Blogging For Dummies

Selecting Hosted Blogging Software

When you choose to blog using a hosted blog service, you don't need to worry about the software technology at all. You can concentrate on the topic for your next blog post, rather than how to configure a Web server. To use hosted blogging software, you log into the editing tool, write a post, click the Publish button, and log out. Extra bonus: If you choose hosted blog software, you don't have to worry about Web hosting — the software company is providing that service for you!

Blog Software Applications

You might want to run your own blogging system right from the beginning. This type of setup is known as nonhosted or installable blogging software. By installing blog software on your own Web server, you take on all responsibilities related to maintaining the blogging software and the data created when you blog.

Strictly from a technical point of view, this type of setup might be a little on the difficult side for a new blogger and cause more stress, especially for the nontechnical folks who are figuring things out while they go. But you ultimately have more flexibility when you use a nonhosted blog setup. If you love a challenge or want all the bells and whistles, consider signing up for a domain and Web host and installing the software yourself. The good news is that you have to install the software only once!

Many of today's popular social networking tools have blogging components; in fact, some of them began their lives as sites for members to blog within a community. Like hosted blogs, community blogging tools are easy, low-tech solutions that put the technical problems into the hands of the community's creators, but also limit some of the flexibility to customize your blog.