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Web Developer Resource Index: Blogware

Blogware, or Weblog Software, is a specialized form of a CMS. They are designed specifically for creating and maintaining blogs, and adding and editing content. Naturally, the ones I’ll list here are all open-source, and in the case of this category, they are all written in PHP. Most use MySQL as the database backend.

Below is a fairly exaustive list of possible features found in modern blogging software. Packages that have been around for awhile and have a larger market share are likely to have most, if not all of them. Newer packages, or ones that are designed with simplicity and performance in mind, often have less. This isn’t meant to imply that WordPress or MovableType are slow and cumbersome, often times these vendors have learned better ways to solve certain problems. Selecting one is subjective, what I find easy to use may leave you scratching your head.

So do your homework, ask around, the Web community is a great place to start. Note system requirements when shopping for blogware, and don't forget that you can always try before you install. Also, most shared hosting environments already provide the necessary backend software, and many offer preinstalled blogging packages. A few Weblog software vendors offer hosted solutions, so there is nothing to install. Some are free (with ads), some are not.

Blogware Features

• An easy to use, browser-based content interface.
• Add/edit draft content in a sandbox.
• Using a simple markup language.
• Or, a GUI interface similar to a word processor.
• Preview, spellcheck and other convenience features.
• Some packages support stand-alone desktop clients.
• Auto-publish a post at some date/time in the future.
• Image and other static/media file upload and access.
• Article categories, sub-categories, tagging, and tag clouds.
• Title, author, date, time and other metadata.
• Article search, some systems offer keyword highlighting.
• Automatic or selectable links to related articles.
• Article approval/rating system.
• Customizable sidebar with calendar, search, blogrolls, “widgets,” etc.
• RSS and Atom syndication feeds.
• OPML for multiple (article/author/category/comment) feeds.
• Presentational themes and templates, sometimes called skins.
• Multiple blogs and authors from the same installation.
• Commenting system with spam prevention.
• Antispam features may include user registration, Captchas or OpenID.
• Some systems also offer whitelists and/or blacklists.
• And comment moderation.
• Search engine friendly URLs and SEO optimization.
• Permalinks, trackbacks, ping and pingbacks.
• Mobile, audio, video, photo blogging, and podcasting.
• Some packages offer social networking features.
• A simple example being social bookmarks.
• Or an API to share data with other sites, e.g. Flickr.
• Extensibility through a plugin architecture.
• A well-designed blog maintenance/administration interface.
• Including internal and third-party blog stats.
• Importing and exporting of data.

Phew! That should be enough to keep blog developers busy.

For users who are new to blogging, the amount of jargon is remarkable. For example, a “post,” “article,” or “entry” all pretty much mean the same thing. For more help on blogging jargon, visit the glossary.

Top billing goes to WordPress, not only because of its market dominance, but also because of its large feature-set, support, and longevity. Equally popular, MovableType is MIA in these parts because it’s written in Perl. Also note the absence of ExpressionEngine. Although it is a powerful application and you can download a limited “free” version, it is a commercial, closed-source package. Jon Hicks posted ExpressionEngine vs. Textpattern, if you're interested in a compare and contrast.

And if you’re wondering who that guy is in the dropcap thumbnail, it’s a famous portrait of Gutenberg. I’m not sure which is more prevalent in these software packages, references to typesetting or CamelCase names.

Updated: Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 @ 10:40 PM EST

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Resources

• 1.WordPress

  The big daddy of PHP blogware, "a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, Web standards, and usability." Features easy install, skins, blogrolls, trackbacks and pingback, registration and antispam, Texturize markup, and lots more. [1828]

  ★★★★★
  URI:http://wordpress.org/
  Author:
  Matt Mullenweg
  [1]
  Reviewed:Saturday, November 15th, 2008 @ 3:03 AM EST
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  WordPress blogblogrollmarkupphppingbackskinssoftwarespamstandardstrackback
   

• 2.TextBook

  Powered by MediaWiki, TextBook is the community-driven documentation project for Textpattern. I found it very useful when first installing Textpattern, and afterwards while getting acclimated with the system internals. Nicely done, plenty of information. [1847]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://textbook.textpattern.net/
  Author:
  TextBook Team
  [1]
  Reviewed:Thursday, November 20th, 2008 @ 3:51 PM EST
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  TextBook blogdocumentationresourceswiki
   

