Thinking more about whether to switch blogs from Blog*Spot to Typepad. Both have their pros and cons.
Blog*Spot is a far easier system to use. Could be, though, that I’m now up to speed with how to use it. Typepad is also easy to use and I’ve certainly not used it as much as Blog*Spot. Typepad is a much more polished interface. (Reminder of what each one is: Blog*Spot Plus vs Typepad Plus.)
As I see it at the moment, the major advantages of each are these:
Blog*Spot: 1) Extremely easy to change the template or design/upload your own; I have no problem editing HTML or fiddling with Blogger tags. 2) FTP access means I can manipulate the blog structure at will. 3) Very easy Blog button in the Google toolbar for on-the-spot blogging.
Typepad: 1) Categories! This is now becoming a must-have feature (benefit). It’s just not good enough having a linear (well, vertical) blog that is organized purely on dates. I want to do and find stuff by topics. 2) Lists organization – very easy. 3) Very good commenting/permalink/trackback feature. 4) Looks easy to import all posts, etc, from Blog*Spot into Typepad.
The main disadvantages of each look like:
Blog*Spot: 1) No categories. 2) No trackback.
Typepad: 1) Can’t manipulate the template HTML (that needs upgrading to Typepad Pro); 2) In compose mode, there’s no easy way to do simple formatting like bullets!
I think if I were starting out now, I’d probably choose Typepad. I’m beginning to see that categories are important, probably more than the look-and-feel flexibilty I have with Blog*Spot compared to Typepad. But Typepad Plus costs $8.95/month or $107.40/year. I forget what I paid for the Blog*Spot Plus account (not offered any more) when I opened it in Dec 2002; I think it was $30 for 2 years. Can’t ignore those cost differences. Maybe push Amazon more, make enough to cover the costs!
My main worry is if I switch now, what about all the building I’ve been doing over the past 2 weeks to get nevon.blogspot.com listed in various blog directories and get the site generally known? Will that mean starting over again with nevon.typepad.com? Or is it better to just bite the bullet and do it?
Still got 27 days of the trial remaining…
Maybe another alternative. I just discovered Bloghosts (www.bloghosts.com). Hosting, looks like very good pricing. Maybe get MT and learn that. Domain, sub domains, email. Consider…
…And for a blog application, take a look at b2evolution (www.b2evolution.net). Open source, free.
Have you tried Blogware?
You can setup a 30 days trial account here:
http://blogstore.streamlinewebco.com
or here:
http://www.adaptivehostingsolutions.com/products/hosting/blogs/
The montly service is less than $6, and you can change the HTML in the templates:
http://demo.blogharbor.com/blog/_archives/2004/1/13/13732.html
It also has a template editor:
http://www.adaptivehostingsolutions.com/products/hosting/blogs/layout.php
You can import your postings from Blogger:
http://blog.blogware.com/blog/HintsandTips/_archives/2004/5/13/65539.html
Also, you can test a couple of other blogging platforms -including WordPress- here:
http://www.opensourcecms.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=144
Thanks for those great suggestions, Constantin. I have checked out BlogWare, even set up a trial blog. But, I think I’ll go with Typepad. At the end of the day, what do I want to spend most time on – designing and customizing the blog or writing and posting to it? Balancing the trade off.
Still have 22 days of my Typepad trial…