Or, as a subtitle, how wordpress.com is actually a lot nicer to use than wordpress.org.
So, at some point last month I mentioned that I was working on getting together a real website.
Well, I have one. It exists. It has a layout and twitter feeds and generally looks very nice. The main issues thus far is content. All the static pages at the moment are random exclamations of “TURTLEDUCK” and “LANDSQUID” and random stories in which my much more savvy websmart friend who helped me put together said website features prominently.
In fact, the only real content currently up on the website is external stuff I ported in – namely, my twitter feed and this blog. I ported the entirety of this here blog from wordpress.com to my new, shiny wordpress.org-running website.
(As an aside, I have since been posting all entries both here and there independently, as I have not figured out how to post simultaneously on both and still have this one – Where Landsquid Fear to Tread, for those reading it on the website – update Twitter, Goodreads, and Amazon at the same time. So.)
This post is going to make little sense on the website, but I half-hope no one’s found it yet because, seriously, random landsquid exclamations everywhere.
Now, in general I am rather happy with my new website, but there are things from wordpress.com that I miss. Akismet being the main one off the top of my head. Akismet is a lovely program that blocks spam comments automatically. It is included for free with your wordpress.com blog. It is not included and not free if your website is running wordpress.org. In the year and a half that I’ve had this blog, Akismet has blocked 3,582 spam comments.
That is a lot of spam-blocking that the new website is missing.
WordPress.com also tracks who is linking to your blog, what links they’re clicking, what pages they’re looking at, and how many people have looked at your blog that day. WordPress.org is also lacking all these lovely stats. They may be tied to Akismet. I should probably just pay for it.
Part of me regrets moving from lovely, easy-to-use, free WordPress.com.
So, anyway, if you don’t need a full website with your own domain, go WordPress.com. You can have static pages, so it’s not like you’re losing a lot of options. Templates are a bit harder, but meh.
WordPress.org is nice for your website, especially if you are used to wordpress.com as they are similar in the usability area. And I do think having my own website will be useful in the long run.
For now, however, I worry about the spam.
