One of the common comments from my reader survey was the following:
I like [Bitchin’ Book Blog], but most of it is for WordPress users so I’d love to see more for Blogger users.
So today I’m going to address why I don’t post more tips for Blogger.. but also why many of my posts ARE applicable to Blogger.
I don’t use (or particularly like) Blogger
I hope all the Blogger lovers don’t come at me with pitchforks! I’m not saying that Blogger sucks, but it’s not for me. You guys know how much I love coding, and that level of coding (PHP, UBB plugin) just isn’t possible on Blogger. You’re not allowed to use PHP because it’s a free platform that you share with others. That’s one of the reasons why it’s not a good platform for me. I need a place where that level of coding is possible.
Since I don’t use or like Blogger, I don’t feel like I’m in a very good position to give tips for it. I can give a lot of WordPress tips because I use WordPress, and since I use it, I know it inside and out.
There aren’t as many opportunities for giving Blogger advice
I feel like there aren’t a whole lot of Blogger-specific topics. There are a ton of WordPress specific topics because you can do custom coding (PHP), you can use WordPress’s function library, and WordPress has plugins. But Blogger doesn’t have A TON of super unique features to it. Once you know the settings panel, that’s it. I don’t feel like there are as many Blogger-specific tips and tricks.
So what is there for Blogger?
All of my HTML/CSS posts can be applied to Blogger!
I feel like most of the Blogger help that I can give is just plain HTML and CSS. That’s where most of your customization comes into play. That means that every single post about HTML/CSS I’ve written can be applied to both Blogger and WordPress. In other words, if my post doesn’t have “WordPress” in the title, odds are it can be applied to both platforms. Here are a few examples:
- How to Get Your Review’s Star Ratings in Google Search Results
- Using Different Google Fonts for Headings
- Why You Shouldn’t Use Blockquotes Just to Make Pretty Boxes
- How to Make Your Background Image Fill the Whole Page
- Learn the Difference Between <b> and <strong> in HTML
- How to Link to Sections Within a Post
- How to Make Scrolling Images or Text
If you are looking for more Blogger-specific tips: I’m sorry! 🙁
The cold hard truth is just that Blogger isn’t the platform for me. It’s hard to give advice about a platform I don’t use. I don’t mean to cut off Blogger users; I just post mostly about WordPress because that’s the platform I know and love. I may be a WordPress guru, but I’m not a Blogger guru!
I’ll never go back to Blogger! WordPress just is better and worth the money you pay for hosting. =)
Totally agree!! WordPress simply cannot be beat. 😉
I totally agree with you, I am personally a blogger user and I just like things to be minimal but as far as tips go there is only so much advice someone can give because blogger seems to have so many restraints when it comes to designing & coding. I really love your wordpress advice tips as I’d eventually like to use wordpress in more complex ways but for now blogger will do for me :-).
Exactly!! I just feel like once you know the basics (navigating around the settings panel and visual editor) there’s nothing left to say that’s specific to Blogger.
I disagree with you, but I still respect you, your blog, and your opinion. I just feel like there are some tips and tricks that could be talked about for Blogger.
Great thing to address. I’m a blogger user, but I still enjoy your advice even if it doesn’t totally apply to my blog.
I have never used blogger. Even though I don’t know any coding for wordpress/html when I first started I looked at all the options and basically decided on wordpress so I’d have plenty of room to grow once I did learn more. I just didn’t like the thought of being confined in any way. Fortunately there’s so many great wordpress people out there like you who design awesome themes and plugins so that in the meantime I can still do pretty much anything I want to 😀