SiliconBeat has an article about the new WordPress.com which sounds like a great alternative to the likes of BlogSpot and TypePad:
Here is why it is significant. It is still being offered for free. The original open source version, WordPress, was already popular, but some users didn't like that you had to find a hosting service in order to use it. The WordPress.com version can be hosted at WordPress, or on your own corporate server -- you choose. So companies can just give users their own blogs. You can custom-make it easily, which is its real strength (you can't change the underlying core code, though, which will remain embedded in WordPress.org, where open source code will continue to be developed over there). Also, Mullenweg wants to turn WordPress into a real company, so that users have a place to go -- an entity to hold accountable...more...It looks to be a formidable competitor to the leading blogging services Blogger (from Google) and Typepad, offered by Six Apart (which has done well in the corporate market too). Interestingly, even this WordPress version will remain free, regardless of the number of blogs someone uses or the support, so it looks to undercut Typepad. It is unclear what Mullenweg's long-term business model is. Says Mullenweg: "Everything currently available (including non-metered bandwidth) will be free as long as we're around. If we add something high cost (like video hosting) we may make that available for an a la carte fee, but if that happens it won't be for at least another 6 months."
Mullenweg's brief demo of the new version impressed us. The original WordPress, the product of developers, was somewhat spartan, and some users disliked the colors. The new version has new colors. More importantly is the ability to change things on the fly. You can drag and drop things like category boxes, timestamps and so on, from one side of your blog template to the other. (Or if you have an ad column from Google's AdSense at the bottom of the page, where no one can see it, you can now simply drag it up to the top of the page.) And within the category box, you can shift category headlines, and so on.
It offers the Microsoft Word-style WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface, so that non-techies can easily edit posts. It also offers an easier way to tag posts on the fly. If you're not sure what you should tag a post, a category box pops up, showing you the global list of tags. WordPress.com offers you your own domain name.
The service is invitation only right now but you can go to WordPress.com to get an invitation. Also, Matt has more details about the new service on his blog.
Hi Mike,
Good read. I'm curious,what do you use for creating your site? I read the link you gave me yesterday for Dreamhost.I didn't really understand there pricing though,maybe it was just too late,I don't know.What did you go with,the 12 month/without setup fee?Also I want to keep my current readers,what's the best way to transition from blogspot?Should I call Dreamhost and they can set me up with everything?Wordpress sounds great,but am I limited with how I can make the site look?You should write a post about transitioning blogs for dummies. :-)
I use Movable Type. Yes, I went with the 12-month, no-setup fee plan with DreamHost. It should be real cheap with that coupon code -- hell, it's cheap even without it. :-)
As for moving, most people just put a note on their old blog telling people the new URL. Most blogging software have import/export functionality so it's not too tough to move. Google searches will turn up plenty of how-to guides. There's some stuff on my sites (quicklinks especially) on that kind of stuff but it's mostly for Movable Type.
Thanks Mike, appreciate the info:-)
Hi guys, Just to contribute my 2c. I use WordPress (on my own domain and shared hosting) and it's brilliant. It's really fun to use and it has dozens of cool plugins/add-ons developed by a huge community of followers. I used MT, GreyMatter, pMachine and Blogspot in the past and WP is by far my preferred option.
Btw, pMachine is not bad but the free version is a spammer's paradise (read Texas poker...)
Give WP a try txtrader, I think you'll like it.
Eyal
Thanks Eyal, I'll have to try it especially now that there offering hosting.