Choosing the Right Blogging Application

When setting up a blog the first main factor that you are likely to consider apart from web hosting is the blog application which you are going to base your new blog site on. There are many different blogging applications around for you to choose from, and although they have been designed with the same idea in mind they are all different at the core. Before making any final choice on the blog application which you want to use, you should first ensure that you have chosen the web hosting package that you are going to use and that it is more than sufficient for your needs. Blog applications can be both downloaded for free in the case of open source applications but can also be purchased if you wish to use a more commcercial alternative. You may find that some blogging applications are more scalable than others, but scalability isn’t really something which you will need to consider unless you are planning on using your blog a lot or plan on receiving a large amount of visitors. If you plan on using your blog for recreational purposes then you should only consider a small budget for your web hosting, but if you plan on making money out of your blog then you should be considering a commercial application and premium web hosting services.

Before you choose a blog application, you should choose the web hosting package that you want to use to host your new blog website on. The reason that this decision should be made first is because you will then have an idea of the sort of blogging system that you will need for your requirements - some blog applications will run under certain web hosting packages but not under others because of operating system/platform restrictions. When choosing a web hosting provider for your new blog the one factor that you will want to consider is the reliability of their web hosting services, but you should also take into consideration the amount of disk space and bandwidth that is provided with your chosen web hosting package. Other ways in which web hosting can affect your choice of blogging application include:

• supported languages - some web hosting packages support the use of certain scripting languages whilst others don’t - since blog applications are always written in a specific server side scripting language, you need to ensure that your web hosting package will support the scripting language that your chosen blog application is written in so that you are able to ensure that it will be able to function correctly
• supported databases - all blog applications require the use of a backend database since all the data which is relevant to the blog has to be stored in one central location which is accessible by all dynamic web pages which make up the application - as with scripting languages, some web hosting packages are likely to support the very popular MySQL database server but only Windows web hosting packages will support MSSQL database hosting
• resources - depending on the purpose of your blog, you will probably find that you require large amounts of disk space and bandwidth for your needs - large amounts of disk space will be needed if you plan on making a large amount of posts since your database will grow in size, and if you plan on adding images to your posts then they will contribute towards your disk space usage as well - bandwidth will be needed to ensure that visitors can view your website.

If you choose a reputable web hosting provider then you shouldn’t have any problems if you know what you are doing, but you should always do research beforehand to ensure that your chosen blog application will be compatible with your chosen web hosting package.

Once you have chosen the right web hosting package for you needs which is within your budget, you can move onto choosing the right blogging application for your requirements. Although all blog applications are more or less the same on the face of it, the way in which they work and function makes them all different and it is this which you need to look closely at. However, there are still other things which you should be considering in any blogging application. As mentioned previously, there is the scripting language and database system which are used at the core of the application which both need to be considered mainly otherwise your installation is unlikely to work correctly. Other factors that you may want to consider could include:

• scalability - if you plan on receiving many visitors to your blog then you should consider the scalability of any application which you may be thinking of using for your needs - the more scalable and application is the more it is able to handle, for example if you use a highly scalable application then it should be able to cope with sharp rises in visitors in a short amount of time - less scalable applications may not fare so well
• features - some blog applications will come packed with features once you have them installed, but it is important to ensure that any application comes with the basic features that will allow you to write and post articles to your blog - image upload facilities may also be a necessity depending on the type of blog you are running
• expandability - if you find that your blog begins to grow in the future you may want to consider expanding its uses - although most blogging applications will come with a large set of features once installed, it is still important to have expandability so that you are able to build upon what you have with the use of add-ons and existing features.

The above are normally the basics that you should expect from any well built blogging application. If you decide to code your own then it may not include such factors which is all good if this application is just for your use, but is bad if it is in the form of an application that is likely to be distributed to many different people and websites.

If you are going to be running your blog as part of a business then you will need to make the decision as to whether you should be using an open source/free blogging application or a commercial applicaton which you have to purchase. Both forms of blog application have their advantages, but when it comes down to choosing the actual application which you are going to use, you need to consider your requirements. Free applications tend to come without any official support meaning that if you are lost with how to use it you won’t be able to get any help; although commercial applications normally come with the advantage of having an official support medium, some may not be able to pay the price when they are first starting their blog. Examples of blog applications which you could use include:

• Wordpress - this is one of the most popular open source blogging applications available and comes with a good feature set, but also has a very large add-on respitory that can be used by all of those with Wordpress blogs meaning that you can easily expand the use of your blog - themes are also available for download meaning that you can style your blog to look the way that you want it to, or you could of course design your own theme
• Movable Type - this is also an open source blogging application, although it isn’t as popular as Wordpress it still has a large user community who all contribute to the application’s public forum so that you can discuss any issues or features of the application - plugins are also available so that you can extend the use of any installation you have of Movable Type, meaning that you can use it as more than just a blog.

The above shows two good examples of open source blog applications which you can use for free on your website or blog - this means that you have no need to purchase any commercial applications, even if you feel that you need to. Open source applications tend to have very active user communities who normally come along in the form of message boards in which you can post and talk about any issues or queries you may have over the application - such communities tend to be made up of experienced users, meaning that you are almost guaranteed help when needed.

In conclusion, choosing the right blog application is a decision which is based upon many factors including your requirements as well as the kind of web hosting package that you have chosen to use. Blog applications can be used on both a small scale and a large scale, and it is important that you ensure that any application which you choose is able to cope with a sudden rise in visitors, which in the blogging world is known as ‘the Digg effect’. In order top cope with such a rise in traffic, you should also ensure that you have high amounts of both bandwidth and disk space.