BlogTalk: Blogger vs. Wordpress
The South Bank Lion on Westminster Bridge in London,
standing the test of time for the last 150 years.
Will Blogger do the same?
I woke up this morning in contemplation of many things but one that is probably on your mind as well, is the state of Blogger. How could they? What were they thinking? Was it really necessary? Will it happen again? Our work..our thoughts, our photos...our wellbeing, all poured into these little boxes called 'New Posts'. I had to think outside the square (rectangle), literally and think of another solution.
Off I went, to investigate Wordpress. I now have another blog...floating in space, deciding whether I tie it down or let in linger in Never Never Land for another day. As I sat and looked at it, I thought, do I really want to do this? Learn another set of complicated instructions? Is my brain matter capable of this? I decided that is wasn't and sat patiently, waiting for Blogger's return.
Blogger is back, yet I write, wondering, if what I write, will be here tomorrow. I am looking forward to catching up with my blogging friends, but will my comments still be with them tomorrow?
What do we think fellow bloggers?
Here are my considerations at the moment.
Should I merge my blogs and move over to Wordpress or another format? Others have done it but
would they do it again if they had the chance? For those of you that have, what are your thoughts?
Should I purchase a URL under '.net or .org' for safe keeping? I am assuming that would require the use of a professional as I would most likely merge all five blogs into one. Something I have been considering for some time.
Do I say, ballyhoo...and let it all go? I did manage to get quite a bit of work done yesterday without the distraction of the blogosphere.
In the interim, yesterday, I turned to my Collage of Life Facebook Page and added a few comments.
I wonder if I should just do that instead? I like the format and the ability to have conversations with blogging friends. I should do it more often. If you care to join in, click the 'Like' button here. Would love to 'chat'.
would they do it again if they had the chance? For those of you that have, what are your thoughts?
Should I purchase a URL under '.net or .org' for safe keeping? I am assuming that would require the use of a professional as I would most likely merge all five blogs into one. Something I have been considering for some time.
Do I say, ballyhoo...and let it all go? I did manage to get quite a bit of work done yesterday without the distraction of the blogosphere.
In the interim, yesterday, I turned to my Collage of Life Facebook Page and added a few comments.
I wonder if I should just do that instead? I like the format and the ability to have conversations with blogging friends. I should do it more often. If you care to join in, click the 'Like' button here. Would love to 'chat'.
So...I have lots of news, photos, thoughts and yet, this is top of mind to me at the moment and I would
sincerely like to read what you think. Are you thinking what I am thinking?
Decisions, decisions.....
With sweet thanks :)
Jeanne
PS...If you think I am sounding a bit rash, it gets crazier, here.
image~me
Hello. I want the technology that I use to be simple. I hope you solve this dilemma. Have a wonderful weekend. Hugs Karen
ReplyDeleteI don't think you are sounding rash at all. I have been thinking the same thing for well over a week. I had lost my "who I follow" on my blogger dashboard a week before they closed the site for "maintenance" and at that point began to consider typepad or squarespace and then someone suggested wordpress. I don't know the answer to this as I suppose any hosting site can and will have problems but it seems that blogger is more beset than most. It will be interesting to hear what others think on this.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanne ~ It was truly frustrating to not be able to log on and catch up with all my favorite bloggers; don't do well with technical difficulties!! I did sign up for my own domain name a few weeks ago. My son is a graphic designer who helped his old mom! I have contemplated for awhile about Wordpress & Matt (son) and I have talked about developing my own website. Wordpress I have to say is very attractive looking. I never contemplated that all my hard work may just disappear one day. You've got my wheels turning to jump the blogger ship. I'm like you it's tough to make the leap of faith. But you're right, many have done it & I have not read of any displeasure with doing so. Let us know what you decide. I'm anxious to read your feedback!I do follow you on FB now : )
ReplyDeleteAll my best to you for a lovely weekend! Deb
Better the devil you know is my feeling. I would hate to start all over again, I hope it was just a Blogger blip! x
ReplyDeleteWhile I do think it was an anomaly, I am backing up all my postings now!
ReplyDeleteI am a pretty simple girl . . . I just enjoyed the blogging break and was right back at it when blogger came back on.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been nice to have had some warning though. I like blogger and will stay. But want to do a little research . . . is there a permanent way to back up our blogs?
In the beginning, I wrote all my posts by hand and then entered them into the computer. So I always had that as a back up. But more and more, I compose my posts online.
All of your solutions sound fine, Jeanne, EXCEPT the one about not blogging any more. You are a great, creative and fun blogger . . . please don't stop.
Fondly,
Glenda
Many thanks for the thoughts to date....Now you all have me thinking....backing up your posts? My computer is backed up regularly, is that the same thing? Does anyone know? Thx,,
ReplyDeleteI have been thining about moving to wordpress for some time - I already have my own .co.uk. and .com, but, like you, am afraid of the new set of commands and tools I have to learn to use. Bloggers who have done it keep telling me they are so much better off with wordpress - it looks more professional, it does so many more things etc., but I almost feel I'm too old to move!
