There are three main types of blog platforms: 1) Hosted blogs like WordPress.com provide basic blogging needs easily but have restrictions and use subdomains. 2) Remote blogs like Blogger.com allow publishing content to an existing site but have limited functionality. 3) Independent blogs offer the most flexibility but require installing software, technical skills, and paying for hosting and a domain name. A hosted blog is recommended for beginners due to its free and easy setup.

1. Lesson 3: Blog Plaforms

2. There are 3 basic platforms to launch a blog. Each one has their own advantages and dis-advantages and cater to different needs of a blogger.

3. Type 1: Hosted Blogs A hosted blog provides all the basic needs of a blogger and is very easy to get or sign up to. They provide the web address (URL) and hosting. Multiply, LiveJournal, WordPress.com are hosted blogs. They normally give you a sub-domain as an address (e.g. myname .multiply.com, blogtitle .wordpress.com)

4. Type 1: Hosted Blogs Most hosted blogs are typically free to use but have certain restrictions on design, layout and other features or functionalities. Majority of new and existing blogs are on hosted blog services.

5. Type 2: Remote Blogs Remote blogs act as a CMS or content management system to an existing site. It was popular among webmasters in the early 2000. Blogger.com is the only one providing this service. Content are published to another external site using Blogger.com as the content editor.

6. Type 2: Remote Blogs Remote blogs are useful if you have an existing site but do not have a CMS for the blog section. It’s fast, easy to use and free but has become un-popular over the years because of the very limited functionality. Note: Blogger.com can also be classified as a hosted blog when you use the BlogSpot.com address.

7. Type 3: Independent Blogs Independent or stand-along blogs offer an application that is downloaded and installed on a web host. It may require you to install and set up the platform from scratch. You may need to learn some basic knowledge about FTP and databases in order to do this. Most hosted or remote blogs upgrade to an independent blog later on.

8. Type 3: Independent Blogs Independent blogs offer the most flexibility and functionality as well as personalization. That means you can get your own domain (e.g. www.abeolandres.com ) and use your own design and layout. It is not free though and you may need to pay a monthly fee for your web host and annual renewal fee of your own domain.

9. Which blog platform is for you? If you are just starting out, a hosted blog is recommended since it’s free and signing up for one is fast. In our exercise, we will use WordPress.com