It seems as though Blogger is the platform of choice for new bloggers. Large brand name I assume. If you’re new to blogging, have a look at Wordpress.com, where the feature set is so much more robust & it’s just as easy to get started!
I love what the Wordpress homepage has listed as their number one reason for blogging: “It’s Free!“. Hopefully there’s better reasons to start your own site.
Speaking of robust blogging platforms, we’ve been hard at work on Emericaskate.com’s Tool Shed, a spot for the kids to share their photos, videos, and yes, blogs.
haveboard #
Buncha TOOLS in the Emerica Shed. eMyricaspace!
Verticalbones #
We are using WordPress for our work blog, and having used both tools, the work Blogger did with Adaptive Path paid off with a much nicer user experience in my opinion. Yes, may not have all the bells and whistles, but I believe it is less of a brand issue, and actually an easier tool to use for new bloggers.
cpawl #
As far as a great combo of advance features and easy to use set up and features I would rather use and promote Expression Engine. There system is so much cleaner and user friendly and can create highly customizable CMS’s. I was a WordPress but the limitations got on my nerves (mulitple blogs… without unsupported hacks, trackback displays for those who want it that look and work correctly…etc). I got sick of messing with PHP, fed up with the “loop” and always hated the “big as in meant for blind people login” (ever see that page on a low res monitor… whoa.
Although Expression Engine pro packages cost money… it is well worth it for the right project you need to have complete control over and the free “core” version is just as powerful in most cases.
For instance, on the latest site I was working on, I created over 30 custom pages, with 50 plus members, each with their own section and their own blogs, simply by customizing 5 html templates and using EE syntax to call whatever whenever.
Neebies can also check out VOX (although personally I never bothered with it)
http://www.vox.com/
Bill #
I haven’t checked out expression engine, I’ve heard good things. In this case, I was talking about a hosted solution for the most beginner blogger.
I’ve read great things about Vox (a Moveable Type product) but it seems to be used by bloggers who are looking for more privacy options in their blogs, which in most cases, is someone who’s been blogging for quite awhile. I think Vox & similar prodcuts will have a greater demand in the future.