In case you missed it, Matt Mullenweg pointed out that PC World Magazine has highlighted WordPress in “New Tools Help Take Your Blog to the Next Level” with a very favorable review:
Top-flight bloggers are increasingly moving to WordPress, Automattic Productions’ no-cost, open-source blogging software. Unlike the basic blogging tools found in Blogger, Microsoft’s Windows Live Spaces, and Yahoo 360, WordPress offers tons of plug-ins and widgets for customizing your blog. One of my favorite WordPress features is its spam filter, which weeds out spam posted as comments. You can also make your blog private, allowing only the people you specify to read and comment on your postings.
But WordPress gives you more than a simple chronological Weblog: The program’s pages feature makes it a full-blown content-management system supporting complex Web sites. For example, WordPress templates let you keep your bio, contact info, or other static content easy for your blog visitors to access.
The article goes on to reassure readers that if the idea of all those WordPress Plugins, WordPress Themes, and WordPress Widgets are intimidating, then you can give WordPress.com a try, getting the power of WordPress without all the fuss and muss.
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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, member of the 9Rules Network
Lorelle on WordPress 
13 Comments
I read the mentioned article a while before I read this. I couldn’t agree more. The problem with blogger and live spaces, it’s too inflexible. But sadly it’s been a while since I’ve seen any good new themes, and it seems to me like wordpress is reaching critical mass.
I have to agree with Anirudh. But, i think this is just a a brief lull.. not a total flatline in WordPress’ progress.
I’ve even tried the new blogger beta, and it’s still not even remotely close to WordPress.
Problem is, WordPress is not authored by Automattic Productions. It’s a product of the open source community, leveraged by Automattic Productions.
I’ve been using WordPress for our VibeTalk blog for about a year now, and have been quite pleased. Of course I’ve had the typical ups and downs you get in any sophistocated software product, but the open-source, community-driven aspect of WP is what sets it apart.
There’s no way it would be as great a product without extending the development borders this way.
As an aside, I’d been meaning to research the competition and finally got around to my own review of 10 different products/services (http://www.vibetechnology.com/vt/2006/11/22/10-ways-to-jumpstart-business-by-blogging/, if you’re interested). I was surprised to find that services like Yahoo 360 and Live Spaces really aren’t comparible – they are MySpace-like offerings where blogging is only a small part. Apples and oranges, as far as I’m concerned.
Frankly, I don’t want another advertising-riddled MySpace. If you want community synergy, try WordPress.com.
TypePad/Movable Type appear to be healthy alternatives too (although I wouldn’t switch after reading about the complexity of managing MT).
I thought blogger was more flexible than WP (esp. since editing CSS is free)?? I’ve used only Live spaces and WP and found Live Spaces easier to use but WP to be more customizable.
I am not any top-flight blogger (unless the criteria is Technorati rank and number of incoming links), but I am still making a living as a professional blogger. And I use WP. I’ve tried most well-known systems, but I’ve found WP to be the best choice for me. I could write a lot about why, but I save that for people who are not already convinced. 😉
(But if you want to use me for marketing, let me know. I’d be happy to give that back.)
I’ve used WP for 2 public and a half-dozen private blogs now, and in my opinion it is absolutely THE benchmark for what a blogging CMS should be. The flexibility is amazing. My only criticism at all is I feel generating and editing themes is overly complex. That said, considering the plethora of available themes to download, it’s probably a wash.
Which one is the most popular with commercial freeloaders; and why?
I’m a WordPress blogger myself, but it seems to me that the real competitor is Six Apart/Typepad. I wonder why that wasn’t in the review?
Amen. WordPress is a Lily among thorns.
I’m an online author and after many years of HTML have now realized the strengths of using a content management system.
I started on Blogger to get the feel of what blogging was about but then realized that WordPress offered all the things I needed as I found I need them.
I use the ‘page’ facility for the articles, short stories or chapters of the free online novels and the ‘post’ system for comments and discussion about the stories or articles.
I’m still in the process of moving my online stories over to WordPress and am finding new aspects that are useful all the time.
Kudos big time to all who have produced this wonderful software and it’s plugins.
Whoever posted that comment as “sk”, you’re getting WordPress.com and WordPress.org completely confused. And who says Live Spaces is easier to use? Some of those spaces are little better than MySpace and everything gets mangled.
Jeremy, I am not confused. I guess I should have made it clear that I was talking about wordpress.com (and the article mentions it too).
Regarding Live Spaces, you’re confusing “simpler” with “better”.
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