Blog Software Reviews

Blogs are popular.  But you already know that.  Presumably you’ve landed on this site because you’re looking to start your own Weblog, known more simply as blog.

You’ve come to the right place.  We’ll review the different blog software, as well as you give you review of blog web hosting providers.

Get cheap, reliable pay monthly blog web hosting here.

The web application provides periodic posts that appear under a common webpage.  This means that periodically publishing content using a blogging package, also known as a content management system or CMS, can greatly simplify and facilitate the entire process.

There are various types of blog software like premium, free, and self-hosted blog software solutions.  Among these, self-hosted is perceived as the most common topic of blog software reviews primarily because of WordPress, which undoubtedly is one of the most popularly used today, although Textpattern and Movable Type have their own share of following.  When reading through such reviews for self-hosted blog software solutions, you must focus on these important factors.

1. Underlying Language

The underlying language basically defines the scripting or programming language being used for the specific self-hosted blog software.  For the Movable Type, Perl is used for this first major package used for Weblogs.  It allows for usage of different types of databases for storing the blog contents like SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Berkeley DB.  There are also numerous plugins that can be used to increase the functionality of the basic installation.

PHP is used for WordPress, which is combined with MySQL as the choice of database storage solution.  PHP is popular with many web developers and MySQL is a relatively powerful free database package.  This blog software can be deployed on a number of platforms and majority of hosting companies have already installed the necessary requirements to run WordPress.  In fact, HostGator is one of the best ways to host WordPress because of its QuickInstall feature that completes the process in just a couple of clicks.

Textpattern like WordPress makes use of the combination of PHP and MySQL database.  This means that it will also run on virtually all platforms that WordPress uses.  The only difference is that Textpattern explicitly requires Apache, but WordPress does not.  Extending the functionality is also extremely easy for developers.  Many blog software reviews point to the integration of the Textile and Sections as its distinguishing features.

2. Product Features

Considered as one of the easiest to manage because of its template editor, Movable Type allows making changes to the overall appearance of the Weblog is significantly convenient.  The template tag language gives bloggers more control on the type of content that will be displayed on the templates.  It also has one of the simplest administration interfaces around due to the easy access of frequently used features as well as its accompanying documentation.  Running multiple blogs is likewise made easier because of a centralized management feature.

The open source solution WordPress, actually stems from B2, which is an older open source package.  Since it is open source, its source code can be modified to fit the specific needs of users.  This is perceived as one of the reasons for the immense popularity it now enjoys.  One of the main features of WordPress is that it is extremely easy to install.  Bloggers can immediately start their work in just five minutes of installation.

Many blog software reviews have also pointed out that having WordPress on your own domain is the best way of hosting a blog.  This is because it allows for complete control not only over the blog, but also on the plugins that can be installed.  Another obvious benefit is that bloggers can have a website and a blog under one address, which is an immensely effective way of building website traffic.  It is also noted as the most developer-friendly and flexible package available.

Easy formatting of web content seems to be the main feature of Textpattern because of its use of Textile as its default publishing method.  This means formatting entries with headings, images, links, lists, and others are made easier for those who do not know HTML because automatic conversion is done during publication.  This means that even non-developers will not find it difficult to immediately start writing their blogs.  The Sections features makes separating contents based on their types simple.

Another feature that bloggers will appreciate is that Textpattern has proven to be more resistant to comment spam.  Automated spam attacks are minimized by the forced comment preview function, which requires previewing comments before approval.  Since this blog software solution is also less used compared to Movable Type and WordPress, there are less specific targeting attacks.  The default installation features visitor logging and reporting functions apart from what web hosting companies provide.

3. Software Licensing

The Movable Type blog software solution makes use of an unsupported, personal use licensing agreement that is made available for free.  However, this version limits its usage to a single author and a maximum of only three blogs for every installation.  Bloggers who frequently have contents to update will truly find this option very limiting and less useful.  This is ideal for those who just want to start and do periodic upload.

Those who are looking for more functionality like more authors or blogs; you would need to buy support versions that include more features.  These versions come at different prices and are made available in various formats based on their usage like educational, business, or non-profit licenses for example.

Majority of blog software reviews point to the GPL (GNU General Public License) of WordPress as one of the major factors for its immense popularity and wide usage.  This is because under this licensing structure, the user is free to modify and distribute the source code of WordPress, provided that it is done under the same GPL licensing structure.  Since it is free (including the download) do not look for paid support, rather, you can turn to the huge community of active and friendly users in the support forums for help.

The uniqueness of Textpattern is that it makes use of a dual licensing structure.  This means that it is free to download and makes use of GPL if it is for personal use.  When intended to be used for business, there are various pricing and licensing structure to choose from that will apply to the specific business using it.  This means businesses should initially verify the requirements to see if it meets their needs.

When considering blog software reviews, make sure to pay close attention to these important factors to help you decide the specific solution to use.

 

Blog Software Reviews| Choose the Best Blog CMS to Use for Your Weblog