WordPress vs. Blogger

When one decides to create a blog , they are usually told to head on over to WordPress immediately, without being told or advised about any other Blogging Platforms ; such as Drupal , Joomla or Blogger . Albeit, I will admit that the mighty WordPress Platform is just that : Mighty , within the user functionality which it offers , numerous plugins , UI’s and the flexibility to run entire websites through it’s almighty platform .

However ….. what most “New Bloggers ” ( or Newbies ) may not be aware of is : WordPress , as great as it may be in offering all that it does ( to the experienced user ! ) is that : It is quite a complex platform to learn , master and operate . I have read comments by WordPress users on various Blogs on how to even go about Uploading their theme ! At this point , I will say : it is not as simple as many might think as : downloading your theme of choice , unzipping its contents and uploading them to your WordPress account . No, it goes beyond such simplicity and if one is not familiar with FTP , MYSQL , PHP and all that other WP jargon – I assure you : they will be lost !

I have also read many WP users blogs as well as user comments who sneer and look down upon the Blogger Platform as well as Blogger users . It seems as that if one is on the Blogger Platform and is a Blogger User – they are somehow perceived as something ” Less than a Good Blogger ” somehow . Sadly , it is widely perceived and purported that Blogger users are ” inexperienced & lesser citizens ” of the Blogging community . Which is a grave misconception I assure you . The fact is : it doesn’t matter whether one is on WordPress or Blogger , Joomla or Drupal .

I have also encountered many WordPress users who snicker at the fact that Blogger does not offer the ” Spectacular Theme designs ” which WordPress is famous for . Well, let us clarify a few things pertaining to these venomous rumors . Firstly , as most may be aware of : WordPress was the Blogging Platform predecessor and the ‘ Father of CMS ‘ prior to WordPress.org which later on became a full scale Blogging Platform and available to the mere layperson .

WordPress.com is a CMS platform , and was created by Developers FOR Developers ( You may read about the differences in one of my prior posts :” Design vs. Content ” which will clarify any confusions you may have at this point ) . Now prior to WP.ORG , there were no such thing as : Custom Designed Themes . WordPress.com cannot be altered ” design wise “ – it is strictly about Content , and thus is deemed a ” CMS ” [ Content Management System ] .

On the other hand, WordPress.org can be fully manipulated and customized if one knows how . This is where Theme Design comes into play . Now, being that WordPress has been around much longer , and has from its onset thousands ( maybe even hundreds of thousands ) of Developers who established it , built & created it from the ground up , of course it will be ahead of any other Blogging Platform out there and this goes without question , and I will not dispute this fact .

However , within the past 2 yrs the Blogger Platform has made stellar strides within its UI and other functionalities to equal and rival those of the Mighty WordPress.org itself ! I have seen ( read ) comments left on Blogger Theme Galleries by WordPress users who want to transfer their blogs from WordPress over to Blogger and dont know HOW ! Now I will pose the following question to you the reader : Does this make one “Less of a Blogger ” because he is unfamiliar with the Blogger Platform ? In my humble opinion : No it does not . The comparison can be equated to a 30 year car driver who has been driving an automatic , and suddenly finds himself in the seat of a stick shift ! Will that make him less of a driver ?

No – it simply means that he will have to acquaint himself with operating a stick shift ( which may take about a week or so until he becomes comfortable behind the wheel ) , but in the end , he will drive that car just as well as he had driven the automatic . Therefore , let us for comparison’s sake equate WordPress as being the ‘ Stick Shift ‘ and Blogger the ‘ Automatic ‘ . It doesnt matter which one youre driving – what matters is : How good of a driver you are . How good are you at getting your Content out there to the masses – simple as that .

Now there has been much talk circulating for quite some time that the Blogger Platform does not offer rich ‘Quality Themes ‘ such as those of WordPress – but as mentioned before : WordPress has been in the Theme Designing Business much longer and has thousands of Web Designers , Graphics experts and Developers working fervently round the clock in order to keep producing and putting out the very best there is for the mighty WP platform .
There are though , many Blogger Gallery Theme Sites ( blogs ) which are run by very talented men & women who do such an excellent job at CONVERTING WordPress themes unto the Blogger markup language that one cannot tell the Original from the Converted theme – yes, they are that good !

Aside however from all of these so called ” Blogger Conversion Sites ” , there have emerged lately a few ( a mere handful at this early point in time ) truly great Blogger Original Theme Designers . If you are new to blogging , and are not tech savvy enough to create a blog on the WordPress platform – or in other words : If you’ve been driving an automatic and aren’t ready to get behind the wheel of a stick shift , then the Blogger Platform is your Ideal Blogging Platform and it will enable you to get the hands on experience you will require by which to move on to WordPress or any other platform .

