Poll: Which Blogging Platform Do You Use?
Commanding Influence: Build A Strong Online Presence
In the most recent poll here at Site Sketch 101, the results were overwhelming. By far WordPress is the most popular blogging platform among the readers here who participated in the poll…and rightly so.
I use WordPress to power this blog. I’ve used two other platforms before coming to WordPress and I’m personally convinced that it is the absolute best way to create and maintain a blog.
WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.
~ Quote taken from WordPress.org
Check it this chart that shows off the results of the poll. Typepad isn’t doing so well. Blogger has a few followers and Joomla made its way onto the charts. As you can see though, WordPress is by far the favorite.
Group Discussion
So how did you vote? Which blogging platform is the best for you and why? Which ones have you used in the past and what did you like or dislike about them? What advice would you give to other bloggers who might be looking for a management system to power their blogs?
Eric B. said:
I picked WordPress, of course because that’s what I use. I also don’t think I’ve seen a site using Joomla as a blogging platform.
It would be interesting to know how many of those who voted for WordPress use WordPress.org, or WordPress.com, or another WordPress MU based site.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Eric B. –> Joomla has an extension called MyBlog that some Joomla users have started using to add blogging functionality to their websites. It’s made by a company called Azrul and supposedly it’s decent.
Typhoon said:
I have heard that Joomla is not that too good as it is having many problem..I see it only used by some pirated stuff sharing sites
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Typhoon –> Ha ha. I’ve seen Joomla deployed in some amazing websites and I’ve used it for some sites myself. They are rated as one of the top CMS’s in the world and they have thousands of available extensions and addons. Even the core team is constantly improving the security and the built in features. I honestly don’t have much negative to say about Joomla based on my personal experiences with it and I’ve built about 6 or 7 websites using it.
Ben said:
I use Injader, which is my own CMS. Actually, I just sent you an email about this, but I’ll post the highlights here
In brief, I tried WordPress and quickly tired of how many plugins you have to install to build a half-decent site. You might not notice it if you have one blog, but you really notice it if you set up a few blogs. With Injader, I’ve aimed to provide key features on the core – so there is no reliance on plugins for some of the most useful features. A lot of stuff is built right into the core.
Also, while WordPress is fine for blogs, it’s not quite so good for websites (once again, not without a stack of plugins!). I have a few sites that are not blog-focused, so Injader is generally a better option.
That said – the biggest drawback with a non-WP platform is that so many people seem convinced that WP is perfect, few will even consider any alternatives. Regardless of whether I’m using my own system or someone else’s, no system is perfect for every possible site. Excessive use of plugins can cause big problems when one of them goes wrong (activating/deactivating one by one is not a fun process). I do still use WP for a few sites, but not all of them.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Ben –> I’m personally a huge fan of the plugin based CMS. Of course I understand that WordPress is not ideal for regular websites, but when it comes to blogging, I’ve been highly impressed. In my opinion the plugins and especially how many are available allow people to customize the CMS to meet their specific needs. I don’t really want a CMS that is just a one-size-fits-all system. I want customization because I know that I don’t want the same thing that other people want.
Eric B. said:
I took a look at Injader and it seems pretty good. I just wrote a very simple CMS in PHP just to learn a bit about how they work. Right now I’m working on expanding on it using the CodeIgniter framework in my spare time.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Eric B. –> I feel so lazy because I’m don’t know php yet. I know a lot of the basics and I edit it all the time but I don’t yet know it enough to write my own code. I suppose that I will get the some day.
Eric B. said:
I wrote a series of blog posts showing the steps I used to put together a simple CMS. If you have some time, you can read it at http://fwebde.com/web-design/creating-a-php-cms-part-1/
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Eric B. –> I just checked out that first article and it seems pretty intense. I’m going to have to wait until I’ve got some serious time to sit down and work on it. Your tutorials look like they break it down to make it easy enough. I just need to find some time to work on it. Thanks for the good resource.
Ben said:
Thanks Eric for checking out Injader!
Stefan said:
Not really surprised to WordPress with such a huge percent, but I didn’t think Joomla where so popular when it comes to blogs. Just though Joomla where popular when building a traditional website.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Stefan –> That’s what I used to think. I’ve actually built a blog into a webpage using Joomla before and it came out all right. They’ve been working in the Joomla community to develop more and more plugins and modules to make it a better blogging system. I still don’t think it compares to WordPress but if you are trying to build a full-fledged website then it certainly offers some nice features.
Evan Kline said:
I use WordPress for my blog and personal site, and Joomla and Drupal for some other sites I have. WordPress is great due to the plugins – i.e. it is not a “one size fits all” platform. It is also easy, which is why I picked it for my blog. The idea that it can be updated with one click now is great.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Evan Kline –> I’ve not used Drupal so I’m not really familiar with that system. Since you’ve used both Joomla and Drupal which one would you say is better?
Typhoon said:
Also, I am surprised to see no votes for Typepad. Is it too bad that no one is using it.. who visited SiteSketch.
