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Free Website and Blog Resources To Promote Your Hobbies and Interests

Make Your Contribution To The Web. by SoftwareGuru Search engines supply the facts but where will the wisdom come from? In the 21st century digital era, parents and guardians must take on greater responsibility when it comes to passing on their wisdom to others. So whether you enjoy writing, wish to promote your hobbies or interests (eg. local sports team or book club), or even network with other like-minded people, there are free software resources which can help you get up and running. While Twitter and Facebook are great for keeping in touch with friends, they don't really encourage you to write about your favourite things in any great depth. In recent weeks I've been experimenting with various blog publishing and content management systems (CMS) to see what this next generation has to offer. The results have been surprisingly positive and it is definitely getting easier to put together a great looking blog or website for little or no cost.
	Rapid Design, Fast Publishing. The following examples are capable of supporting online communities, generating eCommerce and transforming the home page. I've also included Windows Live in the list at the end because you can get a free blog there too, along with free online storage and many other benefits. Daily MSN users may find that makes more sense for them. Wordpress www.wordpress.org Joomla! www.joomla.org Movable Type www.movabletype.org TypePad www.typepad.com Vox www.vox.com Drupal www.drupal.org Blogger www.blogger.com Tumblr www.tumblr.com Silverstripe www.silverstripe.com Clear Content www.allisclear.com Windows Live http://home.live.com
Pros and Cons Blogger is probably the easiest way for beginners to start out. No html knowledge is required and colour schemes and sections can be edited with little fuss. Being free to use has helped its popularity but it is sorely lacking the plugins, widgets and many of the other cool features that you're likely to find elsewhere. Wordpress has become the Internet Explorer of blogs ever since it evolved from a simple blog into a fully fledged CMS. If you buy a domain name and website hosting, most providers will have a one-click install feature for Wordpress in the admin area. You can always download the latest version for free directly from the Wordpress website. This is strongly recommended to maintain your blog or site's security. Joomla! and Drupal offer more in-depth solutions. Joomla! is probably easier to learn due to it's excellent interface and books such as 'Dummies guide to Joomla!' will walk you through all of the basics - even if you don't know much html. More advanced html users may find that the highly scalable Drupal offers a slightly more robust solution if your site is likely to get thousands of daily visitors. As you can see, there are a lot of options. Your own level of ability and personal taste will determine which of these blog publishing and CMS-based platforms are the best fit. Try on a few and then make your decision. Before you know it you'll become a Blogger King!

Learn more about free software blog and website resources at Software4Students.

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