Tumblr vs. Wordpress

[Indigo November]

So, I'm thinking about starting a blog.

Would you recommend tumblr or wordpress? Why?

Something tells me that tumblr is not a good choice. But is is just a feeling, and not justified.


Thanks, Indi

[AnonymousKiwi1]

I love my Wordpress blog!
I have not experience with any other blogging type site, so can't make comparisions. But Wordpress is extremely easy to use - and this is coming from someone who did not grow up with computers, so all the techy stuff is not second nature.

So I'll be one vote for Wordpress.

[IABoomer]

I'm inclined to say own/manage your own as opposed to relying on a service, thus get an inexpensive web host, setup Wordpress (which can often be done by simply asking the hosting company to setup the system) and go to town.

[dakwegmo]

While I agree with IABoomer, if you aren't ready to go in for your own hosting yet, I'd start with WordPress.com. The interface is nearly identical to the stand alone wordpress, and you can export everything from your WordPress.com blog (posts, pages, comments, etc) to a stand alone WP installation, with very little effort.

[Biomech]

Wordpress. It gives you so many more options for control.

Tumblr is to Wordpress, what AOL was to BTinternet, it has a reputation for being loved by emo teens thinking they are great at photography and art because they applied an iphone effect.

"Tumblelogs are miniblogs — a fast way to share links, photos, and videos without the bells and whistles of a regular blog. Unlike blogs, tumblelogs are frequently used to share the author's creations, discoveries, or experiences while providing little or no commentary."

"[tumblr is]a place for hipsters to post picures and gifs about hipster things. common subjects: girls backs, hands with lots of jewelry, [triangles in space], kissing, naked people, weed, pretty girls smoking, harry potter, celebrities from tv shows particularly skins and gossip girl and other artsy photographs."

[BigFuzzy]

Without juding it's users I'd say both have their place.
Having said that, I'd go with wordpress because if in the future you decide you want to expand beyond a blog and create a whole site around your blog, you can do so much more easily with Wordpress than you can with Tumblr.
So, +1 WP from me.

EDIT... I know quite a few people that use both. A proper WP blog for the more traditional blogging, and tumblr to throw up more images more consistently without much text.. kind of like a one-two punch combo.

[BuddhaPi]

wordpress......

[dlambert]

Another vote for Wordpress. Choosing a software platform is a little like choosing a camera platform. You can look at features all day long, and while those are certainly important, if you end up choosing Pentax, for instance (apologies to Pentax owners), you have to understand the impact of a world where 80% of the market is either Canon or Nikon, and you're not in that group. Every time you go shopping, you've got less stuff to choose from. Want to borrow a lens or a battery charger or something? It'll be much harder to find someone else with your setup.

Blogging platforms are like that, and Wordpress is Canon. There is no Nikon. Market share numbers are all over the place, and vary wildly depending on whether you're looking for a blogging platform vs. a CMS, or hosted vs. self-hosted, and so on. Wordpress scores well in any of those measures, but the thing that's relevant to your decision is that there's a huge market full of themes and plugins, and there's more stuff coming all the time. Also important is that Wordpress is growing and thriving, so you get updates and bug fixes in a timely fashion.

When you pick a camera platform, you're not just looking at the body -- you're looking at all the lenses and accessories and so on, and it's also nice to see that the brand you choose is always well-represented at the trade shows with lots of new product announcements. Blogging platforms are like that, too.

[BigFuzzy]

Originally Posted by dlambert

Another vote for Wordpress. {snip}.

Great great answer.

[dakwegmo]

Originally Posted by BigFuzzy

... I know quite a few people that use both. A proper WP blog for the more traditional blogging, and tumblr to throw up more images more consistently without much text.. kind of like a one-two punch combo.

I have both. I use WordPress to run my website, and then I started a tumblr account for posting instargram'd photots of my legos. http://dakwegmo.tumblr.com/