WordPress vs. Blogger
I use WordPress because of its ease and efficiency. Blogger offers more options for creative content, but I don’t have the patience to learn it.
I can subscribe to other WordPress blogs, but not to Blogger blogs, so I end up reading more WordPress than Blogger blogs, which is exactly the point.
Some of the Blogger blogs are wonderful, but I find myself neglecting them. Commenting on Blogger blogs continues to be a challenge, with the separate comment page that sometimes eats the comment , and what about those skewed letters you always had to decipher? Are they still a prerequisite for posting a comment?
If you are writing on Blogger, please know that I probably love your blog but do not read it or comment as often as I do on WordPress blogs, and this is only because of accessibility.
Does anyone else notice this tendency for polarization of community based on format?
Marahm 
So that’s why you don’t read and comment on my posts 😉
I have 5 wordpress blogs (including yours) and 3 blogger blogs on My Blog List that I regularly read and comment on. and I have no difficulty with reading or commenting on any of them.
I first started using blogger and feel very comfortable with it and do not want to change to wordpress. I;ll feel lost if I do. I think everthing has a learning curve.
All blooger blogs I follow and my blog are commentor friendly and have no skewed letters to decipher 🙂
~W~, with all due respect, I still maintain that Blogger has eaten more than a few of my comments, so when I do post on Blogger, I always put a copy of my comment on the clipboard, just in case. The skewed letters are not always present, so maybe they did away with that, or maybe the blog author controls that feature. In any event, I must pay more attention to Blogger blogs such as yours, which are well written, thought provoking, and entertaining.
Thanks for the feedback!
I started out with Blogger, and then when I started up my photo blog, I decided to give WordPress a shot, so I have one of each. On Blogger, you can follow ANY blog; it doesn’t have to be limited to only Blogger. I find that Blogger is actually very easy to use and in my opinion, it’s easier to use than WordPress. There seem to be a lot more options that are easier now than even before. And it’s much easier also to get your blog looking any special way you might want it, without having to pay extra like you do on WordPress. And those skewed letter word puzzles are an option for bloggers – at first I used it (it’s supposed to prevent SPAM comments), but since I stopped I haven’t gotten any SPAM comments anyway, so I think it’s a useless option. It’s also an option for comments to have a pop up window or totally changes the page. Again, I use the pop up window and it’s much better.
Honestly I have had more technical problems and glitches with WordPress than I have with Blogger. WP’s help and response time has been very good though. WP has some neat features, but I think overall, I prefer Blogger. My two cents.
Thanks, Susie. I do like the ways you have enhanced your blog. I can’t do half those things on WP, but I don’t pay anything for what I have. I suppose that day is coming.
Actually, I did start out with Blogger about two years ago, but had so many problems I gave it up.
When I decided to try again, I went to WP.
So you can subcribe to any blog on Blogger? I like that feature. Maybe I’ll look at Blogger again, if only to see how it has updated. I like your “one of each” situation! That way, you catch all of us, no matter where we blog!
The squggly word thing is up to the blog owner…as part of the spam precautions etc…not everyone uses that option….I dont.
Now that I know why you dont visit me too often…I will put you back on my Christmas card list…lol. (no hard feelings)
coolred, I really like your blog. The day I commented on the book you started to write, I wrote a loonnnng comment, quite good, if I do say so myself, and it simply vanished! Maybe I am doing something, hitting wrong keys on Blogger, I don’t know. I’ll try more often.
I have the same problem, I now sign in on WordPress, and I get all my wordpress blogs, read them, comment, and then usually I don’t have timie left to check out my favorite blogger blogs…
So they do get into the background a bit…
+ I get all my comments on a page, and can read what other people have written, and yes, sometimes I don’t have so much time and then I can’t cope with the hassle involved on commenting on a blogger-blog. Some blogs I now have to fill in my name ,mail adress, and website every time I comment!
So I often just don’t…
Love the new banner!
Marahm, for now,the only changes are instead of making us pay, WordPress has given us more for free, including a large amount of space for photo’s!
I too started off with Blogger… and for the few months that I was using it, I must have changed my blog template four times… I loved customizing my blog, and spent a lot of time on this form of ‘digital craft’.
I was tempted by WordPress for little things like dedicated pages, and password protected posts. I never regretted moving over, even though I can no longer customize my blog to the same extent.
Back when I was reeeally into my blogging, I used to subscribe to the comments feed for all my favourite blogs. But after returning from the hiatus that I took whilst writing up my thesis, I found all the blog chatter far too much to deal with. Now I just rely on My Comments, which means I usually miss out on the blog convos on non-Wordpress blogs.
I think more of my comments (of course the long, intricate, well-crafted ones) have been eaten by Blogger comments than word press, but I have learned to minimize (but not foolproof) that.
I agree that some blog hosts have customized so that one is more encouraged to comment and less eaten than on certain other blogs. Some are so restrictive in requiring google or open membership (which seems to me to need to be renewed each time) as to be a deterrant (maybe the point?–in which case just password protect I should think).
I have no problem with comment moderation as some may have experienced the need for it, but it is nice to pop up immediately. I do like the preview feature on some Blogger comment pages (let’s me make sure my 🙂 are intact), but I am happy with WordPress too (as a commentor of course).
