User Feedback: Blogger

In our continuing effort to provide information on various blog platforms, we’ve asked some friends to comment on why they do or do not luh-huv their blog platform. Over the coming days we’ll be hearing from people who use Blogger, Typepad, SquareSpace, and WordPress. Our hope is that with this information you’ll be able to make an informed decision about where to start.

Today’s guest poster is Jeana from Days to Come. She uses Blogger.

Blogger often gets a bad wrap in the blogging world, but personally I
love Blogger. I adore Blogger. I great-big-puffy-pink-heart Blogger. I
even write poetry
about Blogger. Probably part of this is that it’s what I learned on.
Once I got my own domain I switched to a Worpress template and I hated
it. Sure, there were some features I liked, but other parts of it were
difficult to work with, difficult to learn…I never did figure out how
to post a picture larger than a postage stamp. I was constantly having
to call a friend to ask how to do something. I finally decided that I
only had so much time and I wanted to spend that time writing, not
learning a new program. I switched back, had my domain forwarded and
I’ve been happy as a clam ever since.

The
new Blogger is even easier to work with, and it doesn’t seem to be
going down as often as it used to. I found that even having my own
domain, sometimes the server goes down and sometimes Turkish hackers
take over your home page. With any website you have occasional
difficulties, and Blogger’s were usually resolved fairly quickly. Does
Typepad go down less often? I think so. Is it worth paying for it? Not
to me.

People sometimes talk about the comments being bad, and
I’m not sure what they’re talking about. The only negative I see is
that you can’t always reply to the commenter–easy to get around, if
the commenter will check her box.
I’ve known bloggers who have switched to Haloscan–maybe there is a
difference to the blog owner, but as a visitor I didn’t notice much
difference. I have to say I detest Typepad word verification. With
Blogger it shows up when you leave your initial comment. With Typepad
you have to leave your comment, wait for a new screen, then type in the
word verification. I have often seen the screen change, assumed my
comment was posted, and gone to a new page without realizing that the
blog owner had turned on the word verification, so my comment was never
published.

Getting
people to follow you to a new page is not difficult–they like you,
otherwise they wouldn’t be reading you. Post several reminders that
you’re moving, and leave a link at your old place to lead people to
your new place. So my advice would be to give Blogger a chance and then
if you don’t like it move to Typepad or go with something different.

You don’t have to visit many blogs to see that people like different
things, so I don’t think there is a "better" or "best" server, you just have to see what you prefer.

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