To write a blog or not to write a blog, this is what is going on in my head when I hear about writing a blog.

I thought it would be hard. I thought it would be technical. I thought I'd have to install scripts and tear my hair out getting them to work. I thought at that point, that there is no way for me to be able to write a blog. Most of what I have read about blogs or RSS was just so much geek-speak.  But I know of others who were able to write brilliant blogs.  I thought, maybe I can give it a try.

Strengthening my resolve, I finally signed up for an account with www.blogger.com as well as www.wordpress.org.  To my amazement, I had a blog set up in about 5 minutes. My first post was uploaded to my site about 10 minutes later.

The only thing even remotely technical I was required to do was enter the FTP settings for the website where my blog would be published on. But even that was not a requirement.

With www.blogger.com, you can set up a blog on their site, Blogspot, and not even worry about FTP settings.

Since then, I've started 3 Blogger blogs on different sites. Blogger remains one of the most popular blog applications in the world because it is so simple to use and set up. You do not need to learn any technical stuff and you can start blogging immediately.  

Now with www.wordpress.org, I found out that it is equally simple.  In fact, this blog is my first Wordpress blog, and I am very impressed with how powerful it is and awesomely user-oriented.

For wordpress, this is installed on your own website. Most hosts that have Cpanel have Wordpress ready for you to install. Look in your Cpanel for the Fantastico application, click it open, and then choose Wordpress to begin installing. It will automatically install on your site for you, and you can start blogging right away.

If your host does not have Wordpress included in the scripts on your server, you can still pick it up at:

http://wordpress.org/

You may go to the Wordpress Wiki for instructions on how to install it in 5 minutes.  The link is:

http://wiki.wordpress.org/?pagename=5MinuteInstallation

Wordpress is a free, open-source software. It is very simple to install, even for technophobes, and has a lot of online documentation. There are also many sites with free Wordpress add-ons and templates. I'm using a template for this blog that I picked up at Alex King's site:

http://www.alexking.org/index.php?content=software/wordpress/styles.php

The Wordpress Wiki is a wealth of information on all things Wordpress, including installation instructions, help files, a long list of template sites, and all kinds of hacks and extras you can use to modify your blog and make it original.

If you are a Wordpress user, another place to visit is the Wordpress discussion forum:

http://wordpress.org/support/

Both Wordpress and Blogger are very user friendly. There is not a long learning curve. And you do not have to learn any new technical tricks. These are the sites that are most recommended especially to a newbie.  Why not give one of them a try?

See Simple Sample Blogs