Week #8 HW #12 - Martha's COIN 72

#12 HW on text Bk 6 Ch 1-7 Blogging/Podcasting is due by Sat 3/3
OPTION A for Bk6/Ch 2:  Check out and compare 4 blogging platforms and tell which YOU would choose for your purposes (COIN 72 Marketing Project Report) and tell why.  500+ words, spell checked.

Reference: 10 Best Blogging Platforms in 2011' by Armando Roggio in Practical E-Commerce:
http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/3083-The-10-Best-Blogging-Platforms-in-2011

My Considerations: I am probably in a different situation from most students of Web Marketing - I have over 20 blogs, and most of them are "private". That is, they are not listed in the blogging indexes, nor are they available for crawling by the robots - at least, not if you can trust the privacy controls of BlogSpot, now that it is the property of Google...

The situation I find myself in is this: I am ready to move all 20+ blogs away from Google (i.e., blogspot.com). To do that I need both a new Web host, and a new blogging platform. Currently I use 2 Web hosts (Yahoo! Small Business, and IX Web Hosting), and I am contemplating to move most my Yahoo! Web site assets to a third (BlueHost.com). SO - I am taking this challenge very seriously. I want to invest my time and learning energies into something that will last for several years. It needs to be a host and a platform that I can grow into. AND, it needs to be one that I can overcome the main limitations I now face.top

What are the limitations?

• I no longer trust the privacy or security of Google. They have aligned themselves with the interests of advertisers, and profits, over the needs and wishes of their clients/customers. And perhaps that is partly my fault - I am not willing to pay for the tools that have been generously offered.
• For a business Web site, it makes sense to use one's own domain for a blog (i.e. www.narfe65.org/blog, vs. a 3rd party's domain (i.e., www.sfnarfe65.blogspot.com). I would be able to control the assets (images, links, postings, privacy), and the brand (NARFE Chapter 65) would be able to maintain a more consistent image.
• High "barriers to entry" for new members - Google requires each "author" of a blog to be a Google member, which means they will collect data on each of us, and maintain it "forever". Many people do not want this kind of hassle (one more username and password to remember!), or this (potential) invasion of privacy.
• No correlation between blog(s) and web(s) - It is hard to initiate an email campaign, for instance, or begin a membership site, with the online tools that I currently use - Yahoo!, IX Web Hosting, and Blogger.
• No separation between personal and public - My academic websites are hosted on the same domain as my family websites. That makes it hard for me to share information with separate audiences. I have two other personal domains that I have not developed, for just this reason. It is time to find a Web host that facilitates the use of multiple domains and multiple users.
• No room to grow - I envision a time when my partner and I can offer Web services to others - by morphing into a business of creating/remodeling/maintaining Web sites for the wannabes. To do this, we'll want to be able to offer separate domains.top

What are the opportunities?

• Membership Website - It would be nice to have a way for members to "join" and get extra benefits, or have "private" conversations with one another.
• Email - It would be nice to have a way to easily set up an email list. We would like to send our members the monthly newsletter via email (and save some money), and also would like to announce the topics and location of our monthly meetings. Occasionally we would also like to alert them about legislative issues, and motivate them to join us in actions.
• Slideshows/videos/podcasts - It would be nice to have more variety in our format. Video interviews and podcast updates are not an unreasonable goal.
• In fact, check out this Excel chart to see what other options I'm considering: Cloud, CMS, Cost, CSS 3, Dreamweaver, Facebook, HTML 5, Mobil, Multiple Domains, Multiple Users, MySQL, Photo, PHP, Podcasting, Video, and Wiki. top

Assessment: I'm not ready to make a final decision, but at the present moment I favor Joomla! Check out my blog postings and see why...

Blog Platform	MailLady Martha's Blog Postings	Evaluation
Joomla!	http://webs2go.blogspot.com/2012/03/joomla.html	The Winner!
WordPress	http://webs2go.blogspot.com/2012/03/wordpress.html	Not enough coding flexibility/control
Drupal	http://webs2go.blogspot.com/2012/03/drupal.html	Too complex?
Posterous Spaces	http://webs2go.blogspot.com/2012/03/posterous.html
Square Space	http://webs2go.blogspot.com/2012/03/squarespace.html
Compendium Blogware	http://webs2go.blogspot.com/2012/03/compendium.html	Hosted Platform; costly; lots of enticing tools
Penzu	http://webs2go.blogspot.com/2012/03/penzu.html	Best for personal blogs
Dreamweaver and Blogs	http://webs2go.blogspot.com/2012/03/dreamweaver-5-and-cms.html	They CAN work together...
Introduction	http://webs2go.blogspot.com/2012/02/week-8-of-foothill-colleges-coin-72-web.html	Week 8 - Introduction

Other Blogging Platforms in the Top 10: (tested, but not evaluated via blog)

• Blogger, Expression Engine, Habari, Movable Type, Text Pattern, Tumblr, TypePad
  
  ALSO Examined: '20 Best Blog Platforms': http://newmovementmedia.com/blog/2012/02/22/20-best-blog-platforms

ANALYSIS SHEET: BloggingPlatformComparisons.xsl (still to be filled out!)

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