I wanna blog

[Rabies]

"Blog" - verb - meaning to Blog

I want to blog up a couple of my sites but I've been very hesitant for various reasons (mainly I'm the type of person that will not commit to installing a system and designing a site around it, only to find out it has its faults--such as not being SE friendly for example. So what happens is I do nothing and next thing i know, it's a year later.)

OK So I have a couple sites with differing needs.

1. A personal site. All I want is a standard blog that I can post to and perhaps let friends post to. Everyone mentions BLOGGER, but my concern is that Blogger will own my content. Also, won't SE's link to Blogger's URL instead of mine? I have a server so I figure why use a system like theirs when I could install one on my own server?

So my question here is what packages are good and CHEAP? This is a non-profit site.

2. Multiple content site (again, non-profit): I have a site where I want standard blog type updates on the front page, then we have a music review section with hundreds of reviews, and then I also want Forums.

So what I thought here was to use a CMS like MyPhpNuke. My big fears with this are:
a) Will SE's be able to find and spider my review pages? (I think not)

b) Having my reviews in a database feels "risky". What if the DB gets corrupted? What if I change Host and need to move the DB? I'm not very savvy when it comes to PHP or SQL.

I've read about some solutions being that I can create static pages for every dynamic page (for SE's to spider) but damn, the amount of time it takes me to enter in a new review is what I'm trying to cut down!

c) Yet another concern for me is that the "reviews" module that comes with MyPhpNuke is not adequate. So I'm thinking, am i just better off learning PHP and writing my own Reviews code, while using PHPBB for the Forum, and a Blog solution for the news updates?

That's about it. I should learn PHP but time to learn is not something I have available.


"Rabies"

[rawdist]

Hi I replied to one of your posts on another topic but then saw this here. Although a different subject (books) my site is reviews http://www.fivesandwiches.com so might be of interest to you. The front part is a blog using blogger pro (but hosted on my own server) then the rest, book review pages and index by title, type rating etc. is static pages generated using gdidb script from a local database. The benefit is that it looks like active pages but each page is static and I get great search engine placement. The down side is that gdidb costs money, but it is the best bit of software I have bought.

[Rabies]

I didn't realize Blogger could be installed locally. Does it cost monthly or yearly?

I checked out your site but could not find your reviews. Everything I clicked sent me to Amazon.

So...How exactly does the GDIDB work? You enter new reviews using an interface, but then it builds a static page for you?

~RB

[rawdist]

Blogger is still used via their web page, you just set it to ftp to your space.

GDidb allows you to format database data, but you can create an input page if you want. I have a database of reviews and the script builds totally static pages. It also works well for ecommerce sites like this one:
http://www.rawdistribution.co.uk

My review pages are listed under the books by title link, thanks for looking at the site.

[wizwow]

Look into having a good, solid site made for you and then use macromedia's excellent "Contribute" to add stories, articles and even a very 'bloggish' column if you so wish.
Contribute is a very simple content management tool that allows for total dynamic updating.
Never scrimp on designing a solid, easily searched page. Blogger.com has lots of 'down time' and the others are just too buggy.
Getting your blog (site) noticed is the same challenge as always.

[lorenbaker]

Look into having a good, solid site made for you and then use macromedia's excellent "Contribute" to add stories, articles and even a very 'bloggish' column if you so wish.
Contribute is a very simple content management tool that allows for total dynamic updating.
Never scrimp on designing a solid, easily searched page. Blogger.com has lots of 'down time' and the others are just too buggy.
Getting your blog (site) noticed is the same challenge as always.

Pretty sites are a must, but you can always build up your archives (the meat and bones behind your blog) by starting a Blogger account and taking 30 minutes a day to blog your thoughts/news/updates.

Then, once you get everything launched for your new blog, you will not be stating from scratch.

If you wanna get your blog noticed, submit it to Blog Search Engines! Start with
http://www.blogsearchengine.com
http://www.daypop.com
http://www.weblogs.com

Thanks,
Loren

[carbonize]

I use two different blog scripts on my site. One for the Latest News and one for the Latest Problems. Both are hosted on my server and all they require is PHP and SQL. Once you have installed the scripts and configured then, which is relatively easy, it's just a case of putting <?php include('path/to/blogger.php'); ?> where you want the html from the blogger to appear.

My Latest News script is called b2 and is available from http://cafelog.com/ and my Latest Problems script is Ash News available from http://projects.ashwebstudio.com/.

And best of all both of these scripts allow multiple posters, each being required to login with their username and password, and both are FREE!

[Rabies]

Carbonize: May I ask why you opted for two different blog packages rather than two instances of the same one?

[carbonize]

Partly to test the second one out. I'm always trying different scripts etc. Nearly everything on my site is hosted localy - Guestbook, Forum, Counter, Stats, Top Referers.

[sachauncey]

Hi,

I use both http://www.movabletype.org and http://www.TypePad.com. Both developed by a company called Six Apart.

MovabeType blogs "feed" my website http://www.informationconnections.com and a site I developed for our local rotary http://www.nanuetrotary.org.

The link to Occassional Ramblings is a TypePad blog.

TypePad has numerous features that are exactly what I was looking for, including password protection on both weblogs and photo albums.

Because I was a beta test, I was given 20 keys that I could share with friends and family which gives a 20% discount. The full pro version with the discount is only $11.96 per month. If you are seriously interested once you review, I would be happy to give you one of the keys -- but I don't want to waste it on someone who is not going to use it.

I have absolutely no relationship to the company,
I just love their products.


MovableType has to be installed on your hosting server but TypePad does not. I have to tell you I absolutely love both products and the support that I have gotten from the company.

I've also used Blogger and Blogger Pro.