What makes a blog

They have: 47 posts

Joined: May 2005

I'm thinking of starting a blog, but I don't reallg have much experience with them. So, what I want to know is, what does a blog need? :eek:

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

First you need a script to run your blog. Some popular ones are at blogger.com, wordpress.org, and moveabletype. I'm sure others will pop up with their favourites. That's basically all you need. Once you get the script set up and running you're ready to go. Blogger.com is hosted on their site, but for the others you'll need a domain name and hosting service with scriptiing (usually PHP) and database functionality.

Of course, you also need some thoughts to write down, and some time to write them. It's nice to have some other bloggers or sites to write about and link to.

Ummm... really, that's about it. Of course there are always add-ons like custom design templates, photo galleries, things like that.

Busy's picture

He has: 6,151 posts

Joined: May 2001

Another thing would be an audience, someone to egg you on for the 'next exciting entry ...'

Roo's picture

She has: 840 posts

Joined: Apr 1999

pMachine Pro

Free. Easy to install and customize, and you can easily make a full CMS from it.

AyntRyte's picture

He has: 145 posts

Joined: Jun 2004

I think most would agree with me that for the best options, versatility and no-fuss operation, the most popular blog packages run best on an Apache server with mysql database. If you're on a (@#$%) Windows server or unsure, Blogger would be you best option. You can run a Blogger account on their server or you can remote-host it on your web site (basically, you would just be using their db and interface.) Here's an example of a Blogger account I intergrated into a site on a (@#$%) Windows server.

\\// Robert

The grass is always greener on the other side -- but that's because they use more manure.

He has: 77 posts

Joined: Apr 2005

I think that a blog is defined as an over-rated medium that tries to make a forum with thread starting and replying disabled for everyone except the admin sound fancy... (some will allow comments so you have to go through the work of enabling replies...)

They have: 344 posts

Joined: Jun 2002

If you are wanting to get started quickly, with no hassle in designing anything then I believe that MSN will give you a "space" which you can then use as a blog.

For more information go to

http://spaces.msn.com/

Kind regards,

Rob

They have: 47 posts

Joined: May 2005

Uh, I'd rather not use MSN, it looks kinda unprofessional

They have: 344 posts

Joined: Jun 2002

I must agree with you there but different horses for different courses. I can only recall of one other blog place thingey and that is

http://home.tabulas.com/

I don't know if it still exists but it used to be pretty decent.

Rob

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