Arisu said:
Wordpress definitely is for me, is very easy to use and you can get a lot of support in forums and google groups. And the plugins make it very flexible.
My only complain is that I can´t find a decent plugin for newsletters and that I can´t see the comments on sitesketch101 if using Firefox for Mac -I just found out this weekend-
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Arisu –> That’s a good point. The WordPress community is so developed that almost any issue you might have can be solved by someone.
I don’t have a Mac so I really have no way of seeing what issues it’s creating. When I get near a mac, I’ll have to check it out and try to troubleshoot it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
Arisu said:
Yep, no problem
I´m always on a Mac, both at work and home, but most of the time I use Safari so I didn´t realize there was a problem with Firefox till this weekend 
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Arisu –> Yeah. I don’t know anyone with a mac but I’ll go to the library or something to figure out a way to be able to see the issue so that I can try to work out a solution. I’m sure if you are seeing the issue then many others probably are also.
Typhoon said:
I also voted for wordpress ion that poll.
When I started my first blog, it was using Google’s Blogger platform but slowly by slowly as my blog grew, few of my friends suggested to take some action and shift to wordpress platform for better features and controls.
I was first bit scared when I came to know that wordpress is related to php stuffs and would be only for those who have good php skills. I was knowing nothing about it but when I shifted; the tutorials and easy to use plugin available for wordpress made it possible for me to use wordpress properly and Now I am Loving It!
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Typhoon –> PHP can be intimidating but the amazing thing about WordPress is that others build the plugins and all you have to do is click a few buttons. You don’t actually have to write any code. Like you, I started out on Blogger’s blogspot. After a while I’ve learned that its capabilities don’t compare to WordPress.
Walter said:
Wordpress is the best. It’s easy to use, lots of available free plugins and has powerful features. What more can I ask.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Walter –> I completely agree. I’m with you as a happy WordPress user myself!
Hua Chen said:
The blog platform I am using is programmed by myself.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Hua Chen –> Several people have mentioned that they designed their own platform. I think that’s pretty extraordinary and it’s probably beyond most people’s means. I have a successful blog here and there is no way at my current knowledge of PHP that I could accomplish that task so congratulations. You’ve really got some great skills to be able to pull that off.
Satkrit said:
I voted for wordpress of course!
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Satkrit –> Aweseme…me too…of course!
Reza Winandar said:
I’m following many wordpress blogs but I’m using Blogspot because it’s easy and simple.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Reza Winandar –> It started on Blogspot and it really is easy and simple, but when you get into trying to design more advanced sites you will find that it’s very difficult because of the limitations that blogspot has. You either have to do what they have built into it or you can use something. The options for plugins are extremely limited. That’s why I ended up moving away from them.
Bruce Teague said:
I use Joomla for my blog. I agree that WordPress is the best out their for pure blogging, but I thought maybe someday I would expand my blog and wanted to have that flexibility. I like Joomla as a blogging platform, although it lacks some things WordPress does. People are trying to make Joomla more blog friendly all the time. I also believe people are trying to make WordPress more flexible all the time. Someday they’ll probably meet in the middle or there abouts.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Bruce Teague –> They really are making it more blog friendly all the time. You are right about that. But they are going to have to continue their efforts if they intend to continue competing with the greater blogging community.
I actually saw an extension in the Joomla Extensions Directory that supposedly allows you to combine WordPress into Joomla. Now there is something to think about!
Jacob Yap said:
I’m using WordPress, and I think it is very user-friendly platform. And there is a huge WordPress support community.
gautam hans said:
I agree that wordpress has the maximum power but i prefer blogger because it is easy and i know how to use it and plus my blog also deals with it.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
gautam hans –> I understand that. It’s better to go with what you know than to use something else that may be better but is unfamiliar to you. Also, if your blog is about blogger then you might as well stick with them!
Mukund said:
It is very clear that many professional sites run on Word press. Moreover, I know Word press offers excellent templates but, I prefer blogger because my blog is related to that niche, that is, blogger hacks for related posts, recent posts, etc…
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Mukund –> If you have a blog about that particular management system then you should definitely stick with it. There’s no use in switching if you’ve already got something great going.
Typhoon said:
Ya, I agree..If you are taking blogger platform as your niche topic then you should use that platform only same is in the case if you are talking on wordpress.
It would look really strange if you are talking about only and only about blogger platfrom but using a wordpress blog.
If you see, one of the popular blogger fan; Amanda is also using blogger platform on his blog bloggerbuster.com which really shows his love towards it.
Mukund said:
Yes! I love blogger and definitely, that is the main reason even I chose blogger rather than wordpress.
Ruchi said:
Wordpress is best one. I don’t think we need to compare it with others. It’s user friendly and with lots of plugins
Typhoon said:
I would say WordPress can only be compared with Google’s Blogger platform..But at the end WordPress will win the comparison with many plus points.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Typhoon –> I agree. I think WordPress will definitely win.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Ruchi –> I love WordPress. This site is actually the first one that I’ve ever done on WordPress. I’ve always used Blogger, Joomla or others. I love WordPress though. It’s definitely my favorite.
