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PHYMAC · Nov 1, 2005, 09:44 AM

I am thinking of starting a blog, and don't know HTML but would like to know what software or service is the best and gives you the most freedom. I have been playing with Blog.Mac and not sure if I really like it, and was wondering if other people have better solutions.

Thanks!

cmeisenzahl · Nov 1, 2005, 09:47 AM

I just use blogger.com, not as customizable as some, but VERY easy to create and maintain.

Chris
http://amateureconblog.blogspot.com/

CaptainHaddock · Nov 1, 2005, 09:56 AM

Blogger.com is good and free; it's hard to go wrong with a Google product.

Also consider TypePad (http://www.sixapart.com/typepad/). It's more flexible with available layouts and templates, and it's pretty cheap.

CaptainHaddock · Nov 1, 2005, 09:58 AM

Dupe.

jersey · 02:56 PM

I use ( and like ) wordpress. Really expandable, which is always nice. You can also download flock, and that will get you an invitation for a wordpress.com blog (everyone seems to want one of these, why, i dont know. )

See mine GONE

midwinter · Nov 1, 2005, 11:27 AM

Start with blogger. When you get tired of it or want something more powerful, go to Wordpress.

PHYMAC · Nov 1, 2005, 11:41 AM

I tried to download wordpress, but couldn't get it to run, it seemed like it was for the PC or something....

dajk · Nov 1, 2005, 11:45 AM

You'll need a webserver with PHP and MySQL for it.

Randman · Nov 1, 2005, 01:55 PM

iBlog is decent for no-muss use with dotmac and it handles Podcasts just fine. Hopefully, the upcoming 2.0 release fixes a number of bugs otherwise the app might see the EOL. Still, it's pretty easy to configure once you figure it out.

As far as WordPress, too many look the same. Very cookie cutter.

mpancha · Nov 1, 2005, 02:34 PM

I personally use WordPress, it suits me as mine is for friends/family to view.... rather than me sending out a big mailing list, I update the Blog, and it shows up on their RSS software if/when I update.

I found a pretty good tutorial for installing WordPress (and other blogs) on a Mac at MacZealouts.com... http://maczealots.com/tutorials/wordpress/ A quick google search for "os x wordpress" gives you many other sites if u need help as well.

I agree with Randman, they all (for the most part) look the same, but if you are up for getting your hands dirty with CSS, u can easily edit it to suit ur needs and make it look however you feel like.

wataru · Nov 1, 2005, 04:00 PM

I use Nanoblogger locally and then upload the files to my webserver automatically with [font=Courier New]ftp[/font] and [font=Courier New].netrc[/font]. It's nice and simple, and immune to security holes since no code is run on the webserver, but it's also not as powerful as MovableType or WordPress, etc.

Love Calm Quiet · 07:16 PM

Yes, wordpress is based on PHP/MySQL... so you'll need something besides .mac as a host.
But just about any decent (even very cheap decent) hosting service will run it.
It just took me a few minutes to D/L it, upload it into my web site's directory (using Dreamweaver) and start tweaking the appearance of a blog for myself.
Tough to beat!
(There's nothing "for PC" about it. They actually say it runs a little better on an Apache based server than on Windows. And they seem to support FoxFire on PC over whatizname.)

DeathMan · Nov 1, 2005, 06:38 PM

As blogs go, I like Typo, but I'm not really that into blogs, and don't personally have one.

midwinter · Nov 1, 2005, 06:40 PM

I simply do not understand why people seem predisposed against using blogger. It's free. It works. And if you want something better down the road, you can just export all your posts and get'em in the new Wordpress blog.

alphasubzero949 · Nov 1, 2005, 06:54 PM

iBlog. Click sig.

Randman · Nov 1, 2005, 09:41 PM

Originally Posted by alphasubzero949

iBlog. Click sig.

Interesting. What did you do to get the opening page then click to the sig?

mrmister · Nov 2, 2005, 01:37 AM

Blogger, ecto and Transmit.

threestain · Nov 2, 2005, 04:36 AM

a second for iblog - very good really and hopefully there will be an update soon!

Randman · Nov 2, 2005, 05:18 AM

Originally Posted by threestain

a second for iblog - very good really and hopefully there will be an update soon!

iBlog 2.0 is supposed to released as a beta soon.

threestain · Nov 2, 2005, 05:26 AM

yeah I had an e-mail from the developer about two months ago to that effect - hope now's the time

alphasubzero949 · Nov 2, 2005, 06:05 AM

Originally Posted by Randman

Interesting. What did you do to get the opening page then click to the sig?

