04-08-2009, 08:03 PM | #1 | ||
Coordinator
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Utah
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Blogging....Preferred Software
I know a few of you on here blog, I do not know if you run your own with Wordpress or other software...or you use blogspot or something else.
I have the ability to install WordPress, B2Evolution and Textpattern.... Has anyone used either of these, which ones get the votes and such...just trying to make an educated decision on management, ease of use and such.
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"forgetting what is in the past, I strive for the future" |
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04-08-2009, 08:16 PM | #2 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: The Great Northwest
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I'm a lover of Wordpress, it is just so easy and love that so many people have developed what I consider very useful plugins. Wordpress is SUPER simple. Plus you can update it multiple ways, web, email, iphone, Windows Live Writer (or whatever it's called now), etc.
If security is a concern Geeklog is really nice, but the development process is slow... I'm not really fond of any of the hosted things because of the lack of customizations. |
04-08-2009, 08:19 PM | #3 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NC
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I've used both Wordpress.com (free) and Wordpress.org (you pay for self hosting) and both are relatively easy. I had never launched my own website before last month and experienced some growing pains but overall Wordpress is probably your best bet.
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"You spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball...and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time." -Jim Bouton |
04-08-2009, 08:20 PM | #4 |
Hall Of Famer
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Mass.
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I don't really know anything about "blogging" or really read other people's blogs. What I do know is I regularly see security exploit notifications for Wordpress however. My understanding is that a default usage of it generally leaves a web host very vulnerable to attackers who enjoy inserting iframes or other methods of attacking people's computers into your site.
I would have to guess there are ways to protect against it with better security settings, but it seems in the network security circles that most people don't investigate those. |
04-08-2009, 08:21 PM | #5 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: At the corner of Beat Street and Electric Avenue
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Wordpress is probably your best best since it has the most development and has a slew of plugins.
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04-08-2009, 08:24 PM | #6 | |
Coordinator
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: The Great Northwest
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Quote:
I think a lot of that depends on the access you give your users. If you are the only Admin and user, and the rest are users or people that can post comments I would think there is less ability of injecting attacks. Of course Wordpress is also I think the most used format nowadays and they always attack the biggest of the big. |
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04-08-2009, 08:28 PM | #7 |
Coordinator
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Utah
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Yeah, I have used WordPress a long time ago, liked it a bit...but just didn't like the security issues I kept having to update for it.
I was just wondering if anyone else was using something different. Basically, I have my stores I am trying to push more qualified traffic to and blogging is definitely one way to get them, If I can get up to 10 sales a day between all my sites I am back to self employment again and not traveling as crazy as I have been.
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"forgetting what is in the past, I strive for the future" |
04-09-2009, 08:05 AM | #8 |
General Manager
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Kansas City, MO
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I've done a blog for 4 years now on Blogspot.com (http://www.blogger.com/). I don't have experience with other software, but have had nothing but good experiences on Blogspot.
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04-09-2009, 08:36 AM | #9 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Keene, NH
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I'm a big fan of Wordpress - tons of themes and plugins out there. I've never had any security issues with it.
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Mile High Hockey |
04-09-2009, 08:36 AM | #10 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Keene, NH
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(which is not to say there aren't any potential exploits)
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Mile High Hockey |
04-09-2009, 09:41 AM | #11 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: The Great Northwest
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*hacks your website...* |
04-09-2009, 09:46 AM | #12 |
Dark Cloud
Join Date: Apr 2001
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I've used Wordpress, Textpattern and Movable Type over the years and each has their benefits and negatives. Wordpress is the McDonalds of web blog software, it's easy to use and has a large community backing it up. Textpattern is great if you've got design skills.
You can go to opensourcecms.com and it'll let you test out a ton of different kinds of open source tools. Here's a link to the blogs section.
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04-09-2009, 10:33 AM | #13 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Toledo - Spain
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I have around 40 blogs with textpattern and some of them area really good looking ones, but got a worker who works on them and is an expert with it, not because my skills. He has even created a nice tube clone just with textpattern and some mods. I'm more used to wordpress or joomla myself.
For just a blog i would go with wordpress or textpattern (probably the first one because there are some really nice SEO plugs), for a full portal with included blog, my choice is joomla that could be complex to master but you can do everything.
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Last edited by Icy : 04-09-2009 at 10:37 AM. |
04-09-2009, 10:44 AM | #14 | |
Coordinator
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Utah
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Quote:
I posted on my golfshoes twitter account asking this same question and the b2evolution founder has been following me, I didn't even know it. I love Joomla, very easy to manage and such....right now..the lean is word press as I am focusing on 5 blogs right now, launching a ton more in the future. Icy, if you are on IM I will be hitting you up a bit later.
