I know that there are a LOT of Web Savvy people on “Testosterone/MWA”; so I wanted to bring my question here.
I’ve been pondering starting a Weblog/“Blog” that tracts my nutrition and training, and have been looking around for a nice, interactive way to do it.
I then,(purely by chance!) ran across this GREAT “SiteBLOG”? of Slovenian Figure Competitor Charomosa that seemed to blow many BLOGS that I had run across out of the water:
It automatically updates recent post and comments. It has an area for easily clickable categories. Pictures, colors, graphs; places for comments; you name it. And its easily navigated and clean.
It is the type of thing I’m looking for; BUT, her “SiteBLOG” created a lot of questions!
Okay…to start off the discussion, these are some basic questions that I have:
My understanding is that there are NUMEROUS sites where you can post a BLOG? (In other words, the site is a “host” for your BLOG).
Does Charomosa’s site seem “hosted”; or is this merely a Website, set up in a BLOG format?
Does her site seem like something that she can easily update from her computer; OR do you think that she has to send updated info into a Webmaster? (It seems that the more of the former a person can do, the more effective the BLOG).
What is your overall impression of Charomosa’s site; and how does it compare to other’s you’ve seen? (Again; I haven’t seen many BLOGS set up much better).
Okay…hopefully this is enough to get the discussion started!
So you want something wherein you publicly post your blog and track? I ask because microsoft.com has templates for OneNote that has a blog feature and they also have templates for tracking nutrition and training. These are more for personal review unless you upped them into a hosted website and updated the templates.
My understanding is that there are NUMEROUS sites where you can post a BLOG? (In other words, the site is a “host” for your BLOG).
Does Charomosa’s site seem “hosted”; or is this merely a Website, set up in a BLOG format? [/quote]
The site is through Wordpress, it’s a pro account. Free accounts have a couple dozen themes to pick from that are similar, and there are thousands for pro accounts.
With Wordpress, you just login and post updates, etc. through your site, as you are the admin. Very easy to do.
Uncluttered, ad-free, easy to navigate, simple to read - an effective site.
I’m still pondering that question. I think that eventually I would like to make it public and interactive.
(But that can be a HUGE step that opens one up to an awful lot of scrutiny, losers and weirdos).
So the templates you are talking about have to be uploaded to a hosting site? Can one tell by looking at Charomosa’s site if this is perhaps the way it was done?
( I would love to talk with her, but I don’t speak Slovenian or ANY Slavic language for that matter!)
I’m no IT expert but have used/still using wordpress.com to host my blogs. I’ve found wordpress to be amongst the better blog hosts because the community seems to be a little bit more mature (check out the wordpress.com front page to see typical content) and I find it pretty easy to use.
There are levels of accounts… Pro as opposed to a basic, free account wherein you choose from a range (but limited) selection of templates. I have not used pro but I am guessing the amount of webspace you have and your range of options would increased as you pay for the ‘professional’ service.
The level of privacy is up to you. You can open it to selected readers (they will have to login), allow/not allow comments and stuff like yes/no in regard to making it findable on search engines.
Let us know if you go ahead with it, I always like reading training blogs. I’m personally a fan of Anthony Bourdain’s blog, not so much because of layout or whatever but because I find him damn funny. http://anthony-bourdain-blog.travelchannel.com/
Lots of good advice here already. I’ll try and add some alternatives but I think most of it has been covered.
Wordpress is indeed a great blogging system and there’s nothing to stop you from signing up for a free account to get the feel for it. If/when you want to advance things - just pay for one of their more advanced options to suite what you want and your budget.
There are as you noted plenty of other systems out there. You could use a myspace account even. There are even advantages in the early stages to this as you can restrict access to your blog and only let friends see it while you get it on the go (just like wordpress).
So what else? As OG said you can simply do your own. This isn’t as difficult as it may first seem.
You’d need somewhere to host your blog so get yourself a domain name and some web space (I like brinkster.com as they have lots of options). You can get a free brinkster educational account too so you can try all the following for free.
Then either use a template from MS, design your own site (easier than you’d think but without some graphic design skills can be tricky to make it look good), or use an existing blog script.
Do a google for “free blog scripts” and see what you think.
Find one you like, go through the setup process (usually just upload the files) and off you go. If you go this route, find the script you want to run then find a host that can handle it.
Also try doing a google for “web site templates” - professional templates that look great and you just modify them how you see fit.
I suspect the best way forward though would be to hunt out a blog host that you like the style of (or that can give you the style you want). Especially if you’d rather be lifting than learning about techy stuff.
Wordpress? A host? How do they compare (in general) to others?[/quote]
www.wordpress.com - Very powerful blogging system. They do all the hosting themselves so all you need to worry about is content (i.e. what you are going to post)
As I mentioned in my previous essay - you can get a free account there or a pro account (and a variety of other options). As squiggles said, if you pay for your account you get lots of extras like a huge array of templates to make your site look how you want it. With the free account you are limited.
This is also cool as in time you’ll get fed up of the style of your site and want to change it. Simply select a new template and your entire blog gets updated.
It’s all good! Trust me though - the techy stuff once set up can be forgotten about. Keeping your blog interesting is an ongoing thing that is much harder!
Don’t just limit yourself to your PC - No reason why you can’t update your blog with pictures or text or video direct from your mobile phone too.
It looks like a better option for me will be to go with something where I just worry about content.
It also looks like no one has any problems with “Wordpress”, and you all feel as though its a powerful option?
As I indicated in my original post, I found Charamosa’s site merely by chance, and really liked its layout, look, cleanness and options. So I wasn’t really swayed by any preconceived notions about “Wordpress” on any other system.
So that’s cool!
I also like a couple of additional things that Renton brought up. 1) the myriad of options and 2) the fact that your content can simply be moved to another template if you would like to change the “look” of you site.
Okay; any “negatives” on “Wordpress”? (“Wiki” brought up some security issues; but I REALLY got lost in the “Tech-Speak” when they went into that discussion). Are they security issues that almost all “BLOG host” have?
One thought on “MySpace”. The sites always seem so “cluttered” and hard to navigate. (and the automatic music that you have to click off can be irritating!)
I would imagine that is a function of the content people choose to put on their site?
[quote]Mufasa wrote:
… and you all feel as though its a powerful option?[/quote]
I think I speak for us all when I say yes here.
It’s really not just wordpress that have security issues, every web site potentially has them. What you’ve read about was simply highlighting (fixed) problems with their system. There are so many potential security issues on any site - that’s why the likes of lowfatmat are worth their weight in gold.
[quote]One thought on “MySpace”. The sites always seem so “cluttered” and hard to navigate. (and the automatic music that you have to click off can be irritating!)
I would imagine that is a function of the content people choose to put on their site?[/quote]
Sure is. I’d only really bother with myspace for a “test” blog. Many of the myspace sites out there are thrown together by people who have no idea about web page layout or colour scheme use and just put on dozens of features and crap colours and aweful music because they can. No real thought to how user friendly the site is.
I set up a blog there and it is very easy to edit and update. No ads, unless you want to place your own ads to make some money, and no pop-ups, totally free. Give it a shot. Look forward to seeing your progress.