I'm not sure if I'm understanding your question, but the opening page is simply my index.html that will take you to the blog itself when you click on the image. I didn't do anything special with my sig's URL link.

ism · 07:45 AM

There's billions of choices.

If you have a proper webhost (PHP, mysql, etc) I'd go the route of Blogger + SSI, etc for starters since it is easy to get up and running and easy to get the site looking like yours, but still working as a blog.

Further on there are Wordpress, Blojsom, Textpattern, etc.

Wordpress is easy to setup, Blojsom a bit more tricky. The only issues I have with these is modifying the templates so it doesn't look like every other wordpress / blojsom site. I find it harder to modify these templates than the blogger + SSI route. I've not spent a lot of time looking into it though.

If you don't have a proper host, i.e. .mac, etc then I'd say thingamablog or blosxom since they static publish. And are free.

Why not download a few and try them out locally. Very easy in OSX. The maczealot guides linked to above are very good

WHOOPS - reading properly I notice you aren't familar with HTML and also probably mean blogging on .mac.

Well, blosxom and thingamablog still stand. Thingamablog probably easier. As for paid solutions rapidweaver is meant to be good (no html knowledge required). I'm sure there are more. Oh yeah there's Tangelo as well.

Spoilt for choice!

dajk · Nov 2, 2005, 11:25 AM

There's also Pivot, which doesn't require MySQL (though it does require PHP) and works quite good too IMO.

PHYMAC · Nov 2, 2005, 01:10 PM

Well thank you so much everyone for your replies and help!

Just I guess one last thing then! I have a .Mac account, and I Want to get my own domain name, and use blogger for now on it until I learn HTML.

Is it possible to use my .Mac account to I guess host my domain name but then use blogger? Or do I not need to use .Mac if I use blogger....

I guess my main thing is, is that I want a domain name that is not homepage.mac.com/... but instead a www.blah.com, but do I need .Mac to have space to use it, or will blogger take care of that? Or can I use blog.mac on this domain name...

Sorry if it is confusing, I think it is, because I am!

Thanks again!

ism · Nov 2, 2005, 05:35 PM

PHYMAC,

Blogger can't really be used with dotmac it needs somewhere you can FTP to. Dotmac is webdav access only.

You can use your own domain name with dotmac. You can either have it redirect or masked (using frames. The ones in my sig are both masked domains hosted on dotmac (although I break out of one with javascript)

So you need an application that will do 'static' rendering. So that's blosxom, thingamablog, rapidweaver, iblog, tangelo, etc

Stecchino · Nov 2, 2005, 06:55 PM

One more to add to the list.

RapidWeaver from RealMac Software is good for a blogging-and-more automatic, built-in podcasting capabilities.

http://www.realmacsoftware.com/rapidweaver/index.php

alphasubzero949 · Nov 3, 2005, 06:32 AM

.Mac is crippled when it comes to using the likes of WordPress. Caveat emptor.

JoshuaZ · Nov 4, 2005, 05:05 AM

If you're lazy, use blogger. If you're gun ho, use Moveabletype or Typepad. I use MT to handle several blogs, and some friend's blogs. Good stuff.

http://www.joshuazimmerman.com

kisol007 · Nov 4, 2005, 02:37 PM

I would second the RapidWeaver idea... use it for more than just a blog (and its blog isn't anything special) but you can easily put up a nice looking website in a couple hours...

production_coordinator · Nov 4, 2005, 08:38 PM

I code mine all in binary... it's not fast, but it's also hard!

noreturn · Nov 5, 2005, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

I code mine all in binary... it's not fast, but it's also hard!

Haha. Nice.

If you're going cheap, GoDaddy will give you stripped down hosting for something like 3 or 4 bucks a month. It's got ftp, which will allow you to create a blog at http://yourdomain.com. However, don't expect much more than that; the service is minimal.

I personally recommend that you use WordPress and bite the learning bullet now; transferring blogs from a different service is a real pain in the butt, and the more entries you have (the longer you leave it), the bigger the pain becomes. Since you're starting fresh, I'd suggest going all out in one direction, be it Blogger, WordPress, or whatever.

