Macs come preloaded with some very powerful software. Sadly, a great blogging client isn’t on the list. Sure, you can technically blog with Apple’s iWeb, but you have to have iDisk space to do it efficiently (formerly available via .Mac, now MobileMe). Many bloggers don’t want to be shackled to the Mac system like that.

So what can a budding blogger do for a blog solution if they own a Mac? Luckily, there are many solutions out there that won’t cost you a nickel to try, though a handful of them may require you to purchase your own domain name and server space on a web host. First, choose your blogging platform:

WordPress

WordPress is one of the most popular blogging solutions out there, and it is for good reason. Whether you choose the hosted solution at WordPress.com or download the software from WordPress.org to put on your own server, it is a simple solution to your blogging needs. It is also fully customizable with a wide variety of plugins and themes, meaning your blog will look personal and do what you want with ease.

Blogger

This is an old stand-by in the free blogging world. Owned by Google, this is the platform to choose for the casual blogger who may also want integrated AdSense ads and other ready to set up features. It is harder to customize your theme in blogger, but like WordPress its popularity means that there are plenty of ready made themes out there to choose from.

LiveJournal

This platform has been around longer than either WordPress or Blogger. It gets a bad rap for being the least attractive of the three, but it has better social solutions than either of the previous two. Blogger allows you to have a network of fellow bloggers, but LiveJournal takes it to the next level with a full featured set of friend perks and ways to connect with other LiveJournal users. If community is what you seek, LiveJournal may be the solution for you in spite of its appearance.

MovableType

MovableType is made by a company called SixApart, the people who brought us the much maligned Friendster, and it is not for the faint of heart. Pricey and difficult to customize, this blogging platform has a steep learning curve. If you are a blogging newbie (and if this article is helping you, then you are) you may want to skip Movable Type for now. Luckily, if you find that you have a hugely successful blog down the road it isn’t hard to switch.

TypePad

Somewhere between MovableType and WordPress in complexity, this platform has many loyal users. It gets points for being reliable, however, much like LiveJournal, design for a TypePad blog is more difficult than not. If you are willing to do a fair amount of fussing with your platform’s look and feel, this may be a solution for people seeking stability and no frills function.

Joomla

Joomla is a CMS, or content management solution. It also offers a blog feature. It is complex to use and hard to design for, but if you know you want a store, a forum or any other integrated content with your blog you need to go with a CMS. You can read more about Joomla at this link.

Drupal

Another complex solution with extensive functionality beyond a blog, you can find out more about Drupal here.

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Once you have chosen a platform that fits your knowledge level, time and goals for the blog, it’s time to chose how to use it. All of the solutions above offer a browser based user interface. The easiest two to use via the browser are Blogger and WordPress, both offering simple, straight forward dashboards for writing posts and adding images and other features.

What if you are a person who likes to use their computer instead of the web to handle tasks? If that describes you then you need a desktop blogging client. There are several out there for the Mac besides iWeb, including MacJournal, Blog.Mac, and others, none of which are very low cost. My personal favorite, and one that is free to try and reasonable to buy, is Ecto (I use Ecto write all of my posts for Blorge).

Ecto is made by the folks at InfiniteSushi, the same company who brought us Endo and Flickr1000. A simple download and installation and you’ll be setting up Ecto to work with whichever blog platform you chose in no time. You can read about the latest version of Ecto at this post. One you get your platform and your client up and running you will want to maximize your blogging experience for your Mac. Our next article will tell you how to use programs like QuickSilver and TextExpander to do just that.

Related:

Tips and Tricks 3: Quicksilver makes the world go ‘round

How to be a better blogger using TextExpander

Win an unlocked iPhone from Hictu

How to get things done in iWork

Using Login Items On Your Mac

Entry was posted on Saturday, August 30th, 2008 at 2:41 am under Mac software, Tips.  Print This Post

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