To ask for blogging help!

[icequeen34]

Can anyone help me as I'm a huge technophobe! I want to set up a blog. I used to use blogger which was quite straightforward at the time but now it doesn't seem to work or have the same interface.

I have been watching YouTube tutorials about Wordpress and I find it SO confusing. I don't get all this self hosted stuff. And I find that a lot of the layouts are geared towards photography when all I want is a basic, clean layout for writing and perhaps the occasional pictures.

Can anyone help me? I find it so frustrating that I want to write but just don't know enough about the tech side to set up something simple.

You might find this helpful.
www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/how-to-choose-the-best-blogging-platform/

Maybe Medium would be good for you. It sounds like you aren't too fussed about the design and just want something straightforward

With WordPress (going to shorten it to WP) there are two options, free and self-hosted. For self-hosted you need a web host (will explain more of you need it). The one you need will depend on what you want to do with the blog. Do you want to make money with it or is it more for journalling like how blogs used to be?

WP does have a steep learning curve but once you get the hang of it, it's fine. I haven't used Blogger for a very long time.

Maybe Medium would be good for you.

Forgot Medium existed. Yes, this does sound like a good option based on your initially post, OP.

I think it depends whether you want full creative and hosting control - so your own url etc or whether you're happy to be www.medium/yourname

I’d recommend starting with Wordpress. Google what you want your site to be called, make it as unusual as you can and try to ensure no one else has the same name. Go to a domain site like GoDaddy or something similar. Make sure it’s available with .com or .co.uk or similar. Buy it, as long as it doesn’t cost too much. (Some handles aka site names are popular and therefore expensive so that’s why it’s good to find an unusual one). That gives you time to set up on Wordpress. Until you’re comfortable with the Wordpress site, don’t upload the domain name. Move around. Look at all the functions. Explore. You can start creating content on Word to copy paste into your blog once you’re ready. The domain sites will give you full instructions on how to upload your site name. There are also domain sites that do it all for you, but you might end up paying a bit more. I found that part of the enjoyment of blogging including learning new skills, so I enjoyed working out how to do it for myself, although it takes a bit of time and patience. Good luck! DM me if you need anything else.

You can absolutely use blogger. Pay a tenner for a domain name (the .com or whatever) and make a start.

I don't foresee myself making any money out of it. But I don't want it to look crap either. Some of the blogger templates were a bit naff. I like the look of Wordpress themes more but can I buggery work out how to use it!

I get the principal of self hosted but what benefits are there? Is it not just easier to log into blogger or Wordpress and use their platform?

Just use square space - it’s got decent SEO and is blog friendly (unlike Wix). Just make sure that you use a different host for the domain(I.e Bluehost) should you wish to go to Wordpress at a later stage once you get the hang of things.

That said, blogging is a lot of work for increasingly less return. Social media, YouTube and podcasts are steadily on the rise and replacing the consumption of media in blogging form.

I like to write. I guess it would be more of an online outlet or journal. I'm not aiming for mass readership and fame! But I'm a bit picky and I want it to look nice. It's a bit like feeling more motivated about writing in a nice pretty notebook rather than a scruffy old one or is that just me