About a month ago, I figured I’d eventually end up writing for eMoms, so in preparation, I decided to upgrade my own blog to version 2.0, both figuratively and literally… and boy, what a fun adventure it was.
I always try to test things out before having to go live, so since eMoms was a WordPress-powered blog, my first move was to push my own blog from Google’s Blogger to WordPress to get a real feel for using WordPress.
If you have a blog, you probably know Blogger and WordPress are the two heavyweight tools for writing and publishing blogs - - - they comprise something between 60-75% of the market (determining blogging tools market share is more art than science— if you know of a good, comprehensive and recent report on blog usage, please comment).
As a primer, WordPress.com and Blogger.com (bought by Google in 1999) are free, easy-to-use, web-based blog publishers… if you’re thinking of making a move or getting started, here’s a good comparison…..
There is also WordPress.org, which provides free software that you need to install on a server — WP.org allows for tremendous flexibility at the cost of being more involved and requiring more technical know-how . Here’s one ex-Blogger’s rationale for switching.
Ever wonder how the two are doing relative to each other? There are a lot of Google toys out there many people don’t know a lot about and go under utilized. Here’s Google Lab’s Trends feature to compare Blogger and Wordpress based on search trends.
Anyway, word on the street is Blogger is superior to WordPress.com if you’re just getting your feet wet. If you want ultimate control and things like ftping and editing some text files don’t scare you, WordPress.org is by far the best way to go. If you know about the power of Drupal, you’ve probably already stopped reading this post.
But for a faux-hacker like me, playing with WordPress(.org) was kind of like Christmas… all the loads of free templates and plugins and widgets, all floating in freely distributed, mildly supported, and horribly commented code… yum! Sure, it was fantastic time sink, but luckily there are a ton of great resources out there. Find them, use them, and share them.
And I must say, once I did some reading and made the transition, going from Blogger to WordPress was like going from a bike with training wheels to a Ducati or like moving from Solvang to Las Vegas. Pretty much out of the box, I went from a vanilla text blog to an ultra-customized, multi-media, monetized website in nothing flat. Is it currently over-complicated? Sure… Is that a good thing? Well, we’ll see.
So what’s all this talk about 2.0?
Exactly! So in my pursuit of creating the next version of my blog, I wondered what else I could do to 2.0-ify my site… unfortunately, there really is no consensus about what it even means to be Web 2.0 anyway.
So while I was foolishly thinking Web2.0 was all about using the web as a universal platform and outlining new standards for web usability and empowering user-driven content, apparently all I had to do to make my blog web2.0 compliant was use glossy fonts, some glass badges, and call it beta, and I’d be all set.
And boy does that sure ring true, when even mainstream sites that have been around for 10 years, like BabyCenter.com, have decided to switch to slick new graphics and stick on the the moniker “beta”. Oh, OK…. I can do that.
Are you wondering if your site is 2.0? Here is a hilarious tongue-in-cheek Web 2.0 Validator. My blog got a 16/66…. I guess I have a ways to go to true 2.0 status yet.
Okay well what did you learn?
I actually learned lots from this exercise… chief among them:
- There’s a ton of rapidly evolving technology out there that can really make a difference to your online business.
- To avoid getting lost in the avalanche of new things, find a few key blogs as resources and get involved posting comments and asking questions. One of the best things about the open-source movement is there are a lot of people willing to help you.
- And ultimately, if you lose your way, there’s always things like the 2.0 validator or watching ok go on treadmills on YouTube to remind you not to take things all that seriously.
Next week I will tackle some great business resources I’ve come across in my starting up my startup.
Geekiest thing I found this week: “Visualizing people’s music listening trends” Boy do I love a good visualization.
Sparkplugging Founder Wendy Piersall is dang passionate about helping people start & grow a business while maintaining life balance (somehow).
Dawud Miracle has one focus: to help you get it. The it? How your website, and blog, can change the way you do business. You can find out more at 
I, too, recently switched from Blogger to self hosted Wordpress. While WordPress is definitely more flexible, the learning curve has been huge. I have yet to go “2.0″ because I just haven’t learned how to add all of that eye candy yet. I stopped by your site and it looks fantastic - congratulations on the move!
I actually switched from Typepad to Wordpress as we have found we can do more with WP than we could with TP. Quite frankly, I like the backend of WP better an TP too. Enjoy your Tech Talk Tues “column”.
@Grant - thanks a lot for the support!
@Neena - if by eye candy you mean new features, the biggest thing I can recommend is make sure you go the “widget” route…
That is, make sure you are using a recent version of WP (2.2+) and make sure you use template that is “widget-enable” or “widget-ready”. You’ll still need add individual widgets, but adding them and rearranging them in the side bar is much easier than using more traditional “plugins” that often require some coding. I’ll be addressing my favorite widgets & plugins in a future post.
If by 2.0 you mean silly graphics, I’ll also be addressing how to cheaply utilize outsourcing IT work in a future post.
Either way, you’ve given me a great idea for a contest prize… helping someone through the learning curve in setting up a new blog.
Thanks!
My blog is more 2.0 than your blog!
(Actually only by one point - and that was probably because it was a duplicate - did you see how many things on that list were mentioned twice? But it WAS funny!!!)
@Wendy, I am but your humble blog student
Though as I was writing the post, the irony wasn’t lost on me WRT your question, “So how do I work on the big picture without neglecting the day to day details that must be attended to?!”
Ya just get folks like me to write for you
I started out on Blogger as a recommendation for beginners, and it has definitely served me well. As someone with none-to-minimal html knowledge, using the Blogger platform was helpful in learning how experiment with the layout and adding features (tag cloud, feedburner, hacks like hiding the nav bar, etc) to the site. Then, I realized I wanted my site to do other things and instead of helping me, Blogger was limiting me. So that began the process of moving over to self-hosted wordpress site. The going is slow because I’ve been learning and trying/testing out things with my wp site on the side while maintaining my current Blogger blog…but wordpress is amazing, I can’t wait until I finalize the move!
@Joanne— I think you are exactly right and I bet your experience and transition are echoed by a lot of WP users.
… so forget the contest prize, maybe I’ll start doing some WP consulting
LOLOL! Thanks for the validator. Failed miserably but enjoyed myself immensely
Aw, I only got 11… but I did get “yes” on the question “Does it appear web 3.0?” Maybe that’s why. =)
Thank you for this post. I currently use Typepad and have been trying to figure out if it is worth switching over for the features of “no follow” and allowing commenter’s to be notified of follow-up comments. Do you have any links to share that do a comparison of Typepad and Wordpress or any feedback on how they compare for usability or features?
Heh. YEP!
Compare WordPress to TypePad
WordPress Hosting & Installation
Essential WordPress Plugins (though I look forward to Chris’ take on plugins, because he’s way more technically adept than I am!)
I thought I remembered seeing those… I did a site search and they didn’t show up.
Those are great resources! I think they deserve some better linkage in a side bar.
Now my post on plugins can just be a trackback
I’ve been trying to 2.0-ify my site as well, but with no luck. As of late, I’m a crappy designer. I guess churning out design after design all year finally burned me out because I got nothing left. But it’ll get done sometime.
Jenny! So good to see you again!