Bloggers: Do You Have To Use Blogger.com Or WordPress?
Blogger.com (also called Blogspot) and WordPress area unit the 2 most ordinarily used blogging platforms these days. Blogger.com was a pioneer within the blogging trade, permitting users to line up accounts and journals at no cost starting in 1999. Blogger.com was purchased by Google in 2003, which enabled it to grow victimization of Google’s resources. Today, Blogger.com has a covert variety of innumerable users blogging on their system.
WordPress began in 2003 because of the successor to a different (now comparatively unknown) blogging system. it’s since become the journal platform of alternative for many blogging professionals. Their area unit presently over 2 million people that area unit active users of WordPress.com, and their area unit innumerable other UN agency have downloaded numerous versions of the WordPress code.
Using the Blogger setup mandates that your journal be hosted on their servers. compared, blogs running on WordPress’s platform may be hosted at WordPress.com, or the WordPress computer code may be downloaded and used on your alternative of internet hosts. Below area unit a number of the key options of Blogger.com versus the 2 versions of WordPress setups.
Blogger.com Options
Free hosting for up to one GB price of an area
Blog content is maintained on journalese.com internet servers
Ability to settle on and customize templates (limited flexibility)
Easy to induce started; straightforward to use
Upload and store image files and video files
WordPress.com Options
Free hosting for up to 3GB price of an area
Blog content is maintained on WordPress.com internet servers
Ability to settle on and customize templates (limited flexibility)
Easy to induce started; straightforward to use
Upload and store image, video, and different (limited) file formats
WordPress Self-Hosted Options
Blog content is maintained on the user’s most popular internet host
Nearly unlimited ability to settle on and customize templates and widgets
Takes some technical ability to set up and assemble
Files support restricted solely by an internet server, which seemingly means that just about unlimited
Who Uses That
A quick poring over of many the assorted blogs running on the Blogspot.com domain versus those who use one in all the WordPress setups (accounts on WordPress.com and self-hosted blogs victimization WordPress software) indicates that Blogspot.com is a lot of unremarkable used for people that journal concerning their families, pets, and different personal forms of topics. Compared to WordPress users, Blogger.com users area unit generally not “professional” bloggers, though their area unit many Common Joe bloggers UN agency legalize their Blogspot blogs and create a living doing it.
Self-hosted WordPress blogs lean a lot toward skilled entities UN agency have AN IT person or department UN agency handles their maintenance. they’re typically a lot of formal. as a result of WordPress.com is comparable in its practicality to Blogger.com, blogs victimization WordPress.com area unit like Blogger blogs in content, naturally a lot of casual or personal than self-hosted WordPress blogs.
Cost
Blogspot accounts area unit free. thus area unit accounts on WordPress.com. However, if you would like to try any vital customization of your WordPress.com-hosted journal, you will have to pay to upgrade to their Custom CSS membership, which prices $14.97 per annum. WordPress.com accounts may be upgraded to allow you extra disk space($19.97/year for 5GB up to $89.97/year for 25GB), unlimited user accounts for your blog($29.97/year), and therefore the ability to feature videos (Blogger.com naturally has this support inbuilt.) to your journal ($59.97/year). If your journal runs on the WordPress platform downloadable from WordPress.org, your prices are unit dependent upon your hosting account, which may price as very little as $5.00 per month or the maximum amount as many greenbacks monthly.
Flexibility
Because WordPress is an open supply computer code, it offers full-fledged journalers far more flexibility once it involves customizing a blog. after you transfer and install WordPress, you have got full access to the information and therefore the PHP, CSS, and image files that comprise the WordPress blogging platform. In distinction to Blogger’s platform, having development access to the complete system permits users to be as artistic as they need to be. This flexibility doesn’t exist to almost the extent with accounts that area unit hosted on WordPress.com. One bonus that WordPress.com will give is that the ability to host files although merely pictures. MS PowerPoint files, Word (.doc) and Open workplace (.odt) data processing files, and PDF files may be uploaded and keep to be used on a WordPress.com account.
Blogger
Although Blogger permits and encourages users of their setup to customize their blogs adding Google gadgets and ever-changing layouts, I’ve found that there’s heaps of estimate concerned once attempting to work out the way to manipulate their XML schema, that is employed to customize templates on the far side adding gadgets and ever-changing layouts. once I customize blogs hosted on Blogger’s system, I typically want I am abstracted from their lower-level setup. a number of Blogger’s XML tags area unit documented, however, that documentation is thin. once I am customizing a Blogspot journal, it’s as if I am throwing my beat up a wall, then checking to examine what I buyback. This interface may be frustrating.
A comparison that’s noteworthy between every of those journal platforms is the ability to categorize posts. larger flexibility exists with each WordPress.com-hosted blogs and self-hosted one’s victimization of the WordPress computer code than with Blogger.com. classes area unit created victimization Labels on Blogger.com blogs. This setup doesn’t allow sub-categories on the Blogger account. Sub-categories area unit a natural a part of each WordPress.com and self-hosted WordPress blogs.
Ease Of Use
For the common person blogger, obtaining started with blogging on Blogger’s platform is that the simplest of tasks. you just produce AN account, opt for a model, and begin writing away. The interface is extremely easy for users of Blogger. WordPress.com area unit similar, slightly a lot of sophisticated. WordPress self-hosted blogs need a user to transfer the computer code, transfer it to a server, assemble information settings, and run the installation program enclosed with the computer code. This method is pretty simple for somebody with IT expertise, except for most others it’s a bit daunting.
Once a journal is set up with any of those platforms, victimization it’s straightforward enough no matter that one you decide on. However, of all the interfaces, Blogger.com is maybe the best to know and navigate.
Security And Updates
WordPress has had a history of vulnerability to hacks. to attenuate that risk, it’s suggested that users of WordPress be watchful concerning maintaining their sites. Specifically, WordPress journal house owners hosting their own blogs area unit inspired to stay up with current updates.
Blogger users will primarily enable the Blogger development team to fret concerning hacks. as a result of the journal, information is unbroken on Blogger’s servers, there’s a lot less probability that Blogger sites may be hacked.
Which One’s Best On Behalf of Me
If your intentions area unit merely to publish your info to the planet while not hassling with intense customization and continued updates, Blogger.com is that the thanks to going. as a result of most mine run bloggers work into this class, Blogger has the most important variety (although no one is aware of what percentage that is) of blogs within the web these days.