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"forgetting what is in the past, I strive for the future" |
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04-09-2009, 10:50 AM | #15 |
College Prospect
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Wordpress is awesome.. I've set up about 10 wordpress sites, some pure blogs and some more CMSish and the latest version is kickass to say the least. You can handle EVERYTHING from the backend. You can update the software from the backend (no download to your computer, upload to your site etc), you can add plugins from the backend, you can modify your themes from the backend etc..
Also, the community is humongous.. literally thousands of free themes that are easily customizable, and just as many plugins in with just about every kind of functionality you're after.
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IFL - Vermont Mountaineers ~ I am an idiot, walking a tight rope of fortunate things ~ |
04-09-2009, 11:01 AM | #16 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: The Great Northwest
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The one issue I have with Wordpress is that the community support on their forums tends to be TERRIBLE. As long as you look for community support elsewhere you'll be happy.
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04-09-2009, 11:04 AM | #17 | |
College Prospect
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Quote:
That's true.. and I have to admit that the official theme-site is very poor when looking for themes to use. I've found most themes through Delicious actually (just go there and type in wordpress themes and you're hit with a bunch of "greatest" lists).
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IFL - Vermont Mountaineers ~ I am an idiot, walking a tight rope of fortunate things ~ |
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04-09-2009, 11:16 AM | #18 |
Coordinator
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Utah
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Ok...I am going to go with WordPress...
What are some "Must Have" plugins, considering the blogs are all about driving traffic to my stores and affiliate programs.
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"forgetting what is in the past, I strive for the future" |
04-09-2009, 12:01 PM | #19 |
College Prospect
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Well, the all-in-one SEO pack is a must in that case.. I think it's actually the most popular Wordpress-plugin period.. so if you're in "your backend" go to plugins and select "Add".. there you should be able to search for the most popular ones and it's the top one..
Then it's really up to you.. if you intend to accept comments, activate Akismet right away. If you want to show pictures, maybe have a gallery, use a lightbox plugin for the "Ajax"-effect.. If you don't want to use Google Analytics, get "StatPress Reloaded", and if you do want to use GA, get "Google Analyticor" so that you won't have to modify the actual theme you're using for your GA-code to work. Well.. those are some of the ones I could think of off the top of my head..
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IFL - Vermont Mountaineers ~ I am an idiot, walking a tight rope of fortunate things ~ |
04-09-2009, 12:04 PM | #20 | |
Coordinator
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: The Great Northwest
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Quote:
Platinum SEO plugin - the ultimate wordpress SEO solution - which was a fork of another great SEO WordPress › AdSense Manager « WordPress Plugins - if you going to have Google Adsense or other ads as well. SCF2 Contact Form » LaptopTips - nice internal contact form ability WordPress Google Analytics Plugin WordPress › WordPress.com Stats « WordPress Plugins WP-SpamFree WordPress Spam Plugin - Powerful Anti-Spam Protection! | WebGeek Those are a few of the ones that I use for my restaurant review sites.
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04-09-2009, 12:06 PM | #21 |
Bonafide Seminole Fan
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Miami
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Does anyone know how to make money from their blogs? I am interested in starting one with a buddy of mine but I have no idea how it would generate income (at least to pay for the blog/site and maybe see a nice little profit say 40 bucks each) Or should I take this question else where?
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04-09-2009, 12:14 PM | #22 | ||
College Prospect
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
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Quote:
Quote:
I don't have any "moneymaking" blogs, all mine are for friends and even some businesses (using WP as a CMS). My only advice is that content is king.. you want repeat visitors, and you want ads that relate to your content. Don't "mix it up" if you know what I mean. I'm sure there are others out there who are more experienced in this area than I am, but I just wanted to get that out there.. I've seen so many people thinking that bloggings is the way to great wealth, and they just start a blog without knowing what to say, and then just killing it with all the ads they can lay their hands on .
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04-09-2009, 12:23 PM | #23 | |
Coordinator
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: The Great Northwest
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Quote:
I make about $25 a month on mine 1 blog, enough for my hosting and a little extra. I'm a Foodbuzz featured publisher and also get money from Google Adsense. |
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04-09-2009, 12:24 PM | #24 | |
Coordinator
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: The Great Northwest
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Quote:
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04-09-2009, 12:25 PM | #25 | |
Bonafide Seminole Fan
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Miami
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Quote:
I don't plan to get wealthy at all but if it happens I wouldn't complain . I just want to turn a nice profit (40 bucks between me and my buddy after expenses) and do something I enjoy. I am thinking of doing something music related and don't know of any sites that are like the one I am thinking of.
