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Please recommend a blogging platform
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Please recommend a blogging platform

I'm interested in setting up a blog. The content will be basic medical/science information at a layperson level (essentially, brief knowledge translation pieces) for the general public.

Ideally, it (1) could be installed to www.mydomain.com/blogname/, (2) have a very simple and straightforward interface, (3) be secure, and (4) be very easy to maintain/update/backup/restore. There are a ton of different options and Wordpress is one of the most well-known. But, there are also many other blogging platforms (Nibbleblog, Open Blog, Serendipity, etc).

What are LET's experiences with different blogging platforms and what do you recommend? I'm additionally considering signing up for a free CloudFlare account for this project to mitigate DOS attacks (though, they would be highly unlikely) - yea or nay? Thanks!

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Comments

  • agoldenbergagoldenberg Member, Host Rep

    I've used quite a few blogging platforms and there are a couple I like.

    Wordpress: Bulky and can sometimes be super slow depending on the theme and plugins you use. However overall it's great and they have apps for android and iOS to publish content while mobile which I like.

    Ghost Blog: nice little system that runs on NodeJs but still has a long way to go. Lots of themes to pick from and runs reasonably well even with little resources but for me it didn't have enough and the backend UI while mobile friendly doesn't quite work great on mobile.

    Both are pretty decent just depends what you want.

  • jhjh Member

    AnchorCMS

    Thanked by 1cassa
  • +1 for wordpress you can easily adapt it to your needs & cache the hell out of it.

  • @agoldenberg said:

    Thanks for the feedback! I am aiming for a clean, simple interface. One other thing I forgot to mention is that I am quite lost when it comes to SQL and managing such databases. So, if possible, I would prefer a blogging platform with a flat filestructure (a la DokuWiki) to simplify backup (i.e. just archive the folder), though this is not set in stone.

    Since it takes quite a while to put each post together, I am writing the articles into a Word document before posting them. So, while I am not anticipating posting while mobile, it would be nice if the blog was mobile-friendly for readers. I was toying around with the idea of hosting on a LEB (like most here, I have many idling LEB VPS :P), but would probably just use a shared hosting service that comes with with CPanel (I currently have this already and plan to transition to BuyVM's shared hosting when the price of my current hosted plan increases by over 700%).

  • @jhadley said:
    AnchorCMS

    I do like its clean appearance.

  • @user123 said:
    I do like its clean appearance.

    I don't recommend Anchor, the developers don't really seem to care about development anymore and it seems to be a kick-around project now.

    I like Nibbleblog a lot, and am currently using it for a blog of mine. It's super light and is flat file.

  • I use a mixture of Ghost (been trying it out for a few months since it's very clean and nice to use) and also a custom markdown-based blogging system that loads straight from flat files (bit more complex to setup).

    In case you're interested in Ghost we actually offer hosting of it which is automatically setup and you are given access to add themes and download a copy of the database (it's a flat file) as you wish. Obviously the admin panel (very clean and easy to use) is available to you also. I'd recommend Ghost regardless because of its ease of use, unless you want to heavily modify/build upon your blog in which case I'd recommend WordPress. More details on the Ghost hosting can be found at https://definedcodehosting.com/saas if you're interested. Feel free to PM me or submit a ticket if you have questions or just general Ghost questions! :-)

  • You really dont need to know anything about databases to install/use Wordpress. Most shared hosting providers utilize an automated installer that will install Wordpress for you and set up the database. Alternatively, using a admin panel such as direct admin, you can create a new database in just a few clicks. You then copy/paste some information about your new database into the wordpress config file and you are done. For a beginner, Wordpress is definitely the way to go.

  • Interface has nothing to do with the software itself, you can customize the interface (design) the way you like. Backing up your data regardless of the software you use for blogging is the same, it all depends on your hosting provider, for example if your hosting provider use cPanel control panel, just go to backups and generate full backup or just download your database file from the table and then download the home directory backup file.

  • Ghost, DotClear, Joomla.

    For a great looking, simple blog Ghost is pretty awesome.

  • agoldenbergagoldenberg Member, Host Rep

    @badpatrick oh god not joomla! Stay the hell away from Joomla!

  • @definedcode said:
    I use a mixture of Ghost (been trying it out for a few months since it's very clean and nice to use) and also a custom markdown-based blogging system that loads straight from flat files (bit more complex to setup).

    In case you're interested in Ghost we actually offer hosting of it which is automatically setup and you are given access to add themes and download a copy of the database (it's a flat file) as you wish. Obviously the admin panel (very clean and easy to use) is available to you also. I'd recommend Ghost regardless because of its ease of use, unless you want to heavily modify/build upon your blog in which case I'd recommend WordPress. More details on the Ghost hosting can be found at https://definedcodehosting.com/saas if you're interested. Feel free to PM me or submit a ticket if you have questions or just general Ghost questions! :-)

    How unmetered is that unmetered bandwidth? What will be my limiting factor when I'll get millions of visitors on my site? (Just an example)

  • Blogger might be worth considering as well.

  • definedcodedefinedcode Member
    edited October 2014

    @taronyu said:
    How unmetered is that unmetered bandwidth? What will be my limiting factor when I'll get millions of visitors on my site? (Just an example)

    It's fair share (rated up to 100mbit) but burstable up to 1gbit. If you implement Cloudflare then you can reduce bandwidth but I doubt you'd pull 100mbit on a blog anyway. We're happy for you to use a fair share (probably pulling up to 50mbit constantly) but if it affects other users, we'll just contact you and come to an agreement!

  • -1 for WordPress, it's a bloated tool from the previous century.

    +1 for Ghost

    I suggest Jekyll. For your usage there is nothing dynamic, no reason to process the same data over and over again.

  • Make your own :)?

  • Thanks for all the suggestions! Ghost seems like the front runner :). (Sorry I couldn't reply sooner - what's up with all the LET downtime??)

  • LeeLee Veteran

    Ghost, although it's still early days it's really nice and simple, easy to amend theme and so on.

  • howardsl2howardsl2 Member
    edited October 2014

    Here's a detailed guide I wrote up to help you install Ghost w/ Nginx and ModSecurity:
    https://blog.ls20.com/install-ghost-0-3-3-with-nginx-and-modsecurity/

    P.S. My blog is running Ghost 0.4.2. The latest version 0.5 supports multiple users, and is more "fancy".

  • @agoldenberg said: oh god not joomla! Stay the hell away from Joomla!

    Why?

  • agoldenbergagoldenberg Member, Host Rep

    @agoldek Joomla is far from simple and OP said he really isn't great with MYSQL. Joomla is a giant piece of crap in terms of UI especially for a blog. It's more for a full fledged web site than blog platform.

    Thanked by 1aglodek
  • HTMLy?

  • TheLinuxBugTheLinuxBug Member
    edited October 2014

    @agoldek Also, Joomla is quite insecure by default (I am not saying it is impossible to secure it, but it takes knowing what your doing) making it an easy target for skids wanting to deface sites. For the love of everything holy, if you choose to use Joomla, please invest in RSFirewall, seriously, just do it.

    Cheers!

    Thanked by 2xDutchy aglodek
  • Joomla and Limbo came from Mambo as Worpress came from B2Evolution, if I'm not mistaken.

  • Wordpress is very easy to use. Am using it :)

  • How about Ghost? I like Ghost :)

  • WP.

  • Ghost !

  • wordpress is very easy to use and customize

  • htmly....very clean & light...does the job...

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