Ron Boracay said:
You hit it. Plugins and the customization interface is what separate wordpress with other blogging platform.
I wonder if blogger.com, as a google owned blogging platform, will be launching a massive move to compete with wordpress.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Ron Boracay –> I’ve wondered that for years about several of their products but sometimes they just fail to really set themselves apart. Generally speaking, I love their products but it seems like they put out a product and then they take forever to really update it and make it better.
Ron Boracay said:
As of now, I am using blogger (blogspot)platform. Because its free and easy to manage.
But I am really looking forward to use the best ever platform; WordPress
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Ron Boracay –> I think that if and when you switch you will be very happy. I used to use blogspot and I switched to WordPress and I love it. There are so many more great options.
Mukund said:
I heard the same statement from many bloggers, including my friends. They said wordpress is the best. I do accept that, but my blog is related to tips on blogger. So, what do I do about that? Shift to a own domain? Right?
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Mukund –> Yeah. There’s a lot of great opportunities for you when you get on your own domain.
Ron Boracay said:
You mean, you blog about blogspot tips and tricks?
Then, you must stick and use blogger or blogspot blog.
I think it is not appropriate to give tips about blogger and blogspot then your blog is hosted at wordpress.
It will harm your authority.
ZXT said:
Yeah I think Ron is right, stick with Blogger if your blog is about tips and tricks on Blogger.
Mukund said:
Yeah!! That is why I am still with blogger and I try to implement the wordpress features in blogger. I did a lot of work with my coding and I am pretty happy with my blog and its design!!!
ZXT said:
Last month a friend trying to convince me to use Joomla but seeing him work on his blog running on Joomla I was kinda overwhelm and I don’t think its easy to learn. On the other hand, you can built a blog in WordPress in 10 minutes.
Ron Boracay said:
I think Joomla is much more complicated than the other blogging platform. right?
Mukund said:
Yes!! You are right! Even I heard the same from one of my fellow blogger!!
akira07 said:
Joomla is Content Management Service (CMS) Platform, right? There is a lot of my local people use it for making online shop.
But i think why learning the hard one when there is the easiest one? well, i’m not deeply learning about joomla feature
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
ZXT –> Joomla is very complicated but if you are creating a traditional style site then it is the way to go because it has tons of amazing options.
Pinaybackpacker said:
I was considering Joomla before because I was planning to have a group blog but the plan didn’t pan out. So, I’m glad I ended up using WordPress (self-hosted).
I also have 2 Blogspot and a WordPress.com blogs but I use these mostly to experiment or test my ideas.
For someone who doesn’t know too much about webdesign, such as HTML and CSS and javascript blogging on Blogspot can be a little overwhelmeing. It’s easier to customize WordPress because you deal with plugins and one template at a time. That’s just my humble opinion.
ZXT said:
I thought Blogspot is easy too but not too many themes and you have to look for your themes outside of blogspot which sometimes isn’t fully compatible.
Maybe you are referring to Joomla?
Ron Boracay said:
I think Pinaybackpacker is referring to the customization, hard coding and scripting being done on blogspot blogs. But adding widgets or other tool on blogspot is easy as pie.
Arisu said:
ZXT>>
Blogspot is very easy if you don´t want custom themes, plugins, etc.
But a little customization can give you a hard time at blogspot, specially if you don´t know anything about web design/coding.
akira07 said:
Ok this is mine :
Blogger Platform : Blogspot
Why i use it ; commonly used since a long time, search engine friendly especially for google, google adsense friendly, no need to pay for own domain just to monetize it, easy to use
Why not using other platform : actually i’m planning to use WP but i’m kind of person who lazy to adapt new environment
Blogger Templates said:
it’s depending on what do you want from your blog, for highly customized blogs that looks like websites, go for wordpress, and for blogging, definitely go for blogger.
Nicholas Z. Cardot said:
Blogger Templates –> I have to disagree. Blogger just simply doesn’t compare. I’ve used it for years and have just recently come to WordPress and it’s like switching to a brand new BMW. It’s just so much nice, smoother and has so many more features.
Mukund said:
Exactly! I feel very odd when people over here talk about plugins and other stuff. It is sad part on blogger that it is not offering a lot of features as WordPress does! We need to accept that! Though there are hacks that can be implemented in blogger, still wordpress is wordpress.
Matthew Elsom said:
Just found this string, and thought I should have my two cents…
Joomla is my choice I have used it for a few years now and I find it the easiest to adapt in terms of looks and when it comes down to editing the core php and html. Im sure wordpress has it’s place when it comes to blogging otherwise it wouldn’t be so popular – but when it comes to incorporating a blog and a more traditional site together I would have to say joomla can’t be beat…
Nicholas Cardot said:
Matthew Elsom » I’ve used Joomla a lot also and I agree that it is a very powerful platform. I actually have several websites right now that are powered by Joomla. Thanks for the feedback on that.