Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
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the Blogger software to host yourself. There's certainly no Blogger MU to allow multiple users to
run from a core installation of Blogger software.
WordPress is, as we said earlier, deeper than Blogger and most competing options. Getting started
with it can take more time and focus than with Blogger. There are certainly more options in
WordPress to both empower and, potentially, confuse you. This topic provides answers to most of
your early questions, helping you cut through the clutter of online help and related resources.
WordPress User Case Study 1: Beginners
Though it's not the very simplest alternative, beginners use WordPress.com every day to start new
blogs. Many other people use the WordPress software from Day 1, giving up the simplicity of
WordPress.com for the power of the WordPress software.
WordPress.com requires no investment of money and only a modest investment of time and energy.
In return, it offers benefits that millions of beginners have found compelling:
•
Low barriers to entry
—There's no large, single cost of money, time, or learning needed to start
with a blog on WordPress.com.
•
Large support resources
—Support for WordPress is very impressive: free online help, meetings,
and third-party resources. Because WordPress has different forms and does so much, it can take
a bit of digging to get an answer to your specific question. This topic, in itself a third-party
support resource, should help bridge the gap.
•
Legs
—The depth of WordPress.com alone matches up well against many other platforms, and
the availability of WordPress software, a large network of WordPress hosts with varying support
options, WordPress MU, and more, means that you'll be able to take your blog as far as you want
it to go.
Who might be beginning a blog? Although there are “a thousand stories in the naked city,” as the
poem says, it's worth considering some of the purposes different beginning bloggers might have in
mind.
Personal Journals
The word
blog
means
web log
, and a blog today still often serves as a personal journal or online
diary. This is a fine and fully legitimate purpose for blogging, even though blogging has also
become a tool of professional journalists, corporate communicators, and others with skills, training,
and resources. Citizen bloggers have often bested the professionals on many fronts. Personal jour-
nals are valuable in and of themselves, and provide a training ground that can take you a long way.
The goal of a personal journal is more about self-expression than how many people read it. In fact,
having readers might almost seem beside the point at first. Such journals, though, might gradually
become part of a loose online community of bloggers with some degree of shared interests.
WordPress is well suited to personal journals. The ease of starting a WordPress blog, the lack of up-
front costs, and the extensive community that users tend to encounter soon after joining
WordPress—it feels like joining, not just using, WordPress—are very supportive of this kind of
blogging.