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04-09-2009, 12:27 PM | #26 | |
Bonafide Seminole Fan
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Miami
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Quote:
This is sort of what I want, enough to pay the hosting and then a little extra and that for me would be 40 bucks. I know making 1000 a month is not realistic at this point so I am trying to do something that pays for itself and can buy a text sim or something.
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04-09-2009, 12:29 PM | #27 |
Coordinator
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Utah
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Most professional bloggers use their blogs as traffic generators for their money making sites (Online stores, Affiliate programs and such) that is where the money is coming to them.
Is there enough out there still for you to become wealthy? Sure, if you hit the niche and have a great price point it can happen. My traffic on my stores have hit a plateu and I am trying to push it above that mark OR push more qualified traffic so I can up my conversion rate, right now it is sitting at about 3%
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"forgetting what is in the past, I strive for the future" |
04-09-2009, 01:42 PM | #28 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Chicagoland
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I use WordPress for the WiP site. It's easy to use, easy to set up, and even not terribly difficult to design a theme for.
As for making money, I think you need ridiculous viewership numbers to make money just on advertising. During the season WiP gets maybe 100 unique viewers a week and in two years I've made $11. |
04-09-2009, 02:27 PM | #29 | |
Coordinator
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: The Great Northwest
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Quote:
Right, I was talking about solely on a blogging format you aren't going to get rich. If you are selling stuff that isn't the case. |
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04-09-2009, 04:40 PM | #30 |
Pro Starter
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Toledo - Spain
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Macroguru, i won't be online a lot until Monday as we have familly here at home for Holly week, so we better talk then.
Noop, you have basically two ways for a newbie: - Google adsense, you signup to create your account, get a code that you put in your site and related ads will be displayed in the sections you chose. Google will pay you for the clicks generated on those ads. This is the easier way, but unless your blog is related to something with expensive cost per click, you won't make a lot. This is the easiest way and what most of non business blogs use. - Affiliate networks. There are a ton, you signup, they give you codes to promote their products, and then you earn a % of the sales generated through your site ads. This works better if you have a blog related to one niche or product as you already know your readers are interested on related products that you can sell to them. This is what i currently do in some sites and where i'm mainly expanding my business. If you want, PM me your blog url or the theme/niche and i'll be able to suggest you some things you can sell there and where to signup to promote them.
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04-09-2009, 07:20 PM | #31 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: The Great Northwest
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I haven't personally tried it but I hear that Square Space is pretty neat.
Build a Website - Create a Blog - Squarespace Might want to check it out.... But they are also a host too. Unsure what they are all about since I heard about it on a podcast. |
04-10-2009, 12:39 PM | #32 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Chicagoland
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If anyone has any super ideas about how to make money off my WiP blog, I'd love to hear it.
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04-10-2009, 03:22 PM | #33 |
College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Jan 2006
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04-10-2009, 03:23 PM | #34 |
College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Jan 2006
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I also use Wordpress but not hosted by Wordpress. I downloaded and installed WP onto my own server. Quick to install and very easy to use. Very good price too.
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04-10-2009, 04:00 PM | #35 |
Coordinator
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: The Great Northwest
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I'm not 100% sure but would it helped if you actually did a write up about each post as well? That way search engines would pick that up as well and thus get more visits? I just know that when I post stuff on my site it's usually searchable within 24 hours if not quicker, and I think that's both because my site is SEO friendly and because of the wording of the first sentence in my posts (I always include the name of the restaurant and the city they are in). But I'm not a SEO or search engine expert. |
05-24-2009, 08:36 AM | #36 |
Coordinator
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Utah
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Wanting to bump this thread, I am loving WordPress, I have one main blog and just installed 5 others last night and will be fine tuning them today.
I was wondering if we wanted to do a blogroll of a sorts here. List your blogs here I will link to them from my blogs which will be very SEO friendly and generating a lot of traffic in the following areas, Sports, Golf, Health and Beauty, Store Ranking and Hobbies. Also, has anyone used YouTube for traffic generation? It's a new medium for me and I am trying to figure out the best way to use it for my sites.
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"forgetting what is in the past, I strive for the future" |
05-24-2009, 09:03 AM | #38 |
Coordinator
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Utah
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It's not necessarily the fact of doing any good for me... 1) Even if the blogs are local centric, they fit a few genres, whether they are local centric or not, they still help with link pop for relevant areas. 2) This isn't just for me, it is for everyone, I generally launch out of the gates and start seeing my traffic increase daily and it would send traffic to everyone that has a blog, potential of making a little income off of my traffic would make it all worth it wouldn't it? Just trying to help everyone else out here and yes, myself as well.
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"forgetting what is in the past, I strive for the future" |
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