Blog Technology
Blog Technology: Reader poll
A few months ago I surveyed readers to see which blog platforms they use. Picking the right blog platform is a key decision. If you’re technology adverse, you can quickly find yourself in over your head. Conversely, if you’re the sort that likes to be in control of how things look and work, you could waste time on a platform that doesn’t meet your needs.
One thing that struck me was the number of readers still using Google’s Blogger. It’s and old platform but it’s gotten a new facelift, perhaps that’s what has kept bloggers there.  No surprise that WordPress has such a strong showing since it has the largest market share.
Blog Technology: Reader poll results # users
Blog Technology: Reader poll results by %
Photo credit: Travelin’ Librarian
3 comments
Interesting post! I’ve had personal experience with 4 of the options listed: WordPress (hosted), Tumblr, Blogger and Joomla.
WordPress takes the cake for blogging in my opinion. It is great in regards to ease of use, available plugins, and keeping the core up to date.
I’ve used Blogger in the past, but I’ve always felt limited by it’s interface and customization options.
Tumblr is very good to use if you want to publish something quickly to the web. It’s also very quick to set up a basic, good looking site. But you need serious customization to make it into a standalone website. It’s SEO capabilities (or what SEO if you will) is a big discouraging factor to relying on a Tumblr site alone.
Joomla is my favorite for all-round web development. But administering a Joomla website is not for novices (both for set up and ongoing maintenance). The Joomla core itself is not geared towards blogging, and if you even want to attempt to blog with it, then you really need the K2 plugin (yes there are other blogging plugins, but K2 takes the cake). But K2’s user interface is still more complicated than WordPress’s. So I would not use Joomla just to blog; but rather use Joomla to build a full-fledged company website…that has a blog included somewhere within it.
Thanks Rishona,
I especially appreciate your comments on Joomla. So if I understand it correctly, the key reasons to pick Joomla is if
– you want to have a blog as part of a larger website. Joomla allows you to have both on a single platform (with the K2 add on)
– you’re pretty advanced (or would you say intermediate level of tech skills are sufficient)?
Any other reasons to select Joomla as a blog platform?
No, that’s pretty much it John. If you want a website that offers more robust features like a file repository, forum, e-commerce and more template flexibility…in ADDITION to a blog, then Joomla is the way to go. Intermediate technical skills are sufficient if you aren’t looking to change too much with the way the K2 extension behaves…or you template out of the box.
This link has another take on WordPress vs. Joomla + K2; same conclusion, but the reasons are itemized (also it is looking at Joomla 1.5, not 1.7…but I don’t think 1.7 has totally addressed all of the issues listed).
http://www.slurpitup.com/joomla/tips-and-tricks/wordpress-vs-joomla-k2-for-magazine-websites