• 3.Chyrp

  Blogware designed to be very lightweight while retaining functionality. It's driven by PHP and MySQL (with some Ajax), and has a pimpin' theme and module engine, so you can personalize it however you want. I like the way this guy thinks: Git, Vanilla... [1846]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://chyrp.net/
  Author:
  Alex Suraci
  [1]
  Reviewed:Thursday, November 20th, 2008 @ 2:30 PM EST
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  Chyrp ajaxbloggitmysqlphp
   

• 4.ExpressionEngine vs. Textpattern

  A thorough compare and contrast of the commercial ExpressionEngine blogware package, and of course Textpattern, which is free/open-source and built on PHP and MySQL. If you're shopping around, either for yourself or a client, stop by and give it a peruse. [1845]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://www.hicksdesign.co.uk/journal/expression-engine-vs-textpattern
  Author:
  Jon Hicks
  [4]
  Reviewed:Thursday, November 20th, 2008 @ 2:02 PM EST
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  ExpressionEngine vs. Textpattern blogcmsmysqlopen-sourcephp
   

• 5.Textpattern

  I may have to go with this one when I get around to dumping Serendipity. It appeals to my aesthetic sensibilities, plus the feature set and interface are slick. You can select from countless existing themes, or design your own. First rate stuff, 5 stars. [1836]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://textpattern.com/
  Author:
  Team Textpattern
  [1]
  Reviewed:Sunday, November 16th, 2008 @ 12:33 AM EST
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  Textpattern blogcmsdesignphpsoftware
   

• 6.Elgg

  Many of the blog packages I've been evaluating target a niche market. Elgg is no different. Along with a pretty slick blog system, it also has social networking features, including shared feeds, files, tagging, and is very popular in the college market. [1835]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://elgg.org/
  Author:
  Curverider
  [1]
  Reviewed:Saturday, November 15th, 2008 @ 9:51 PM EST
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  Elgg blogfeedphpsoftwaretagging
   

• 7.LifeType

  An open-source blogging platform with support for multiple blogs and authors from a single installation. With themes and plugins, feeds, permalinks, ping and trackbacks, blogrolls, moblogging, friendly URLs, there's a lot here and it's worth considering. [1834]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://lifetype.net/
  Author:
  LifeType Project
  [1]
  Reviewed:Saturday, November 15th, 2008 @ 9:14 PM EST
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  LifeType blogblogrollfeedmoblogphppingpluginrssskinssoftwaretrackback
   

• 8.Habari Project

  Swahili for "What's the news?," Habari is another blogware system with social networking features and encourages community participation. With themes, plugins with an OOP API, multi-site installation, and many other features--definitely worth looking at. [1833]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://www.habariproject.org/
  Author:
  Habari Community
  [1]
  Reviewed:Saturday, November 15th, 2008 @ 8:59 PM EST
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  Habari Project apiblogoopphppluginskinssocial network
   

• 9.FrogCMS

  Billing itself as a CMS is a bit of a stretch, although with the S standing for Simplified, it makes more sense. It's really a very basic, fast, easy to use blogging system. If you know a little PHP you can create plugins, if you're a designer, skins. [1832]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://www.madebyfrog.com/
  Author:
  Philippe Archambault
  [1]
  Reviewed:Saturday, November 15th, 2008 @ 7:47 PM EST
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  FrogCMS blogcmsphppluginskinssoftware
   

• 10.Serendipity

  A blog system implemented in PHP. Features include (but not limited to!) standards compliance, an enhanced editing interface, threaded and moderated commenting, dynamic caching, trackback and ping, skins and plugins, multiple database backends... [1311]

  ★★★★☆
  URI:http://s9y.org/
  Author:
  s9y Developer Team
  [1]
  Reviewed:Monday, June 20th, 2005 @ 5:52 PM EDT
  by:
  Douglas Clifton
  
  Serendipity blogcachedatabasephppingskinsstandardstrackback
   

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Last updated: Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 @ 10:40 PM EST [2009-02-18T03:40:04Z]