All you open-source fans out there will be thrilled to see that I’ve made the move from not-quite-free MovableType to totally-open-source WordPress. WordPress is fast eclipsing MovableType as the blogging tool of choice among bloggers in the know.
Converting all my MovableType entries was pretty straightforward, and documented very well. I was also able to redirect all my old article links, and I’m pretty sure I got the RSS feed to follow as well, so if you’re reading this via RSS, all is well.
As the next few weeks progress, I’ll be continuing to tweak the design and features of the site to show off some of the power of WordPress.
I’m going to be setting up a blog for an NGO and I’ve been looking at different
blogging systems. MT has a FREE non-supported version for not for profits (I was glad
to see they included this as a category in their pricing chart) but I’m not so sure.
I looked at Word Press and I think it looks like it could be the best solution. I’ve
only used Typepad but I’m so so about coding. Are you liking WP?
What do you like about it best other than it being open source?
One thing that occurs to me about bringing blogging into an NGO environment is the
continually shifting volunteer makeup of many organizations. The blog has to be
easy to maintain and use so that people can be taught quickly. Everybody, regardless of
their tech skills should be able to use it. I thought about blogging but it doesnt
allow categories – an essential tool for campaigns.
Correction: “I thought about blogger but it doesn’t allow categories”
Well, I’ve only had WordPress running for about 12 hours now.
But I did experiment with for a few weeks before migrating.
I think Typepad is an excellent option for people/orgs that have can’t or don’t want to “tinker” with their blogging software and are willing to pay $5-10/month. TypePad is clearly the leading hosted solution out there right now.
I and my colleagues at ONE/Northwest tend to be more of the do-it-yourself types, but we often don’t recommend that approach to the nonprofit environmental groups we work with.
What I like about TypePad so far are its:
One other thought: a lot of the small enviro groups we work with need more generalized Content Management Systems. I don’t really feel that “blog” tools such as Typepad and WordPress are that good for general websites. There are a few CMS packages such as Drupal and our favorite, Plone, that offer basic blogging features in the context of very robust open-source CMS packages.
Thanks for this pointer. I recently installed the gallery software that you mentioned here on the blog, and I think I’ll soon install this blog software.
I read your blog via bloglines, so I can tell you from first hand experience that the rdf feed still works fine.
Thanks!