I use wordpress, but for commenting on blogger posts I use a blogger account. It is possible to get a profile without having to have a blog.
Solace, that’s a good idea, if a blogger account makes it easier to comment on blogger blogs. I think I have an account, actually, having tried that idea, and somehow got away from it.
Chiara, so when are you going to start your own blog? How do you insert those smiley faces?
Aafke, I didn’t know about the extra space for photos, but I put most of my photos on Flickr, anyway. I hope WP doesn’t make us pay, at least not until the recession is over. I don’t know about people in Europe, but we Americans (myself included) have lost a lot of money in various sectors. Little luxuries are falling by the wayside.
My blog, however, is no way a little luxury! It is a necessity at this point, like my car, camera, and job.
Thank you for the encouragement–I may do so when I have more time LOL 🙂 🙂 .
Regarding smileys and emoticons I am a neophyte, but basically for a smiley if you type colon hyphen end bracket in sequence most blog comment sites will make it into a smiley, eg : – ) altogether comes out 🙂 a semicolon gets you a winky 😉 and never never let your smiley attempt touch anything else or you don’t get the full effect.:-) See? relatively poor compared to 🙂
oh and an opening bracket gets you sadness : – (
😦
There are online lists eg. at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoticon#Creation_of_:-.29_and_:-.28
The evil green laugh is strictly to be reserved for Aafke though 🙂
Thanks, Chiara, for the smiley instructions! Just like everything else with computers, it’s easy, after you learn it.
Regarding your comment to start your own blog when you have more time— LOL! The only extra time you need is a few hours to set it up. After that, writing on your own blog is similar to commenting on someone else’s. The only difference is that you are the first to “comment”, and you get to choose the subject. So…? 😉
I’ve put up a list of emoticons on my Dutch blog, it’s on the bottom of this page:
http://devrijruiters.wordpress.com/gebruiksaanwijzing/
finally I know how to 😀
Marahm–thank you for your encouragement. I will keep it in mind!
Aafke! You have a Dutch blog, too. I’m envious! Now I want another blog in another language! Trouble is, I’m not fluent in any language other than English (my Italian is improving, though). Well, at least I’m good in English.
Thanks for the emotocon codes.
Aafke–you have a collection of blogs in English, Dutch and bilingual, and a very impressive CV. I think somewhere I own a “To Kill a Mockingbird” illustrated by Aafke ***
So, ~W~, I tried to read your blog today, but now that you’ve made it private, I’ll have a very hard time reading it, let alone commenting!
Chiara, if it’s a special Folio edition you are right!
If we ever get to meet I’ll sign it for you, that way it wil be very valuable after I’m dead 😉
Is that the reason I don’t get news on my blogsurfer from ~W~????
I’ve heard from ~W~. She is taking a blogging break. I should probably do the same thing, but I’m still on a roll!
Aafke–include me in your North American tour, or if I teach again at the Free University of Amsterdam I will find it, and you can sign, or if mine is a different special anniversary edition you can sign anyway! I shall pass it on to my heirs and have it exhibited in future dynastic museum! ROTFL 😀
Aafke, so now it’s a North American tour, not simply New York? Surely, then, you plan to visit me in Chicago. ;)You, too, Chiara.
We’re on! When Aafke does her North American tour we’ll all city hop!
Salaam Marahm
It’s kinda ironic that I moved to a WP self-hosted blog soon after commenting on this entry. 🙂
This is a gentle poke to ask you to change the address on your blogroll to my new URL: http://iMuslim.tv
Jazakillah khair sis!
I’m afraid a North American tour is out of the question for now! 😉
iMuslim, mission accomplished.! Nice new site, I may add!
Aafke, You mean you are coming all the way to New York, which is merely the eastern border of the country? All the real action is further west.
(I apologize to NY’ers, but I’ve got say SOMETHING to encourage Aafke to come and see me. 😉
Hi Marahm – I just wanted to tell you that if you have a Blogger account, you can follow all the Blogger blogs on there! In fact, you can add any blogs you want to your list.
Well, you can always integrate disqus with a blogger blog for ease of use and commenting.
Welcome, deuts! But what is disqus?
Disqus is a commenting system just like Automattic’s Intense Debate. It allows you to maintain a single account to comment to other blogs using disqus system as well. The most prominent website I guess that uses disqus is mashable.com.
Visit their website (disqus.com) for more info about that service.
Also, you may want to visit my other blog (deuts.blogspot.com) to see how I integrated disqus with that blogger blog. You can leave a comment there anytime. 😀
While I respect your opinion…
“I use WordPress because of its ease and efficiency. Blogger offers more options for creative content, but I don’t have the patience to learn it.”
…I coudn’t disagree more.
Indeed, I started on Blogger.com because of its relative ease of use and moved some of my blogs to WordPress.com to learn the platform so that I could eventually build my own, self-hosted blog with WordPress and have more options.
Still, comparing the 2 free (hosted) sites, I’d agree that Blogger.com offers more options than WordPress.com. The ease of use thing, though? I have to come down on Blogger.com’s side there, too.
Guess it might have something to do with where you start? Sometimes it’s just confusing to change!
Thanks for the article.
-Sean (proud Blogger AND WordPress user)