I've been intrigued with the whole blog thing and was thinking of attaching one to the site I'm building.

I'm a bit confused which, out of many, blogging options to use.

Now I'm an amateur HTML hand-coder who doesn't intend to learn Perl, but figure I better learn how to handle a CGI-bin, CSS, DHTML and XML before long, so I can move past that amateur status. But for now, I'm looking for a blog option that doesn't require a geek badge.

Most of the few places that rated 4 or 5 blog options were short on detail, and didn't cover anywhere near the full range of blog sites that can be chosen. For example, CNET rated Blogger, Live Journal, Diaryland and Radio Userland, but did not even cover Pitas, Xanga, GreyMatter, Moveable Type or others. (http://www.lights.com/weblogs/tools.html)

And CNET's review was riddled with errors, per the user responses. Oh well.

About a year ago, I started to set up one from Blogger and enjoyed its posting ease, but while trying to create a layout similar to the design used elsewhere in the site I wanted it for, I ran into difficulties. I posted questions in their user forums; most went unanswered.

Reviews also suggest some of these popular ones have downtime problems.

Based on user response to CNET's review of Radio Userland, it sounds like a breeze, but asking for help there isn't met with indifference, but with rudeness. Hmmmmmm...

Several users swear by Movable Type, but also say it takes a bit to set up the CGI and Perl at first; I'm not sure I'm geek enough.

So I'm curious what folks here have tried and can recommend. Features I'm after are a quick learning curve for set-up, ease of use, customizable design, decent support, a reader response system and good uptime. A good RSS feed would be a nice extra.

I'm not adverse to spending a modest amount for this and no-one needs to remind me that 'ya get what ya pay for'.

Feedback? :erm:


- Kevin

Have a look at b2 [cafelog.com (http://cafelog.com)] it's PHP based and includes a pretty decent default layout/design, RSS feed and it's quick an easy to use.

Another vote for b2. I pretty much just use the backend though and redesign my site from scratch with it. But than again, I would do that with any blog that I used.

Anyhow, I use b2, and I like it.

Originally posted by JonB
Have a look at b2 [cafelog.com (http://cafelog.com)] it's PHP based and includes a pretty decent default layout/design, RSS feed and it's quick an easy to use.


Took a quick look, strolled through the forums..... seems a bit tricky. Is Php easy to pick up on?

Well I'd say it's a heck of a lot easier to pick up than Perl is...

i'll cast my vote for b2 as well - the forums are a good place for support if you ever need it. The install documentation is really thorough. Michael (creator) is a cool dude - if you ever ran into any trouble i'm pretty sure he'd help ya out =]

As for php - the cool thing about it is that you can have the page use all HTML - all you need to do is make sure the extension of your page is .php ie index.php or blog.php. That way you can use as little or as much php as you want. Adding pieces here and there as you find more useful lil codes =]

An excellent place to pick up some php tricks would be http://www.php-princess.net

=]

Originally posted by SirRealist
Several users swear by Movable Type, but also say it takes a bit to set up the CGI and Perl at first; I'm not sure I'm geek enough.
I qualify for both those catagories: I love MT and I'm not very geek.

It's really not that hard to set up, just follow the directions. It should only take 10 or 20 minutes at the most and you really don't have to deal with the perl at all...

And it's an incredibly powerful program, a wonderful and powerful program. www.themorningnews.org is one of my favorite uses of it (also see one of MT's creator's site: www.dollarshort.org).

It's highly customizable. It's easy. It's fun. It's MT.

Interesting Colin; I had just read the Morning News' story, 'Requiem for Boddy' yesterday. Cute story. Does Movable Type do it from their servers or do you hafta install the whole shebang on your own?

b2 is cool :)

Originally posted by SirRealist
Interesting Colin; I had just read the Morning News' story, 'Requiem for Boddy' yesterday. Cute story.
Yep, it's a great broadsheet!
Originally posted by SirRealist
Does Movable Type do it from their servers or do you hafta install the whole shebang on your own?
Whole shebang.

And even though that kinda sucks, it's also good. You can play around with the code (if you want, you don't have to). You can make your own tags, so MT can become a templating system.

Calling it blog/news software doesn't do it justice.

I vote for Movable Type!

I've been using it since it came public, and I haven't wanted to move to anything else (before that Greymatter, and before that Blogger *shudder*).

I've tried other newer blog systems, but nothing has compared to MT (in my eyes).

Movable Type.

I've tried installing and using b2, Greymatter, a little something called OpenJournal, and Movable Type. MT has the clearest, easiest install - both in terms of procedure and in terms of readability of the directions - and you don't have to be very "geek" to install it successfully. The support forum is populated with very helpful people.

When you do get MT installed, you may find that your biggest learning curve is figuring out how to best take advantage of the flexibility it offers you. Don't worry. Ask questions. Besides still having a thriving development team (Greymatter's been defunct for quite some time now), the MT user base is very helpful - very "old school" internet. I've even put up a few tricks on the support forums, and helped some folks migrating from Geocities install and then learn how to use Movable Type - and there wasn't a handcoder in the bunch. They're loving the software.

Whatever tool you eventually choose, best of luck, and remember - it's supposed to be fun :)