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Comparing blogging tools
I recently wrote a post which compared the viability of both Wordpress and Typepad as the backend system to wurk.net.
Lots of you have wondered why I only included WP and TP in the comparison, and why I didn’t look at a wider selection of software. Also, a couple of comments have questioned the fairness of comparing WP to TP.
The orginal post wasn’t a direct comparison aimed at marking the differences between the two tools, but was a comparison of how each of those two tools faired in running a network of branded blogs.
I did initially look at other software, including Movable Type, but because I wanted to get things happening quickly, I chose Typepad because it included hosting, it needed no installation, and I could run an unlimited number of blogs from the Pro account. In retrospect, this wasn’t the greatest idea, simply because I found out that Typepad wasn’t cut out to do what I wanted - but it was something I could only have found out by actually using the service.
100 or so posts and 5 blogs down the line, things were just getting a bit too complex, so I had to bail, and find an alternative.
As for alternatives, I did consider Movable Type, but the licence pricing was too restrictive - at this point in the game, anyway. I briefly looked at and demoed Nucleus, Drupal, and quite a few others, but the massive support and community of Wordpress won every time. I would have loved to have tried each of these tools for a week or two each, but consider the logistics of that - setting up at least 5 blogs on at least 3 or 4 different software platforms, learning the templating system and creating brand new templates for each, and then running them all concurrently for a at least a week or two so I could really test and compare them just wasn’t an option.
It’s like deciding on a new car. Yep, you can take a quick test drive of as many different makes and models as you want, but you only discover whether you *really* like driving your new motor once you’ve used it for a while - and gotten a real feel for it - but no car salesman I’ve ever met is gonna make it easy for you to borrow a few different brand new cars for a few weeks each, just so you can decide whether you like them.
Somtimes, you’ve just got to make a snap decision and stick with it.
Anyway, for me, Typepad just didn’t cut it as a network backend. Wordpress did. I know the majority of Typepad’s intended target market won’t even consider Typepad for running a network, but there will probably also be tons of people who do - and hopefully this might give you a few pointers as to what’s involved.
What would be amazing is if we could put together a comprehensive review of ALL available blogging software - not just in terms of a direct comparison of features & benefits, but from the point of view of how suitable it is to use as the backend for a cohesive network of blogs. Anyone?
Contributor profile: http://wurk.net/profile/admin
Website: http://barrybell.com
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