So Blogger (the host behind blogspot) has done something utterly awful, is inaccessible and has pulled a day’s worth of blogposts and comments. The blogging community is running in ever decreasing circles. You have options. There is wordpress.com which is v similar to blogger in that someone else runs the software for you, and it’s free at least to get started. But the dot com version of wordpress is very tied down, not least in that it doesn’t allow javascript, so while you get a few goodies bundled in there, it might not be what you are looking for. Especially if you don’t want them earning money of your blog (they add ads in if you’re on the free version).
So, do you have options instead of WordPress.com? Yes. You can get self-hosted WordPress. What this is is sitting the software that’s behind wordpress on a hosting package that you pay for. It’s hugely more flexible and totally under your control. And if you go with a specialist host like tsohost (affiliate link), they will support you every step of the way.
I’ve written about this sort of stuff before and probably more coherently, explaining the difference between wordpress dotcom and wordpress self-hosted, but if you’ve any specific questions I can help me with just stick a comment in and I’ll try to sort you out.
Lots of ppl are worried about backups, and followers. If you’re using feedburner to manage your RSS feeds you can port it with you (and if you’re not, why not?) and it also seems you can carry your google friend connect with you as well. If you host with someone like tsohost, backups are automated and part of the base service – it’s a really good reason to go with them.
If you want a more personal service and you’re willing to pay a bit more, I can also recommend the lovely gentleman Tim at Colneis. (Disclosure – he’s in the attic 😉 )
Background – I’ve been blogging for nearly 8 years. I’ve used blogspot, wordpress (dot com as well as self hosted) and once upon a child ago, I was a programmer.
I usually don’t read such technical stuff but, as you said, my confidence has been rocked by the Blogger situation today. Hence – am copy-pasting all posts into word files and will continue to update them in the future as I post. Changing host fills me with dread. It’s a bit like my mortgage – I knew I wasn’t getting the best deal but I was so stressed out I couldn’t shop around any more. I’ve only just learned my way round Blogger so this is where I am staying for now. Thanks for the information though.
Let me know if there’s anything else I can do to help, or any specific questions you have 🙂
You know my thoughts on this. If I can be absolutely sure 100% that my followers will be transferred I would be happy to make the change. I will need lots of help, but that help will have to be idiot proof in order to actually sink in this very technophobic head! I’ll keep you posted and will definitely be asking you if I go with wordpress. Ideally, I need someone to completely do it for me!
CJ xx
That can probably be arranged 😉
Sorry what has happened with blogger? I use blogspot and can’t see anything missing at all.
A scheduled maintenance release went horribly wrong, had to be rolled back, blogger was in read only mode for nearly two days, and removed posts and comments from the time of roll back, replacing them gradually over the last day. For ppl blogging a lot, it was a very traumatic experience I think.
I gave up on Blogger/Blogspot a long time ago – I just find it to be archaic by comparison to WordPress, which is now clearly the standard. I just don’t see why anybody would use anything other than WordPress (unless for some reason you had not heard of WordPress…).
wordpress all the way here 🙂