Let's talk hosting and get video blogging out of the way first. If you want to vlog you have two choices: YouTube and Vimeo. There's also Blip.TV which was just purchased by Maker, but Blip artists still cross-post to YouTube, so like I say -- you have those choices. The Vimeo crowd is artsy and professional. They're basically nice. The interface is clean and intuitive. Vimeo is beautiful and filled with stuff you won't see elsewhere. It's like House Hunters International, compared to YouTube, which is like The Real World on spring break. Take your pick.
You could also have a microvlog on Vine or Instagram. Names like BatDad and Us the Duo have made a living there. I'm not a vlogger (though I have a channel on all the above) so I'll leave that investigation to you.
What I do know are writing platforms, the old ones, anyway. The ones in the picture above are the ones I named off the top of my head while putting text in those empty signs. They've been around, they've stood the test of time, and most have a free version for newbies. Here's what I think:
Blogger: It's owned by Google so it's clean and simple to use. Maybe too simple, though. If you want to add something useful like a slideshow you need to use a third-party app and paste in the HTML. Not for newbies. Or for people like me who just don't want to deal with that. I want my focus on content, and I want to make it pretty. Blogger is naturally pretty but to glam it up requires procedures. Blogger is The Real Housewives.
WordPress: The geeky gold standard, it will do everything, but like Blogger, usually through third-party apps. When WordPress updates, you have to manually update your site, which almost always screws up one of those vital plug-ins. And God forbid your theme needs updating. It can wipe out -- you know what? it's too complicated -- WordPress is Survivor after a merge.
Weebly: You're looking at a Weebly site right now. It's my favorite for building websites because it lets me focus on content. Most of the tasks that WordPress requires a plug-in for are already standard on Weebly. Some options aren't available on Weebly's free version, but it's still prettier and more intuitive than Blogger or WP's freebies.
Sidenote: one pet peeve about WP free templates is the fonts don't match. The headline fonts are serifs and the body uses sans. Or vice-versa. Want options? Trade up. That's cruel.
Weebly is The Voice. You choose your destiny. Your only job is to deliver good content.
Tumblr: ah, Tumblr, how I love it but don't tell anyone 'cause I'm too old to be there. It's really for microblogging, usually pictures, GIF's, quotes, and poetry. It's filled with incredible sights, has some arguing, some gut-level laughs, and a bit of global culture, all at a quick pace. Tumblr is The Amazing Race.
TypePad: High-end blogging with no free options. TypePad is real-life, not reality TV.
I planned this post to be a sales pitch for Weebly. The tool has done everything I've ever needed it to do without any kind of behind-the-scenes drama. I hate admin and Weebly is nearly trouble-free. When there are issues, they solve them quickly. But this is the first time I've used Weebly seriously for blogging. I've entered three Weebly sites and one WordPress into this month-long blogging challlenge. And right now, the Weebly blog tool has a date glitch.
My posts on one blog are appearing out of order. And when I go to fix them they save, but to a different wrong date. It's so weird. On another blog I have one October post that will not come up when you choose October from the archives. It appears with September instead, though the date on the post says October. I'm assured it's being worked on. And Weebly's word has always been good. We'll see.
This snag has made me look into what's out there now and I'm floored to see such a vast new lineup. After October I'd like to look into each one. All the platforms here were started before social really took off and it would be nice to see more native options. Until then, I'll keep you posted on the Weebly date glitch. Even with that, I would still recommend them. For newbies, there's nothing else.
You could also have a microvlog on Vine or Instagram. Names like BatDad and Us the Duo have made a living there. I'm not a vlogger (though I have a channel on all the above) so I'll leave that investigation to you.
What I do know are writing platforms, the old ones, anyway. The ones in the picture above are the ones I named off the top of my head while putting text in those empty signs. They've been around, they've stood the test of time, and most have a free version for newbies. Here's what I think:
Blogger: It's owned by Google so it's clean and simple to use. Maybe too simple, though. If you want to add something useful like a slideshow you need to use a third-party app and paste in the HTML. Not for newbies. Or for people like me who just don't want to deal with that. I want my focus on content, and I want to make it pretty. Blogger is naturally pretty but to glam it up requires procedures. Blogger is The Real Housewives.
WordPress: The geeky gold standard, it will do everything, but like Blogger, usually through third-party apps. When WordPress updates, you have to manually update your site, which almost always screws up one of those vital plug-ins. And God forbid your theme needs updating. It can wipe out -- you know what? it's too complicated -- WordPress is Survivor after a merge.
Weebly: You're looking at a Weebly site right now. It's my favorite for building websites because it lets me focus on content. Most of the tasks that WordPress requires a plug-in for are already standard on Weebly. Some options aren't available on Weebly's free version, but it's still prettier and more intuitive than Blogger or WP's freebies.
Sidenote: one pet peeve about WP free templates is the fonts don't match. The headline fonts are serifs and the body uses sans. Or vice-versa. Want options? Trade up. That's cruel.
Weebly is The Voice. You choose your destiny. Your only job is to deliver good content.
Tumblr: ah, Tumblr, how I love it but don't tell anyone 'cause I'm too old to be there. It's really for microblogging, usually pictures, GIF's, quotes, and poetry. It's filled with incredible sights, has some arguing, some gut-level laughs, and a bit of global culture, all at a quick pace. Tumblr is The Amazing Race.
TypePad: High-end blogging with no free options. TypePad is real-life, not reality TV.
I planned this post to be a sales pitch for Weebly. The tool has done everything I've ever needed it to do without any kind of behind-the-scenes drama. I hate admin and Weebly is nearly trouble-free. When there are issues, they solve them quickly. But this is the first time I've used Weebly seriously for blogging. I've entered three Weebly sites and one WordPress into this month-long blogging challlenge. And right now, the Weebly blog tool has a date glitch.
My posts on one blog are appearing out of order. And when I go to fix them they save, but to a different wrong date. It's so weird. On another blog I have one October post that will not come up when you choose October from the archives. It appears with September instead, though the date on the post says October. I'm assured it's being worked on. And Weebly's word has always been good. We'll see.
This snag has made me look into what's out there now and I'm floored to see such a vast new lineup. After October I'd like to look into each one. All the platforms here were started before social really took off and it would be nice to see more native options. Until then, I'll keep you posted on the Weebly date glitch. Even with that, I would still recommend them. For newbies, there's nothing else.
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