ReplyDeleteLet me know what you decide.
Helena xx
Same thing, doing too much to pause for brain time on a new blog format.
ReplyDeleteWondering what REALLY happened. Was Blogger hacked? What was 'stolen'. Ha, you see the nature of my untrusting mind.
And, how to backup?
Love all you post, been too busy to leave you many notes.
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
Maintenance/Breakdowns are irritating to say the least
ReplyDeleteespecially when no warning is given.
So in similar vein to you I thought of moving my blog over to Wordpress however, to do so would truly only have been a fit of spite on my part. I do feel very comfortable with blogger so I will stay on. I also realize that blogger supports millions of blogs worldwide and that alone has it's problems!
Blogging on Wordpress is very easy. I moved. But I paid people to redesign, and to move me. The downside is that to make any more changes, since I am not on a simple template, I need to enlist paid help again.
ReplyDeleteNo plans to move from Blogger...I am very tech challenged and so for me this is about as good as it gets.
ReplyDeleteI hope that this will not happen again...I found it very frustrating.
Good luck with your decision...please keep blogging your posts and images are very inspiring.
You're not alone. What happened yesterday gave us all pause for thought. I googled around and learned they had maint. issues, had lost some stuff, would find it and re-post it (which they did.)
ReplyDeleteIt's also beeon somewhat in the news that Blogger has set aside $500 million (1/5th of their profits this year) for an upcoming penalty from our government. Apparently Blogger's been allowing ads for illegal drugs, specifically controlled drugs like Valium etc., a major no-no!
The impression I got is this resulted in some major housecleaning.
I simply can't handle WordPress. It clogs up my email!! I subscribe to two. These two bloggers blog more than twenty bloggers. They often post from cell phones. One blogger post ll times in one day. Too much!
Better the devil I know . . . .
I feel like I've just dropped down from the moon! What has happened while I was gone - everybody talks about things like these, but I have no idea what it is about. I came back from a holiday and everything seems normal? Please let me in on the secret:-(
ReplyDeletei was thinking the same thoughts yesterday....
ReplyDeletei kept venting on facebook.
i am with you, i don't have it in me to start up all over with a new system.
losing my posts and my friends comments really made me wacko.
but...unless blogger BLOWS UP....
i will be here.
xxx
Hola Jeanne! Que pena todo esto...yo perdí un post y lo lamenté tanto, perdí mis palabras escritas y no volverán de igual manera.....En fin, sabemos que todo es una gran herramienta y que somos nosotros quienes le ponemos sentimientos! Un beso, Gloria.
ReplyDeleteHI Jeanne
ReplyDeleteWell It was a major frustration.. though I'm sure it was a 1 hour maintenance job that just went wrong.. terribly wrong.. I've worked in IT for over 20 years.. and 1 or 2 hours downtime is considered unacceptable.. I must admit during the 24hrs blogging went belly up I started to think of those poor IT staff madly working around the clock to rebuild the database... We do forget people work hard to bring us something we get to use for free... [and no blogger is not paying me to say this hahahahaha]..
I too had a look at wordpress.. but it requires one to also have a hosting domain.. and currently blogger is simple and handy and freee ... I guess it's a matter of watching to see how they fare in the future.. and backup your blog regularly... In the middle of the disaster I lost my birthday post .. great timing... birthday cancelled by blogger? hehehe
Ok.. Have a great weekend.. and thanks so much for your lovely lovely comment on my post last week.. you are so sweet!! ciao xxxx Julie
I wondered, too, what had happened. I think no m atter what you do, you can run into glitches of some sort. Does anyone know what actually happened?
ReplyDeleteAll in all, it's like my mother used to say, "the more you have, the more you have to take care of!". I quess I better get out paper and pen!
Hi Jeanne, as ever some interesting conversation points! I think the blogger outage was quite severe - and they really could have done with some better comms; I seemed like it was just going on and on. I guess google need to work on their PR. Twitter was alive with it. For me, I was about to post after a self-imposed week off, so in effect it just made my absence longer. I was annoyed though and realised how much I rely on blogger as a source of entertainment and contact. It is odd; we think of our blogs as 'ours' and we throw effort and love and time into them, but it made me see it's not really mine atall as I am entirely reliant on the platform. As for Wordpress- I like the look of Wordpress blogs and so as I am quite into the 'look' I do consider it sometimes. But I imagine it would be hard to start with a new format and learn the intracacies! Plus it's not as if Wordpress is guaranteed against falling over. This is the thing with cloud computing I guess...the theory is all great but maybe in the reality there is no way we can be sure!? Take care Lou x
ReplyDeleteI blog on wordpress and it is so easy and versatile - and friendly. I find it so easy to find new friends. I had a blogger and gave it up - not as user friendly.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanne! I've enjoyed the dialog above so far. The only reason I'm a blogger is that Blogger is so easy and free! My blog photos are all backed up. Many years ago a fellow writer I admire lost a satchel of work. (No computer). I thought that he would be devasted, as I would have been. I asked "What will you do?" knowing there was no real solution. He replied calmly and sincerely, "I'll just write some more."
