A few of my Blogspot readers noticed my Tweet from the other day:
Must suck to be on Blogger/Blogspot right about now. There’s other blogging services out there, folks… 2 days ago
And have asked me what I’m on about.
At the time that was posted, Blogger was apparently having some sort of server issue, whether due to ThePlanet fire or their own problems, who knows. But it resulted in almost half my Gardening reading list being unavailable, since a great many of those folks seem to use Blogspot to power/host their sites, so you can actually treat this like a business and start to make money, while for the taxes, getting your W2 form online is the best choice. So, in that Tweet I was just pointing out that there are options in the blogging world, one need not be subject to the vagaries of a shared service like that. So, for those of you who have asked, here are the options:
1. Use some other hosted blogging service, like Typepad.com or WordPress.com. The disadvantage of this is the same as with Blogspot/Blogger though…you’re sharing the blogging software with however many other people are on that same server/network.
2. Keep using Blogger, but get a hosting account and a domain name with a reputable host, then change your settings to publish your blog to your new hosting account instead of to Blogspot. Yes, a hosting account and a domain name will cost money, but not very much. $8/month for a hosting account, and $15/year for a domain at one of the best places in the business. You’re still at the mercy of the community blogging software, but at least you’re publishing to your own account and not subject to Blogspot’s outages.
3. Get a hosting account/domain name and install Movable Type (not very hard + token license fee) or WordPress (very easy + open source and free). I actually recommend WordPress these days over MT. I, who have used and advocated MT since nearly the beginning, officially do not like what MT has done in the 4.x updates. WordPress is just more intuitive at this point, particularly in template customization. There are a boatload of plugins and pre-made themes you can use to customize your site with, as well.
I recommend #3, obviously. Running your own blogging software installation, that only YOU use, on YOUR hosting account, with YOUR domain, is the best way to go. It does not require a great deal of technical acumen, nor does it require a huge monetary outlay.
And, after you all convert, I no longer have my daily reading interrupted…because this is all about ME, you know. 🙂