Blog Design and Ideas

[Jason_Fisher]

I am looking into setting up a blog, but want it to be attractive and not just look like a template. Please look at the 2 below to get a better idea...

http://blog.fabulousplaces.co.uk/

http://iwearyourshirt.com/blogs

How would i be able to get something like this done? Do i sign up with a blog website like blogger and get them to do it or is it cheaper to get a freelancer to come in and do this for me?

Any advice and help would be great! This will be a blog about my local village.

 

[Faevilangel]

I wouldn't go for a blogger / wordpress.com website as you're relying on a free external service to be in control of your site.

I would go for a wordpress website using their open source software from www.wordpress.org. Template wise there are hundreds of free themes, but for the best results a custom built one is better (it's unique and no editing needed to get it to your needs).

I offer a wordpress installation and template service if you're interested in learning more, send me PM or an email from my website (link in my signature).

Wordpress offers so much scope to expand the website beyond a blog, so would be the best choice for you.

 

[Graemem]

I'd agree that Wordpress is the way to go. Though if it's just for a small hobby site then I'd just go to wordpress.com and set it up online. I'm sure you can still install custom themes/templates to it so it'll look however you want it too.

Though if you're wanting more control over things then you could find a cPanel host which usually comes with a script to install Wordpress for you, and could be very cheap.

 

[Faevilangel]

I'd agree that Wordpress is the way to go. Though if it's just for a small hobby site then I'd just go to wordpress.com and set it up online. I'm sure you can still install custom themes/templates to it so it'll look however you want it too.

Not unless you pay for the css upgrade. I wouldn't recommend the .com version due to the limited resources and you have NO control over the site, they place adverts on the site and you have to pay to upgrade to get other features.

 

[Graemem]

Not unless you pay for the css upgrade. I wouldn't recommend the .com version due to the limited resources and you have NO control over the site, they place adverts on the site and you have to pay to upgrade to get other features.

I guess that's a fair point, I've never actually used the .com site!

To the OP, If you're interested in some cheap (But reliable!) cPanel hosting with the wordpress install give me a PM and I can sort it out.

 

[Faevilangel]

I guess that's a fair point, I've never actually used the .com site!

To the OP, If you're interested in some cheap (But reliable!) cPanel hosting with the wordpress install give me a PM and I can sort it out.

I haven't but migrated people away from it after numerous problems including limited themes (have to be a free theme in the theme directory, can't use
"premium themes", the service went down a few months ago for a short while and adverts on the site (and you can't put your own on there)).

It's great for a basic site but your resources are limited, it's so much easier to get the open source software and have so much more resources available to you.

Depends on the op's needs tho

 

[Jason_Fisher]

Thanks for your thoughts on this, i have really no idea on how to set up a blog, i just know i do not want it to look like 'just another template', but on the other hand i do not have a large budget.

The blog will be basically advertising businesses. I will write 1 new blog each day, with the business of the day theme. I also want pictures on the blog and a little advertising space round the side. (advertising i choose and not what has been put on there by someone else).

Could you please tell me more about this cPanel hosting with wordpress? Will this do the job?

I will be setting a website up at the start of next year which will expand and develop on my business idea, this blog is going to be like a taster and get my name out there etc and get people hearing about me and following the blog. Then when i set up the website i can blog about the website and get people across.

 

[Faevilangel]

Thanks for your thoughts on this, i have really no idea on how to set up a blog, i just know i do not want it to look like 'just another template', but on the other hand i do not have a large budget.

The blog will be basically advertising businesses. I will write 1 new blog each day, with the business of the day theme. I also want pictures on the blog and a little advertising space round the side. (advertising i choose and not what has been put on there by someone else).

Could you please tell me more about this cPanel hosting with wordpress? Will this do the job?

I will be setting a website up at the start of next year which will expand and develop on my business idea, this blog is going to be like a taster and get my name out there etc and get people hearing about me and following the blog. Then when i set up the website i can blog about the website and get people across.

Looks like you want the open source software then.

Cpanel is a peice of software on a server which allows you to make amendments to the server and access functions within the server e.g. emails, error logs etc.

There are loads of free themes available if you have a tight budget e.g. http://www.wordpress.org/extend/themes/. There are also loads of premium themes available.

The problem I could see you encountering is the installation and set up of wordpress. It's fairly straight forward but you do need to know a little about software.

You don't really need a "large budget" for a basic wordpress site designed and installed.As wordpress is open source, the only costs you would pay are for the hosting (generally £15 - £50 a year), domain (£8 per 2 years) and the developers time.

 

[filtuh.com]

If you're advertising and will be using affiliated links then you cannot use wordpress.com, it's against their ToS.

If you're just writing articles, then wordpress.com with a custom domain mapping (so you can buld your brand and later export it) and advert suppression could be an option.

However for the cost of all this ($5+$17+$35), you're probably better off with a setup like faevilangel is offering - plus you get someone knowledgable who can help handhold you through the selection and installation of your initial themes and plugins.

For a hobby blog, I'd usually advice the .com all the way, but for business then a managed self hosted version is best imo.

 

[fisicx]

Why a blog?

What are you hping to acheive? Who is going to read your posts and for what reason?

You need to be really clear about the aim of the site. It's not going to attract any sort of traffic and unless there is any point ot the posts those who do visit are unlikely to return. Evenb your idea of having advertising on the site isn't goping to work until you get decent traffic.

So accept that it's going to be a hobby site for a year or two while you build up some sort of following.

BTW, both the sites you linked to are templates. All you need to do if find a layout you like from one of the thousands of WP themes then tweak to suit your exact needs.

 

[ecenica]

Self-hosted WordPress is definitely what you want to look at.

By design WordPress will work on even the most basic of web hosting. You just need to make sure your web hosting company supports PHP and MySQL.

As others have already said, cPanel is the name for the special software that controls all the technical bits of your hosting. It makes it very easy to setup email, change passwords and stuff.

To make WordPress even easier to setup, some web hosting providers include extra software on top of cPanel that can install WordPress with just a few clicks. These are often refried to as "one-click" installers or "auto-installers".

Ecenica Hosting customers on our cPanel shared hosting servers can access our own one click installer, Ecenica App Installer which includes WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and lots more apps.

You can learn more about App Installer at http://support.ecenica.com/getting-started/introducing-app-installer/

We offer UK cPanel shared-hosting plans with our special WordPress installer for £4.99 month. Feel free to PM us if you have any questions. You can also demo cPanel at our website. Just google ecenica to find the link.

^RM.

 

[VEGER Rent a Car]

Just go to themeforest.net Alot of really nice themes for your blog. Some of them are paid, but they're not expensive 20-30$ for a nice theme is not that much, i think

 

[chief07]

I wouldn't be worried about your site looking too much like others, there are thousands of free and paid WP themes around, and some really good ones that are really easy to use