In my testing of WordPress as a possible alternative to my speed issues here on Blogger I learned a few things.I thought I would list them here in case it may be of help to anyone else having the same dilemma. First of all, in case you didn't already know, WordPress comes in two flavors; you-host-it and they-host-it.
First off, let's look at the differences between the two...
1) WordPress.org is a blogging software program that must be downloaded and installed on a web server – that’s a computer that is set up to serve web pages over the internet. Your personal computer probably isn’t a web server. So, to make the free WordPress.org software work, you have to own a web server or rent some space on one.
2) WordPress.com provides blog hosting free of charge. The free blog hosting does not come with the ability to upload plugins or themes. Because any change in the software affects every blog on the system, some of the things you can do on your own hosted WordPress.org blog are disabled here.
If that doesn't convince you, then consider the FAQs...
WordPress.org Benefits
- Ability to upload themes
- Ability to upload plugins
- Great community
- Complete control to change code if you’re technically minded
WordPress.org Cons
- You need a good web host, which generally costs $7-12 a month
- Requires more technical knowledge to set up and run
- You’re responsible for stopping spam
- You have to handle backups
- You must upgrade the software manually when a new version comes out
- If you get a huge spike in traffic (like Digg or Slashdot) you site will probably go down
WordPress.com Benefits
- It’s free and much easier
- Everything is taken care of: setup, upgrades, backups, security, etc
- Your blog is on dozens of servers, so it’s highly unlikely it will go down due to traffic
- Your posts are backed up hourly
- You get extra traffic from blogs of the day and tags
- You can find like-minded bloggers using tag and friend surfer
- Your login is secure (SSL) so no one can get into your account if you use wifi
WordPress.com Cons
- Limited customization of themes (though we’re adding more every day)
- You can’t hack the code behind your blog
(taken from the WordPress FAQs page)
In all honesty WordPress does offer more in the way of optimization and gadgets. However, keep in mind that the majority of these you'll have to pay for. On the other hand, with a little effort and ingenuity, most of the things you can do on WP can be done on Blogger - for free.
So then, let's take a look at Blogger.
Blogger Benefits
- Only one version of Blogger - and it's free
- You don't have to download any software or go out and buy a server or hosting
- Just sign up, choose a name for your blog, pick a template, and go
- The ability to easily modify themes and page codes
- Blogger has a large FAQ, Guides, and Help Group base
- Large selection of free add-ons, widgets, and themes
- Buy and host your own domain - $10 a year for the domain and Blogger will host it for free
Need I go on?
I turned to WordPress because I was under the impression that I could build a faster blog using their system. However, Gary Schubert of Cranked SEO informed me that page loading issues were not Blogger's fault but mine. Here is what he had to say...
Load time of the page is not about Blogger. One thing that absolutely kills page loading time is JavaScript. The browser will not execute more then 2 JavaScripts at once, so page rendering stops when it waits for two JavaScripts to complete (while they may be waiting for responses from other servers).
You have 10 JavaScripts on this site. (btw, for some reason you have google analytics script twice on this page). You also have a lot of images (and a good chunk comes from that AddThis widget (13 images per widget - and that's 13 http requests to an external server).
I can recommend you YSlow Firefox extension by Yahoo to analyze all this (also requires Firebug). Your wordpress page is faster because WordPress doesn't allow JavaScript by users (for a more in-depth look at Firebug check out this article).
I've been fighting hard to get rid of JavaScript in my blog - even converting Popular Pages widget to feed. And while it was quite some effort - the page loads really fast even when it has huge amounts of content-filled posts on it. Oh, and it's Blogger.
Thanks, Gary!
So we get down to the FAQs once again; WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, or anywhere for that matter it all comes down to optimization. Graphics, content, JavaScript, code, and even CSS can be streamlined to increase page load time. Of course, this may take some time to learn if you're not fluent in coding your own web site, but I believe it's advantageous in the long run.
So after all of that I've decided to stick with Blogger. Not just because it's free and my domain is hosted through them, but because the whole process of working on my blog feels more user friendly. Oh, what's that you say? I didn't list any Blogger Cons? Hmm...
Blogger Cons
You don't have to pay for anything :)
Thanks for the kind words, Doug :)
BTW, this FAQ on WordPress of yours is probably more comprehensive and understandable than they have on WordPress.com ;) Thumbs up :)
ooh..me likey! I absolutely agree with you in this topic. When I heard about loads of good stuff about wordpress, I promptly started blog on wordpress.com. What everyone forgets to tell is, you have to use wordpress.org to get the full-fledged features. I figures it out pretty soon.
