WoW blogging step 1: Find a blog host
by Natalie Mootz 
Jul 14th 2008 at 7:00PM
Last week I opened up a big can o' worms by giving you a mini-guide to starting your own WoW blog. I've conceded to popular demand and decided to give you more detail on what's involved with each step. Today I'm going to talk about what's involved in finding a place to host your blog.
There are about a bajillion places to start your blogging life. Some are easier; some are more customizable. Usually the more customizable they are, the more complex they are to set up and use, and sometimes they are also more expensive. Let's call these two options (1) the Easy Way and (2) the Fancy Way. After the break, I've listed five things to consider when choosing which of these ways you want to go:
- Do you want to hit the ground running and start publishing 15 minutes from now?
- Are you technically-savvy? (e.g., Do you know HTML?)
- Are you a perfectionist?
- Is design/look/feel critical to you?
- Do you have disposable income to spend on hosting?
Let's talk about some of the Easy Way options first. As I've mentioned, Blogger and Wordpress are probably the most popular ways to go. I started out using Blogger years ago but moved to Wordpress within the last year and would recommend either of them. Others that are a little less well known but just as easy to use are Mindsay, Blog.com, Weebly, Xanga, and LiveJournal. If you're the type that needs a comprehensive list of free blog hosts, go to Mashable and click your heart out. Some people in the comments on my last post recommended Tumblr, but in my opinion it's a little too simplistic for starting a WoW blog. Still, if you like it, knock yourself out.
Special considerations for going the Fancy Way
Let me reiterate: I suggest going the Easy Way first, just to see if you even like the idea of blogging. You can always upgrade later. However, if you're stubborn (like I am sometimes), make sure you surf the web and ask your friends for advice on taking this path since it's too complicated to cover here. Popular hosts are TypePad or SquareSpace who will both do the web hosting for you. Wordpress.org is the self-hosted version of Wordpress and offers free software but you will still need to find a web host.
Step 2: Determine your blogging goals
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kolo Jul 14th 2008 7:15PM
Thanks for inspiring me to start my own blog.
Nothing special, but hopefully will be a nice guide for casual players eventually
http://www.warcrafttrade.blogspot.com/
jatheak Jul 14th 2008 10:38PM
Kolo's blog is really good, I advise everyone to read it, he knows his stuff. I too just started a blo for Port Warriors and am currently starting a guide for anyone wanting to become a Prot Warrior, Im hoping it will be finished by the weekend.
http://70taurenwarrior.blogspot.com/
I hope that people get a good read out of it if they are considering rerolling Prot warrior.
Genius Jones Jul 15th 2008 1:31AM
http://tumblr.com/
I keep my blog, http://spacewater.us/, there, and though it's not a gaming blog, I think it's the easiest one to start blogging on without worrying about what it looks like or how to use it.
Dinnerbone Jul 15th 2008 4:39AM
My blog is both a mix of fancy way and simplistic way, fancy in design but simplistic to use... Well, it takes some getting used to.
http://www.dinnerbone.com
shkss Jul 15th 2008 5:33AM
since this thread is continuing from last time, here's my blog. For paladins!
http://paladinner.blogspot.com
Cynra Jul 15th 2008 4:56PM
I must have missed out on the first article that prompted this series. Shame -- you have some good information here!
I've been blogging on and off again for years now and currently maintain my own World of Warcraft-themed blog over at http://www.airee.net/. It's mostly an exercise in self-derision and rambling, but it amuses me and it's freed both my guild's and raids' websites from dealing with my random posts on various things that I find interesting.
Couple of things to consider before taking the plunge. Knowing why you want a blog usually makes things easier in the future. If you're blogging for fame or to make a career of it, you might find it harder to continue a few months down the road than if you do it for actual enjoyment. Also, since most blogs will focus on a limited scope (World of Warcraft) you don't have to worry to much about constraining yourself to a specific topic. Just don't limit yourself too much; a lot of people make a blog about a specific class or character and then end up regretting the site's name down the road when they have a new main or expand to include other topics within the World of Warcraft universe.
Going with a free hosted server with the CMS already installed is the way initially to go unless you have some experience with managing a website in the past. It can be a bit overwhelming at first and just making sure that you write somewhat frequently can be enough of a hassle.
