Setting up a blog, need some help

[capsmaster]

Was thinking of adding a blog to my site for some daily updates on interesting topics. Any specifics or things I need to know? Would you advise setting up a new domain for this or what about using blogger.com? Do I need software for this? Do all hosting companies have the ability for a blog?

Thanks,
Caps

[Don_Hoagie]

Yes, I too was wondering what it is specifically that people do when they create a "blog" on their own site... is it not simply a page full of <p>'s that they update on a regular basis? I suppose you could turn it into a database thing if you're going the RSS route... but it seems to me the only difference between a blog and a page of paragraph elements is the word "BLOG" at the top.

[capsmaster]

Don that would be pretty simple if it was the case, hope thats all it is. :)

[Robin_reala]

Depends on what you want really. At one end there's a simple page (as mentioned) with My Blog as a header and a load of paras below. At the other end you've got fully fledged packages like Wordpress that do all the hard work for you (database access, commenting, feed syndication, trackbacks, etc etc). For those you upload the installer and run it - bingo, blog.

The difficult bit is writing your own package :)

[bill]

Blog software is just another way to manage and update your content. Look at it like a CMS (Content Management System). You use your own templates and just include the "blog" content in the pages. Different softwares use different storage mechanisms. Some use plain text files, others use databases. You just need to find one that works with your host.

As far as I know Blogger will let you update via FTP, so no software is necessary. You just give them the FTP login info for your site's host.

[TheRookie]

Yes, I too was wondering what it is specifically that people do when they create a "blog" on their own site... is it not simply a page full of <p>'s that they update on a regular basis? I suppose you could turn it into a database thing if you're going the RSS route... but it seems to me the only difference between a blog and a page of paragraph elements is the word "BLOG" at the top.

That'd be a very basic blog. However, most have the ability to add comments, trackbacks, etc.