Now as far as Theme design goes , there are thousands of Blogger Theme Galleries out there where you will find practically any and every WordPress theme which has been converted to Blogger . However – I would like to introduce you to several of the most talented and creative Blogger Original Theme Designers as well . These designers lack nothing which those boys over at the almighty WordPress bear . In fact : They are as equally talented and creative as any WordPress theme designer out there , and if you doubt this , then all you have to do is simply view their sites below , click on any of the images and be taken to their respective sites where you will be able to view their creative works . What I have found on Blogger which I feel is lacking on WordPress is the ” Support ” which exists on Blogger .

The designers depicted below are not only creative , imaginative individuals who truly LOVE what they do – and do it FREELY , they are also a few of the most supportive Designers out there on the Blogger Platform . They are always there to offer a user ( experienced or not ) any help they require in getting their blog off the ground and fully running . There arent too many WordPress sites or WP Theme Designers who will do the same ( aside from maybe 3 or 5 WP Theme sites ) – whereas : A Blogger user can count on getting any type of help they require from any Blogger Theme site . Thus : the choice is yours .

.:: You may click on any of the images to be taken to the original site ::.

JOAO & JESSICA of Be Insight

:: Original Blogger Theme Designer(s) , Extraordiary Artist, Illustrator, Icons Creator

LAUREN of NYMPHONT

:: Original Blogger Theme Designer, Font & Social Icons Creator & All Around Multi-Talented !

Klodian of : Deluxe Templates

Klodian of Deluxe Templates is yet another Blogger Original Theme Designer who manages to design some of the nicest clean & functional Blogger Themes , tailored very similar to those clean WordPress CMS Themes which are targeted mainly for Content . If ‘ Content ‘ is your main focus – then Klodians Themes will definitely meet your needs ! Klodian likes to emphasize that his themes are ‘ uncluttered & easy to manage ‘ with nothing to take the focus & attention away from the importance of ‘Content ‘. When one looks at Klodians themes , they will certainly mistake them for WordPress Themes ! ( I know I did ).

Thus: if ‘ Content ‘ is your primary target within blogging – then you will find that Klodian’s Themes are built & created to meet your needs . You may view Klodians other ‘ clean pristine themes ‘ here also : Deluxe Templates * Klodian also converts any WordPress Theme you want to place a request for. Just drop him a request and he will definitely contact you and convert your desired theme . [ He's truly a great guy who is always there to help every blogger with any questions and help they require , so do drop him a comment ].

:: Click on image & links to view the live Demos of Klodians clean Themes ::

• News Blog
• Tech News Blogger
• Think Simple
• Thesis for Blogger

DANTE of Dante Araujo

:: Original Blogger Theme Designer, Artiste Extraordinaire, Tech Savvy & a Great Guy !

Divya Sai of BloggerStop.Net

:: Original Blogger Theme Designer , Tech Savvy Blogger & an overall Great Guy who is always there for his readers & users of the Blogger Platform , offering his limitless knowledge to everyone out there . Divya has created some truly beautiful themes , and this particular theme was featured on Mashable as being one of the 12 most beautiful themes ( & is also available on WordPress ! ) . Looking at it , I am certain you will agree . Visit Divya’s site/ Blog to see more beautiful Original Blogger Themes which he has created & if you need advice on any topic , I guarantee you he will definitely have an answer to your problem .

KENNETH @ ZIXPK.com

:: Original Blogger Theme Designer, Graphics, & Best Wallpapers & Icons out there.

CHETHSTUDIOS.NET

:: Original Blogger Theme Designer , Social Media Icons, PSD’s & VERY talented @ Everything he does !

CEBONG IPIET @ IPIETOON

:: Original Blogger Theme Designer offering some exceptionally well designed Themes .

ZEN @ Zenplate

:: Original Blogger Theme Designer w/ Exceptional talent . Zen offers some of the best support to all of his users out there and has some very good hacks . You can expect much more from Zen in the months to come.

TEMPLATES Para NOVO BLOGGER

:: Original Blogger Theme Designer who produces some exceptionally beautiful themes and tutorials for the Blogger Platform .

AEXT.NET

:: Original Blogger Theme Designer . This is Lam Ngyen’s first Designed Theme for the Blogger Platform which is just beautiful , and you can all expect to see much more from this Tech Savvy guy in the months ahead . Lam has some of the best Tutorials & Scripts on the web – you can visit his site if you ever require something more than a Template @ AEXT.NET

AMANDA FAZANI @ BLOGGERBUSTER.COM

:: Original Blogger Theme Designer and the Mother of BloggerBuster ! ( Need I say more ? )

I hope that you have enjoyed this article and are now aware that WordPress doesnt have all that much over the Blogger Platform – in terms of use, functionality or : Theme Design . The above Blogger Theme Designers are leaving nothing to be desired nor coveted from the mighty WordPress platform , and as time passes , you can count on seeing much more creative works produced by the designers above , and by ‘ New designers ‘ who will follow in their wake . Therefore , if anyone snickers at the fact that you are a Blogger user , you can now point them in the direction of your new Blog which will hopefully be graced by one of the beautifully creative Original Blogger Themes created by the above Original Blogger Theme Designers . Move over WordPress , here come the New Kids on the Blogger Block !