ReplyDeleteThat observation has inspired me through more than a few trials having nothing at all to do with creative work. I don't trust Blogger anymore, but I have always distrusted my own computer skills with the gaffs I've made since starting out. I've contemplated the thought of losing my whole blog before. I have discovered that I am not one to dwell much on the past, and think more on what I'm going to do next. I wouldn't choose to start a whole new program, but blogging is so fulfilling to me that I would start from scratch again if I had to. I have an old girl's brain, but I would make the effort. I think we would all find a way to just keep creating more.
We started our blog in January and switched to Wordpress in March before things go too crazy and complicated to do so. We are very happy with Wordpress, but it is hard to find a professional to design all the little do-dads (header, button, etc) that we need.
ReplyDeleteYes, those were frustrating days. I've been at Blogger for over 4 years and have been mostly happy. It's a wonderful community although these days anyone can join the community via profiles. Before I started blogging, I bought a domain sarahlaurence.com hosted at networksolutions.com where I showcase my art and writing. At the beginning I blogged from there so that my content was on my website but then I had to publish via FTP with a link to blogger, which was really slow and buggy. Don't do that. Network solution also crashed and froze for days once. All hosting sites have problems. In the end I moved my blog to blogger with a hypertext link from my website at network solutions. Before you post content, save it elsewhere, especially when a system update is scheduled. Nothing is failsafe.
ReplyDeleteI too was thinking of those poor blogger IT bods behind the scenes and what a horrible time they must have been having. It was frustrating to lose comments and not be able to visit anywhere but at the same time this sort of thing is so rare.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanne
ReplyDeleteDon't know about blogger as I've been out of action, but I did find a hard copy card for you which I must send by mail. Was with friends in a rare visit to the National Gallery yesterday when remembered I'd promised to exchange cards.
Will get in touch by email about details. So that will be correspondence initiated by blog,followed up by email and finally despatched by real mail!
Deb
Oh, Jeanne, thanks for posing these questions. I'm sure they have all been on our minds lately. I am giving Blogger one more chance.
ReplyDeleteI write all my posts (including photos with credits) in Word saved to my hard drive so if Blogger loses my post, I only have to copy and paste it into a new post.
Oh, and don't forget to back up your blog regularly by going to 'Design', 'Settings', 'Basic' and 'Export blog'. Click on 'Download blog' and save it to your hard drive. J x
Jane, You Beauty!! Thanks for that last little tidbit of info! I may need an external hard drive to back them all up but well worth the effort. I am most impressed that you write them all in Word. I started that way but gave up ages ago. You are one very resourceful blogger. Thank you!! xx
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine the frustration you blogge risers felt for a couple of days. It was the same for us trying to reach you. Blogspot must have a longer history than Wordpress judging from the number of bloggers who use it. I use the latter because the guy at the Apple store who helped me set it up liked it best. Quite honestly, I don't know the differences, but I have been very satisfied and so far there have been no major blips. I particularly like the frequent improvements and new options. It seems that the Wordpress folks are very interested in making their service user friendly. For me that is most important as I don't want unnecessary technical challenges. In short, if you are happy with Blogspot and trust this was an unusual happening, stay with it. The same could potentially happen with any service. Oh forbid!
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine the frustration you blogge risers felt for a couple of days. It was the same for us trying to reach you. Blogspot must have a longer history than Wordpress judging from the number of bloggers who use it. I use the latter because the guy at the Apple store who helped me set it up liked it best. Quite honestly, I don't know the differences, but I have been very satisfied and so far there have been no major blips. I particularly like the frequent improvements and new options. It seems that the Wordpress folks are very interested in making their service user friendly. For me that is most important as I don't want unnecessary technical challenges. In short, if you are happy with Blogspot and trust this was an unusual happening, stay with it. The same could potentially happen with any service. Oh forbid!
ReplyDeleteJeanne,
ReplyDeleteI am moving to Wordpress soon but a friend is doing it for me. I already have my domain name etc (for my website) but I rely on this friend to upgrade my website and she is never there. Within the next month she will move me over - website, blog and all. If it wasn't for the facility of being able to change my own website photos, I probably wouldn't move from BLogger. Loved the tip about saving my blog on my hard drive though! Yipeeee
:)
Love
I might be a techie, but only with things that interest me. For instance, I can't access my office voice mail...and like it that way.
ReplyDeleteFor blogging, I only have enough time to actually write and post (and back up weekly), especially with five blogs. Four of them are Wordpress blogs,which I picked because it claimed it only took 3 minutes to set up. This was in the days when you had to have your own server because they didn't do the fancy hosting thing like they do now. It really took only 3 minutes to set up.
Wordpress is also open source, which means there is tons of free help, templates, and plug-ins. For straight blogging, none of these tools is any harder to use than email.
Open source also means that if they suddenly decided to stop offering the service, you can take your back up and be up and running on a $3 per month host in about two days.
If you have 20 minutes a week (or month, depending on how often you post) you can switch to Wordpress but still export your Wordpress posts and import them to blogger.
My 20 cents worth. ttfn
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ReplyDelete