P.S.
Wordpress doesn't have to be ugly:
http://www.kingcosmonaut.de/
I'd show you mine, but I'm camera shy.

slugslugslug · Nov 5, 2005, 04:25 PM

Well here's a related question: for those that have a database-driven blog and can't just upload static html pages, do you just post from your browser using the blog package's built-in UI? Or is anyone using a full-fledged bloggin client app?

If so, which one, and do you like it? I'm thinking of trying MarsEdit, but I'm not sure if it's worth the money (though it was created by and will be maintained by excellent, responsive developers), or what the competition is, really..

who's got $.02 to add?

mrgaskell · Nov 5, 2005, 04:50 PM

I need to install one for the newspaper at the high school I work at. What would you recommend for having about 15 users posting, and will support sidebar adverts down the road? Doesn't have to be too customizable, just colors and banner image. Maybe the author's picture by their name?

So what do you think? I will have a php/MySQL account and their own URL, external to the district's server, which doesn't support any DBM.

Randman · Nov 6, 2005, 02:14 AM

Originally Posted by noreturn

Haha. Nice.

If you're going cheap, GoDaddy will give you stripped down hosting for something like 3 or 4 bucks a month. It's got ftp, which will allow you to create a blog at http://yourdomain.com. However, don't expect much more than that; the service is minimal.

I personally recommend that you use WordPress and bite the learning bullet now; transferring blogs from a different service is a real pain in the butt, and the more entries you have (the longer you leave it), the bigger the pain becomes. Since you're starting fresh, I'd suggest going all out in one direction, be it Blogger, WordPress, or whatever.

P.S.
Wordpress doesn't have to be ugly:
http://www.kingcosmonaut.de/
I'd show you mine, but I'm camera shy.

GODADDY EFFING SUCKS!!!!!

ism · Nov 6, 2005, 06:36 AM

Check out www.webhostingtalk.com to find out about the good and bad companies in the world of webhosting

- - e r i k - - · Nov 6, 2005, 08:39 AM

MovableType or bust.

noreturn · Nov 6, 2005, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by Randman

GODADDY EFFING SUCKS!!!!!

I agree with you, but cheap is cheap.

slugslugslug: Yes. And MarsEdit is beautiful. I couldn't ask for a better app myself.

mrgaskell: I'd go with WordPress. All you asked for and more.

inkhead · Nov 8, 2005, 05:00 PM

Best blog software is : ExpressionEngine by Pmachine (it's $150)
You can host with me ;-) 495 days uptime, 100mbs, php, control panel ect. or i'd recommend dreamhost.. if not myself ;-)

Also go to domains.yahoo.com to buy a domain, you can get one for $2.99/year right now. DO NOT USE GODADDY, they don't have their **** together lately...

I should know I have about 50,000 domains and customers through various registrars.

besson3c · Nov 8, 2005, 08:58 PM

I've been contributing ports to DarwinPorts, including a port for WordPress.

If you are looking for a way to automatically download, install, and maintain WordPress (including the necessary dependencies such as MySQL), check out DarwinPorts.

I've also created a guide explaining how to build a web server using DarwinPorts here:

http://www.netmusician.org/wiki/inde...th_DarwinPorts

Cucucachoo · Nov 8, 2005, 10:14 PM

If your looking to host and run your own blog then you will defenantly want to check out Dreamhost. They have great rates and have a one click install for Wordpress and Gallery2. Just check them out and you'll see they are a great bargan.

Cucucachoo · Nov 8, 2005, 10:20 PM

Oh and regardless of what service you go with check out ECTO publishing program. It will allow you to write your posts remotely without having to connect to the internet. Its a darn handy program and couldn't imagine blogging without it. http://ecto.kung-foo.tv/

JoshuaZ · Nov 10, 2005, 12:27 AM

Originally Posted by Cucucachoo

Oh and regardless of what service you go with check out ECTO publishing program. It will allow you to write your posts remotely without having to connect to the internet. Its a darn handy program and couldn't imagine blogging without it. http://ecto.kung-foo.tv/

God, I LOVE ECTO! Its the most handy bit of webloging software out there. Ecto saves me sooo much time when doing my blog. Plus the author is such a nice guy, and is really really helpful.

If you`re seriously about blogging more than once a month, buy Ecto. Honestly, one of the best software buys I`ve ever made.