In the mean time I was using custom templates on Blogger which was far better than the free service of wordpress. And seriously who wants to pay if blogging is not your primary income source?
So at the end of the day, I will always say, (ooh it rhymes!) Blogger Rocks!
WOW! I LOVE YOUR BLOG DESIGN! Did you do all the design yourself? I can't believe that you've only been blogging since May! Unbelievable.
Great Job
T
yours is one of the sweetest blog designs i have come across!
Been there and done all of the above. At the end of the day someone who is serious about blogging will need/want the flexibility of their own server or website. Sure its more complex but you can easily learn.
I started with Blogger, moved to Typepad and now spend the $8 a month for my own site and use Wordpress for both blogs.
The key is content and you can serve that up anywhere. But for flexibility I'd go to my own site with free Wordpress.
Just my two cents...
Just stopping by to say hi, and you have a wonderful blog site, love mom
Gary, my pleasure :)
Farah, I'm glad you liked the post. Blogger seems to be the best choice.
T. Edwards, thanks for the compliment on my blog. Yes, I did the design myself, although it was built on the Thisaway template. And yes, I've only been blogging since May, but I've been designing for a lifetime.
Vivek, thank you for the kind words.
Brutus, thanks for the comment. I agree that in the long run I will need to move to my own dedicated server. But in the meantime I find Blogger to be a better choice than WP.
Mom, thank you :)
I caught the link to your blog on JCD and decided to look around. Your illustrations are great (so very cute)!
I've been looking around for customizable blogging sites as well. After spending a few days looking at the options available, I have to agree with you. Blogger is easy for a beginner to pick up and 100% customizable. I really like the preview on the built-in html editor.
Cheers!
Fernando, thanks for the comment. Yes, I agree. Blogger is the best. Maybe one of these days I'll get some server space and try WordPress, but for now I'm satisfied.
Cheryl, thanks for the compliment.
Very nice post, I had this same dilemma, between wordpress & blogger http://dezignmusings.blogspot.com/2008/07/this-vs-that-arghhhhh.html , gotta agree with you.
Beautiful blog btw.
Too bad I'm not agree-ing :)
I love Wordpress. The code is much cleaner, it's easy to setup and maintain. You only need to be a little more knowledgeable for a WP site, and it's much, MUCH more customizable than Blogger.
Spam handling is great in WP with the Askimet plugin (already installed).
Anyway. You like Blogger, I'm not trying to talk you out of it or whatever, but I love Wordpress (but I said that already). :)
That's cool for you. However, like I said in this article, I can't even edit the CSS at WP without paying for it - and I can do that here for free. The code may be cleaner, but what's the point if you can't get into it and tweak it the way you like?
I've been using Blogger for almost a year now. It works, I love that it's free, but they tagged my blog as a "potential spam blog" and require me to word verify every post I publish. This means I can not use the nifty feature of scheduling my posts to automatically publish at a specified time. I spun my wheels trying to get Blogger to "un-tag" me. But after over 4 months I've given up and am making plans to move to Wordpress. Wordpress seems to have some neat capabilities and I'm excited about exploring them. Honestly, if Blogger let me schedule my posts to publish - I wouldn't be moving over! Glad to find your blog - I'll be reading!
Thanks for the comment, Heather :) I have often thought of giving WP another try, but because they charge you for just about everything over there I've decided against it.
If I ever want this blog to go mainline I'll just buy some hosting space and handle it myself.
I'm going to have to echo some ofthe previous commenters here and say that your blog design is very well done and very easily navigable. Although I can't say I use WordPress, I have used blogger in the past and it was a great learning platform for me. Thanks for this post!
I'm all about using whatever platform works for you.
For conversation's sake, I will say some of the cons you listed for wordpress.org were benefits from me. It's been awesome digging around in the guts of things and learning some of the technical bits by having to do them myself. It's not something everyone wants or needs to do, but I can honestly say I've enjoyed the experience.
It's good that I can find a great Blogger user like you :)
I would like to add that wordpress.com doesn't allow us to monetize our blog. We can do it in Blogger ;)
Tracy, you can do the same thing on Blogger. However, I have discovered that WP is not as bad as I first thought. I got some hosting (with HostGator) and a new domain (dougdraws.com) and it's turning out to be a pretty good experience overall.
Unfortunately, in my experience, WP is lacking in the areas of customer, theme design, and plugin support. Blogger is still better in this regard, but it's hard to turn a Blogger site into a professional one.
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