Is Wordpress.org a good choice for someone who doesn't know html, css, php, plug-ins and ftp? Someone who wants to concentrate mostly on the content? Or should I choose another blogging platform instead?

WordPress is a fantastic platform. Many of the serious bloggers out there will tell you it's the be-all, end-all professional platform. I haven't used it, but I know many people who do and I respect their opinions greatly. I may switch from Typepad to WordPress at some point myself.

Having said that, my initial supposition is that you do need to be familiar with HTML, CSS, plug-ins, etc. to make the most of WordPress. If you are a beginner blogger with no knowledge of these things and are mostly content driven, I suggest you start with Blogger. It's free and it's very simple to set up. As you become more familiar with customizing your blog, you may choose to move over to WordPress.

What do you WordPress users say?

Comments

[Veronica Mitchell]

Wordpress is great for beginners. Its dashboard and widgets make most things really easy.

If you want to do a lot of customization, though, only Blogger will let you do that for free. In Wordpress you don't get access to the CSS code unless you pay a monthly fee. Also, Wordpress doesn't allow advertising, so if you want to make a little money, Blogger is better.

[Barbara H.]

It's important to distinguish between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. The latter is free and is extremely easy for beginners to use (and it is what the previous poster is referring to). It has limitations in that it doesn't allow for code which has javascript, so anything that updates from somewhere else, like the Scripture a day buttons or certain outside blogrolls (like the CWO or Family-Friendly ones) won't work. You can pay a fee to be able to customize the CSS code, and of course you'd have to have some familiarity with that to use it. WordPress also does have a good user forum to ask questions of other WP users.

WordPress.org, however, does cost -- I'm not sure how much -- but I have heard only great things about it. If I ever switch to a paid host, that is probably what I would use.

[kim from hiraeth]

May I put in a plug for Squarespace? I recommend Squarespace for someone who doesn't know a whole lot about html and css.

Squarespace gives you a full month to play around with it for free. There is a learning curve, but it's oh, so easy once you catch on.

There are several levels of pricing, too; the lowest being $7 a month.

It's definitely worth checking out.

[sims]

I recently installed WordPress on my pair.com account and was quite surprised at how easy it was to do it. You need to know some very basic things like navigating via ftp. Installing it for a real computer novice would of course be a non-runner.

I know very little CSS and some html and do wish I could get images to display exactly where I want them, but all in all I am quite happy with WordPress.

[Haether @ Desperately Seeking Sanity]

I have a bazillion worpress blogs. I even use wordpress (.org) for my church website (www.pfwc.net)

It is free. What you have to pay for is the hosting (which you can get for cheap) and a domain name (9.99 a year most of the time).

It's simple to install (especially if your host offers one click install, which most do now a days) and very simple to use. You don't have to know CSS, HTML, or PHP if you get a widget ready template.

There are templates everywhere or you can have one designed in minutes.

And the bazillion wordpress blogs I spoke about? It's really not that many. I have 7 that I maintain right now -- all through wordpress.

I do pay for my hosting from a company that costs $119 a year. For someone that has just one site, that's probably a bit much, but comparable with the costs of typepad if you break it out over the year. But there are hosting plans that you can get for $18 a year or $25 a year.

Just my two cents. I've used them all, and I prefer wordpress (.org) because I control all the traffic, all the links are mine, and if anything ever happened and the companies went bellyup, I wouldn't lose what I'd put hard work into.

(Can you tell I'm a little devoted to wordpress.org?)

Heather

[Jordan (MamaBlogga)]

I think all of the previous posts have answered the question well. I would echo Heather in telling Barbara H. that WordPress.org is free, but hosting costs (though I haven't found any hosting for $18-25/yr; I have mine for $7/mo.)

Depending on your host, installing WordPress can be easy or hard. My host and many others have easy auto-installs. Then find a template (design and layout) you like on themes.wordpress.net. Upload the one you like and you're pretty much set. If you can use an FTP client or other type of uploader that allows you to upload files (my host has a JavaScript version that's just drag-and-drop), it's not too hard.

In fact, I would say 0 knowledge of HTML or CSS necessary. PHP knowledge is only necessary if you're planning on doing something very unusual with your site.

Plugins, on the other hand, are easy to learn and WONDERFUL to use. They make your blog fully customizeable. If you can do the kind of uploading required for a theme, you can upload a plugin. Some plugins, however, do require you to play with your HTML, CSS or PHP. Read the instructions before choosing your plugins to make sure you'll know how to use it!

[killlashandra]

I also agree that you do need to know some coding to jump into wordpress. Although I have to admit their support forums are great and I have been able to find the anwers to any questions there quickly.

There are a lot of great design templates and plugins out there for wordpress which also make it lots of fun to use and customize how you would like.