Also, Wordpress 2.6 was released today so all of you self-hosted people should take the opportunity to update promptly!
video_game_master91 Jul 15th 2008 8:46AM
http://hotsfordots.blogspot.com/
video_game_master91 Jul 15th 2008 8:48AM
My blog for Druids and Warlocks:
http://hotsfordots.blogspot.com/
Soltek Jul 15th 2008 9:35AM
It must be a slow day in the news or you just got lazy with this post because it seems it was written in maybe 15 minutes. Any person savvy enough to play WoW is most likely able to do a Google search and find somewhere to host a blog.
It would have been nice to see some type of review/recommendation beyond saying that you've used one or the other. Also, you make a large distinction between the "Easy way" and the "Fancy way" and then almost completely ignore the fancy way by giving two popular hosts and telling the reader to go find information for them selves.
The whole post could be summed up as: Here are a few places you could use to host your blog. Go check them out for your self.
The subject deserves a paragraph, maybe two, in a larger post about creating a WoW blog. It certainly doesn't warrant it own post. I hope that in the future we can keep the posts to something a bit more knowledgeable, and give the ready at least some credit to their intelligence.
Soltek Jul 15th 2008 9:42AM
Here I go and make a small rant about intelligence of the reader and in my haste I misspell it.
That last bit should have read
"I hope that in the future we can keep the posts to something a bit more knowledgeable, and give the *reader* at least some credit to their intelligence."
JDM Jul 15th 2008 10:30AM
I should point out something - Not all blog sites support user-inserted JavaScript, so if having 'fancy' WoWHead tooltips is important to you, you might want to be cautious of which option you choose (referring to blogging services, not DIY blog software). As an example, LiveJournal will not let you use JavaScript on your blog page. Blogger will. For some people who enjoy the tooltips, it can be a decision-making feature.
Boydboyd Jul 15th 2008 11:10AM
Luckily I chose Blogger to host my blog.
http://boydofshadowsong.blogspot.com
I'm totally newb to blogging though, so it may be crappy to some. And hell, I didn't even choose a topic, unless you consider me blogging about the daily exploits of my life in WoW an interesting read.
T-Sonn Jul 15th 2008 12:20PM
I'm on Blogger as well - lots of nifty little addons and functionality. The nitpicky things I'm less than happy about? Not having the ability to show only post snippets, with a link below for the full post (like WoWInsider uses), for one.
Also, I'd like to have posts run down the middle, with left AND right sidebars. Blogger layouts appear to have only a right sidebar. It'd be nice to have more widgets near the top of the page.
http://meltedfaces.blogspot.com
Mythgard Jul 15th 2008 2:07PM
Why settle for limited blog functionality? check out this world of warcraft blog create on www.uber.com
http://pillage.uber.com/home
Not only do u get to control your blog and stylize it to your hearts content, it's free, and it doesn't require u have any HTML. I do recommend checking it out.
http://www.uber.com
Dave Jul 15th 2008 2:52PM
I guess I'll shill too...
http://www.stupidwowblog.com
Flameshock Jul 15th 2008 2:55PM
I've been toying with the idea of making a WoW blog before and I did - although the original plan is to blend it in a full blog - just a few days before the mini-guide went up.
This guide is an awesome idea for people who want to do the same. And it's still nice to read all this even when you already was ahead of it. It makes you take back a few steps and make sure you made the right decisions.
Thanks Natalie!
http://flameshock.org
Leafshine Jul 17th 2008 6:40AM
I've been very happy with Typepad (http://www.typepad.com) for my blog. It's a nice cross between a free hosted service and a paid hosted service. You pay, sure, but you get complete control over your blog's look and feel, and can happily add whatever CSS changes or javascript widgets you want. And they handle the whole "keeping the software up-to-date" thing. :-)
http://www.leafshine.net
mikel Jul 21st 2008 6:24PM
this articles is very beautiful.
http://egyptian12.blogspot.com/
http://moviewow.blogspot.com/
http://cartoonwow.blogspot.com/
http://usa-en.blogspot.com/
http://car-en.blogspot.com/
http://islamic21.blogspot.com/
http://car-en.blogspot.com/