Blogger, Wordpress, or Other?
Posted Under: Web Hosting
For starters, we should dispel a myth. It is often alleged that Google has ownership of your content (copyright) when you use their blogging service. But this is just not the case. While Google controls their own intellectual rights, your website content is owned by the entitled party or writer. They post this quite plainly within their TOS conditions. http://www.blogger.com/terms.g
Limitations of content. Google is authorized to limit, or even terminate your account when your content violates their service conditions. (This is not a factor for most writers, the permitted content is very broad – and is limited mainly to hate and illegal activities) Using Wordpress, you host your blog on the hosting account that you possess. While you have power over your content, you may yet be bound to the restrictions of the TOS or terms that your web hosting company lays out.
Ease of Installation: Blogger is usually simpler to install. If your hosting company doesn’t have Fantastico as part of its web hosting service, you will have to install Wordpress by hand, which can be difficult — especially if you aren’t very adept with your server control panel and FTP.
Google is the winner for customization. It’s easier to edit template layouts, styles, and color with Blogger than with Wordpress. If your template isn’t quite what you wanted, “right out of the box,” you will need to know PHP and HTML to accomplish very much using Wordpress.
Both platforms are packaged with countless templates to pick from, and third parties have developed a wide variety of templates – and that list continues to grow.
There are other common blog software choices such as Xango, Drupal (difficult to learn), Joomla, and others.
You can get blog hosting for free at sites like wordpress.com, Blogger, MySpace, TypePad, and so on.
In the final analysis, it truly is based on the amount of control you desire to have over the look and functionality your site, as well as your tech-savviness. For those familiar with HTML, and willing to learn the relatively simple PHP, WordPress is a good bet. For those simply wishing to begin a blog, or those on a budget, opt for Google.