I'd recommend it.

[Lisa B]

I agree with everything Heather said -- and as a disclaimer -- I'm her WP-Techie when she breaks one of her gazillion blogs ;)

The software you can download for free from WordPress.org is great. I absolutely love it, and it really is easy to use. I understand a lot of people get overwhelmed by all the geekiness at the Codex (where most people get their WP info).

The install of WordPress under your own host is really easy and as long as you don't go super crazy with your theme choosing -- you can use WP without knowing HTML, CSS or PHP. Where people often get into trouble is when trying to make changes to their theme -- that's when you need to know a little about HTML, CSS or PHP depending on what you are trying to change. But even themes are making it easier to change things -- I highly recommend the K2 theme (www.getk2.com). You can go from 2 to 3 columns just by setting an option. You can upload and select a header picture and *poof* it's there.

I would tell people who are just beginning blogging to at least think about their future. For instance, if Blogger goes down, what happens to your posts? Even if you were writing for family, that history would be lost unless you have it backed up. WordPress.org has a great backup plugin that automagically takes care of that for you.

What if you decided to put up an affiliate link in the sidebar? Do you realize that it's in Wordpress.com's terms of service (the freebie one -- they host it) that it is for personal use only? They don't want you making any business blogs on there. They could quickly shut you down and you'd be lost.

Heather's convinced me to write a beginning WordPress ebook for people getting started. I hope to have it done in January :) And it will have easily understood, step-by-step directions fresh with screen shots and maybe some video thrown in too. I hope that it'll clear up the confusion I see about WordPress.org, WordPress.com, and all the other options. It's truly a powerful platform!

Lisa B.

[Heather @ Desperately Seeking Sanity]

The hosting that I used to use is at Dayana Host http://www.valleyva.net/dayana-host.html

and while you could probably get away with the 10MB plan, I recommend the 30MB plan which is $29.99 per year. But you could always start with the $14.99/year plan and upgrade when you needed to.

Like I said, I only switched because I have multiple websites and Dayana Host was per site. It just worked better for me.

[Dawn]

(sorry, baby hit return and submitted my comment)

I like wp for the way it deals with comments - you get the email address and website in a tab with click thrus. I also think it's more blog visitor friendly in regards to its spam filter - Askimet filters (more or less okay) and doesn't make readers type in word verification (my personal peeve)

[Kelsey Kilgore]

i just switched from typepad to wordpress (because leanne from ewebscapes said it was a good idea). i like it, but i haven't figured out how to post pictures. it always says they're too big.

[Christy]

I have been using wordpress.com for over a year now and I absolutely LOVE the interface. It is extremely user friendly and I really liked that.

My new blog, however is run off of wordpress.org. So far, I'm loving it. I didn't know the first thing about ftp-css-plugins and the like but I quickly figured out the basics. I'm still working on css...it's a bee-yotch. All that being said, I still really like wordpress.org. I'll be sticking with it for awhile.

Great discussion. Thanks Melanie!

[Fiddledeedee (It Coulda Been Worse)]

I LOVE wordpress. I started out with the free version, but got my own domain name and host my own site so I can advertise now. I'm as computer stoopid as they come. If I can navigate Wordpress, then anyone can. However, I do have a technologically evolved husband that set it up for me. And helps me when I start crying like a little girl because BLOGGING IS ALL HARD, you know. :)

Love Wordpress. Just love it.

[Vin]

For those who want more details here is the Ultimate Blogger Wordpress Comparison Guide :

http://betabloggerfordummies.blogspot.com/2007/05/ultimate-blogger-wordpress-comparison.html

[Marianne]

I love Wordpress. I started my blog www.Writer-Mommy.com at wordpress.com for free -- just had to point the nameservers from GoDaddy (where I own my domain name) over to my Wordpress.com account and voila! Insta-brand-name-blog.

However....Wordpress.com has it's limitations -- limited most notably in your blog design and in using Google Adsense--- which is why I now pay for hosting at GoDaddy and use their install of Wordpress.org's software. Same WP interface, little more work on the webmaster side. I know my way around html/xml and .css, so it's worked out fine for me.

Gotta plug this FREE site which is how I designed my own blog template:

www.yvoschaap.com/wpthemegen

Again, you gotta have a WP.org based blog hosted on a paid host, but it is a nice way to design your own blog for free. As long as you're comfy doing the uploading/FTP yourself, it's a cinch. And if you're handy with MS Paint or any other graphic program, you can come up with your own header (as I did ;) )!

Ladies, thanks for all you're doing to share the wealth of knowledge!

;)

[Marianne]

Oops! Forgot to hyperlink that WordPress Theme Generator site:

http://www.yvoschaap.com/wpthemegen

Smiles atcha!