Tumblr vs. Wordpress vs. Blogspot

Another thread I read recently touched on these, but I'd like some more input.

For a project car blog, what do you guys recommend? Anticipating starting a large project soon, as well as moving into a house with a garage I'll be doing some mods to, and some other projects that I'll update from time to time.

From what I gather:

Wordpress (which I have used before, several times): Most customizable. LOTS of options - to the point where it can be a pain in the butt. Very clean looking when done right / excellent formatting. Most likely to be spammed.

Blogspot: Google owns your E36 M3. Its easy and straightforward, but not extravagant at all.

Tumblr: Sort of social networking aspect? (I don't under stand this) Not a lot of formatting control - mostly for really short posts/single pictures?

That is my experience.

GRM. More people read what you're doing here than elsewhere

Blogspot is rather easy to use. That's where I have my blog. Sucks that you have to have to sign up with Google, but I really don't care.

Oh and it's really easy to add pictures.

I have a lot of experience with all three. If professionalism is what you are going for, Wordpress is your best bet. There are tons of plug ins and add ons that can make it do almost anything you want it to.

On second thought, let's not got to Tumblr...

JoeyM wrote: GRM. More people read what you're doing here than elsewhere

GRM also has the worst formatting options and arguably the most spam :)

Its more of a place to log my projects so I can just throw a link out when necessary instead of creating a build thread (or 10) on one or more forums.

For your needs, I'd get a free account on Wordpress.com, maybe buy a domain name and map to it for $18/yr, and leave comments off. Using Wordpress.com makes it dead simple to move to self-hosted Wordpress later if you want.

I use wordpress for all my professional blogs

wordpress is your friend

Maroon92 wrote: I have a lot of experience with all three. If professionalism is what you are going for, Wordpress is your best bet. There are tons of plug ins and add ons that can make it do almost anything you want it to. On second thought, let's not got to Tumblr...

You don't complain about Tumblr in the GGA thread.

JeffHarbert wrote: For your needs, I'd get a free account on Wordpress.com, maybe buy a domain name and map to it for $18/yr, and leave comments off. Using Wordpress.com makes it dead simple to move to self-hosted Wordpress later if you want.

Lets say one wanted to allow for comments without constant spam - is there a solution for that?

There are plugins for that

ProDarwin wrote:

JeffHarbert wrote: For your needs, I'd get a free account on Wordpress.com, maybe buy a domain name and map to it for $18/yr, and leave comments off. Using Wordpress.com makes it dead simple to move to self-hosted Wordpress later if you want.

Lets say one wanted to allow for comments without constant spam - is there a solution for that?

Obsessively curating the comments?

No but seriously, +1 for JeffHarbert's suggestion.

As a web designer I also suggest Wordpress if you wan't any sort of customization. I think the others are fine if you want something simpler to maintain and don't mind your content being "owned" by others than yourself.

btw - you can have comments turned on in Wordpress, but they'll need approval from you before being posted (it's an option). Doesn't mean you won't have to deal with spam, but it won't make it on the site.

ProDarwin wrote:

JoeyM wrote: GRM. More people read what you're doing here than elsewhere

GRM also has the worst formatting options and arguably the most spam :) Its more of a place to log my projects so I can just throw a link out when necessary instead of creating a build thread (or 10) on one or more forums.

Aside from the occasional canoe, spam isn't that bad around here.

Formatting on the other hand...

wordpress can be very simple, or very powerful. It's really in how much you want to do with it. For a simple blog, it's pretty darn easy. wordpress.com (think hosted wordpress) is even easier, but I think you give up options.

but wordpress anti-spam sucks balls, and general security is pretty bad, too. And unfortunately, the more plugins you add for spammers, the more problems you create in general security. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise: wordpress is a problem child when it comes to keeping bad people out. If you go the WP route, you MUST keep it updated.

Matt B wrote:

ProDarwin wrote:

JoeyM wrote: GRM. More people read what you're doing here than elsewhere

GRM also has the worst formatting options and arguably the most spam :) Its more of a place to log my projects so I can just throw a link out when necessary instead of creating a build thread (or 10) on one or more forums.

Aside from the occasional canoe, spam isn't that bad around here. Formatting on the other hand...

If you guys see that stuff, let me know. I can delete it. (Or Alan, if you'd rather contact a staff member.) That's why my signature file says what it does.

I can't do anything about the formatting

The formatting is really, really powerful if you know a little markdown. And pretty weak if you don't. I know. I wrote it.

Joey & Tim - I'm just giving you guys a (friendly) hard time. To clarify, I think Joey does a fantastic job of keeping the spammers out. I see a LOT LESS than many other sites. Keep it up!

As for the formatting - I was referring to the UI tools provided for non-web-peeps, which are limited compared to something like Wordpress. That said, I think it's appropriate for a forum like this. Users here need to create posts, not page layouts.

Matt B wrote: Joey & Tim - I'm just giving you guys a (friendly) hard time. To clarify, I think Joey does a fantastic job of keeping the spammers out. I see a LOT LESS than many other sites. Keep it up! As for the formatting - I was referring to the UI tools provided for non-web-peeps, which are limited compared to something like Wordpress. That said, I think it's appropriate for a forum like this. Users here need to create posts, not page layouts.

Agreed, mostly. My spam comment was in jest - not really talking about canoes, just other forum members :)

Back on topic, I guess Wordpress it is. I'll just leave comments off. Probably go wordpress-hosted. I've had several that were hosted elsewhere, but options overload drove me insane. I think I spent 80% of the time screwing with the layout/widgets/etc. and only 20% dealing with actual content. Turned into a motivation killer.

Anyway,
Garage build blog hopefully coming soon (closing end of May)
STR Miata -> MEV exocet to follow/coincide Various other projects of mine as well

We're using Wordpress for our new British Motor Trade Association website: www.britcar.org. It didn't take too long to convert from the old, circa 1997 site. My brother, the web genius, recommended Wordpress. So far, so good. I totally owe him a burrito.

I moved my programming-related blog from Serendipity to Wordpress three-odd years ago and while I have comments turned on I really don't have much of a problem with comment spam as I have to moderate them. Plus I use Akismet, which seems to do a pretty good job filtering out the obvious spam.

Flight Service wrote:

Maroon92 wrote: I have a lot of experience with all three. If professionalism is what you are going for, Wordpress is your best bet. There are tons of plug ins and add ons that can make it do almost anything you want it to. On second thought, let's not got to Tumblr...

You don't complain about Tumblr in the GGA thread.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Tumblr, but it's not the place for a "professional" blog. Hence the "silly"...

Wordpress is good and professional looking if you know how to use it, but I recently learned that it's your worst enemy if for any reason you want to post an unusual media file type... or a sound file, for that matter.

Tumblr can look professional, but it is primarily a social networking site and it can be difficult to reach the right audience from there. That being said, it does have benefits in the variety of media that it allows you to publish.

I use Wordpress for professional things and Tumblr for personal, but there are plenty of people who have had success doing the opposite. It's really just a matter of which platform you prefer and what kind of content you're putting out. :D