to the WISIWIG editor and you can double check your photos are in the correct position, edit the photos, add tags, etc.

Thanks Ivan, I did it your way, and eventually got it to work. Now my review image is hosted on my Flickr account, so I assume that, according to Wordpress, it's just text. :thumb:

In fact, the image is now slightly larger and fits the page width better than the original image did. So your tip made a great improvement. :applause:

You're welcome. :)