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Blogging, Blogs, Websites and Frustrations

I've blogged on this site for years. Back when I chose Blogger, it and WordPress were very comparable. I'd messed with it on a hosted site some time before Google acquired Blogger, and when Blogger became part of the Googleverse, it seemed inevitable that it would dominate the blogging space. And I was dead wrong.

Blogger's sites are pretty clunky, and very limited. And pretty much the whole world of Blogger is managed by Google. No larger ecosystem of themes, plugins, what-have-you to expand the functionality of the sites. Heck, no world changing themes. Heck, even the best are yawn-inducingly dull. And don't get me started on the clunkiness of the Android app (it would be ironic if the Apple Blogger app was more productive, but I digress). It does NOT like uploading images. Most of the time, the app will freeze, then there'll be a uneditable local file on the my phone. And there are times simple text will do the same thing.

Additionally, I love the system that has risen around WordPress. Between countless plugins and themes, one has no problem finding a solution to most any challenge. Real Estate agent wanting to put a listing feed on your sight? Easy! Calendars? Yeah, got that, too. Photo carousels, Mailchimp integration....on and on. No need to manually good for anything except the most outlandish challenges. Now, trust me, I get the desire to solve cool problems. And making sites load a bit faster, and a bit cleaner. But not needing to do much of anything to have a site mobile optimized, as one example, is pretty darn awesome.

I don't want to worry about Google's interest waning. Google huge array of efforts, and their significant lack of attention to Blogger, gives me deep concerns about the platform's long-term viability. Ever since Google launched Google+, I've worried that Blogger would become a backwater, forgotten and unsupported. Or, just as likely, Google abandons it like it did Google Reader.

So, CarlSetzer.com has been a self-hosted WordPress site for about a year. I play with the idea of changing it, mostly just to save money. But I'm very committed to WordPress, and that's where I'll keep my hat hung. Come on over and say "hi". I'm sure I'll keep posting here occasionally, but, well, you know.
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