How to choose blog software
The best blog software for your website depends on your needs. Consider the factors below when choosing from the wide range of blog software programs on the market.
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Blog software cost
Many blog software programs are free (open source) and have a lot of useful features. Other blog software programs also have numerous features and are commercial. Depending on your needs, you may or may not find a free blog program that has all the features you want.
Where the blog is hosted
Some blogger websites such as blogger.com, livejournal.com, and typepad.com have blog software ready to use when you sign up for an account. The key advantage to using a blogger site is that you only need to sign up, and your blog is ready to use. In addition, your blog will be located at a site with other blogs, which can help increase your audience base. And depending on the site, your blog may be hosted at no cost. The key disadvantage is that you have less control over how you use your blog and where it's hosted.
If you host your blog with a web host, you can choose the blog software program that best suits your needs, you have FTP access to your account, your blog can be at its own site or be part of a site, and you can easily move your blog to another web host if you ever want to. If the web host has an autoinstaller, blog programs that are set up with that web host can be installed in just a few seconds. For example, the autoinstaller Fantastico supports b2evolution, Nucleus, and Wordpress blog scripts. Just about any web host can host a blog, including budget web hosts and free web hosts.
Each blog software program has its own requirements, such as programming language (most use PHP), operating system (most can run on Windows or Unix), and type of database needed. If you already have a web host, select a blog software program with requirements that your web host can meet. If you don't have a web host yet, you can choose the blog software program you want to use and then find a web host that can meet the needs of that program.
Features
Most blog software programs share many of the same features, such as browser-based editing and the abilities to allow comments and to upload images. The following are examples of features that some but not all blog software programs include:
- Blog pages that aren't blog posts, such as an About page
- Blog post categories and sub-categories
- Different users and user levels
- Login for visitors
- Methods to control or minimize spamming
Customization options
Even blogger websites allow users to customize the appearance of their blogs, from layout and colors to the choice of templates. Customization with blogs at these sites is limited, though. Blog software programs that you can host at your own site typically have free and paid themes (designs) available to use as they are or to customize. Some web developers specialize in creating custom blog designs or customizing the theme and layout give the blog the same appearance as the rest of the website. The latter is especially useful for blogs that are part of commercial websites.
See also
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