I took a great #blogging workshop with The Indie Book Collective last night. This is a brand new workshop they are offering, among the other great workshops they offer. I suggest this workshop for those who are curious about blogging, having trouble with blogging, or just don’t know where to start. It’s only $15 and well worth the money.
You can see from my blog roll that I’ve been blogging for almost a year now. Still, I learned some great info last night. All of it was great, but a problem developed. Not with the class, of course, just a problem within myself.
While I have much time and effort invested into Blogger, last night’s class gave me a chance to see behind the scenes of WordPress. I really like some of the features of WP, yet there are things about Blogger that I like as well.
I’ve reached an impasse. I cannot decide if I should stay with Blogger or move on to WordPess. Both have pros and cons. I’ve also heard mixed reviews of both.
My reasons for wanting to stay with Blogger:
- I’ve already established this blog
- I have devoted hours in perfecting this blog
- I have many followers on this blog
- This platform is easy to use
- I follow a lot of blogs on blogger
Reasons to leave Blogger:
- I am interested in a hosted blog
- I like some of the features of WordPress better
- There are lots of issues with Blogger
- I like the professionalism of WordPress’s UI and overall appearance
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| http://bit.ly/pPwCyt photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Some of my peers, who I hold in the highest regard, have mixed reviews on WordPress. Some love it. They think it’s the best place to blog, while a few others think it’s the worst. I’m worried that if I do switch, I will not like WordPress. So what’s a blogger to do?
Ask other peers, of course.
- Which blogging platform do you like best, WordPress or Blogger.
- Why do you like it best?
- If I switch platforms, will you follow me to the new one?
I've tried both and prefer Blogger. All of my blogs (my own and those I contribute to) are on Blogger. A few started out on WordPress and we migrated them to Blogger for its ease of use.
Would I follow you over to WordPress if you switched? Of course!
HI Danielle. Thanks for the comment! I, too, like how easy Blogger is to use. It's one of the things holding me here. Glad to hear you will follow me if I switch! I appreciate that.
I definitely prefer WordPress. But to be clear, I'm talking about WordPress.org and not .com, since people usually mixes it up. WP.org being the self-hosted site. I use a wonderful hosting company that are great and quick with helping out if you come across issues, and it's only 7.95$ a month if you pay monthly ($1/month less if you pay annual), so it's not too expensive either.
I think I can up the WP scale, by answering your questions. I moved my Blogger blog to WP a month ago and have these last 2 weeks moved 5 friends over. All are as happy as me and have solved the questions you have!
1. I've already established this blog
> There is a wonderful plugin that lets you connect your Blogger blog to the WP blog. That way, anyone clicking on your old url or otherwise uses it (even posts), will be transferred to that place on the new blog. All posts and comments can also be transferred with a plugin, and pages and widgets by hand.
2. I have devoted hours in perfecting this blog
> I can't really defend this, except saying that there are tons of gorgeous free WP designs that are extremely easy to put up.
3. I have many followers on this blog
> You can easily transfer your follower widget to your WP blog. I can explain exactly how, if you are interested later (or you can read my Guide I made). All of us 6 movers have done it and it works perfectly! I even know how to redirect your feed so your followers still get your updates in their readers.
4. This platform is easy to use
> With all plugins WP has, it's easier getting a professional blog without having to learn HTML at all or go into the actual template. So, in that sense, it's actually almost easier working with WP.
5. I follow a lot of blogs on blogger
> Since you'll redirect your own blog, your Blogger account will be left. This means all of your blogs you follow or have in readers, will still be there. And you'll use the account when commenting on Blogger blogs too!
So, since I love WP so much and my friends have to, and I know many have the same decisions issues to make, I made a guide for how to move. It's extremely easy and the only thing taking time is the actual customization with layout and widgets.
http://rebgeo.net/about/moving-from-blogger-to-wordpress/
AND while transferring this way, you keep your things on Blogger as well (even followers and feed are still connected to it) and layout is easily saved too, so if you'd change your mind, you'd easily be able to switch back.
Good luck with your decision! If you want more information, have more questions or just want help with the actual move; feel free to contact me anytime. đ I'd just be happy to be of assistance!
Rebecca at Kindle Fever
Rebecca, thank you so much for the valuable info. I am going to check out your guide. I am definitely leaning toward WordPress.org. So glad you commented.
I'm one of Rebecca's friends who recently moved to WordPress. I've had blogs on Blogger for years, my book blog being my most recent one – and by far the most active of all my blogs I've tried. I had heard many good things about WP too, and wanted to try it out, so I opened a jewelry-making hobby blog on the WP.com (free) site. I HATED it. I couldn't understand what on earth would possess ANYONE to have a blog there, it was harder to understand, nothing came easy, it didn't look good, there weren't nearly as many options as Blogger has. So when rebecca wanted to move to WP I told her she was crazy LOL
Then she moved over and her blog looked great – she started explaining the differences between .com and .org (the self-hosted .org) and I became SLIGHTLY more interested. But I still vowed never to move over to WP – for exactly the same reasons you like Blogger. The time invested, the followers you have, etc. But the more I saw Rebecca flourish – she gained a lot of followers as soon as she moved over (because your site comes up easier in search engines once you lose the blogspot and off of Blogger, I believe) .. so I thought about it some more, and she explained more of the options..
And finally I told her I was ready to TRY it out. I was amazed at how much easier it was than I thought it would be. Rebecca held my hand through the whole process and I was even able to have both blogs open for "business" at the same time before I made the final switch. I didn't lose any followers and I'm much happier on WP. Yes, it's taken a little getting used to the different options that WP has. But all in all, the WP plugins are AMAZING compared to Bloggers widgets. I'm constantly on the hunt now for new plugins in "play with" – it's almost a new hobby! WP really isn't hard to use once you get used to the slight differences in how Blogger does things and WP does things. As far as actual posting goes, I'm really impressed with WP and it's almost the same as Blogger in that regard.
If you do decide to move I know Rebecca would definitely help you and her guide is very helpful! I think you should at least try a self-hosted WP and then see if you like it, the host we went through (which I also highly recommend, I had an issue and they got back with me on the same night, at 11PM on a Saturday on Fourth of July weekend!!) Tiger Tech, you can try it out and then if you don't like it can cancel and are not obligated to sign any contracts or anything.
Good luck!
April @ My Shelf Confessions
I agree with the comment written above/\/\/\
Came across this while doing a search on the WordPress vs. Blogger debate. I am a web developer, and have clients who use both, and have done custom modifications on both.
Both have distinct advantages from a back office perspective and user experience perspective – both then again both are marketed and designed with a particular user in mind.
Blogger provides an excellent “out of the box” experience to those new to blogging who don’t want to be overly concerned with tech side. For these users, the WYSIWYG interface is certainly a welcome feature. This is not to say that the admin panel on WordPress isn’t user friendly, but its not going to be the same experience you have on blogger. WordPress is definitely the more cerebral of the two platforms. Depending on the WordPress template you choose, some basic coding knowledge may be necessary to customize your template (for example, section colors, background images, widths, etc.). If learning a bit about coding doesn’t scare you, I suggest considering WordPress for its flexibility and multitude of add-on components and widgets.
I recently upgraded a client’s site from Blogger to WordPress – I didn’t think the process was difficult and with the exception of image sizes, everything imported correctly. I couldn’t imagine you losing any subscribers because of a platform switch (“I can’t believe she’d use WordPress instead of Blogger – that’s it, I won’t read her blog anymore!” lol)
Best wishes, whatever you choose.