Best CMS & Host for Blog-ish Site?

[sanford]

I need to find a host and a CMS for a personal site that will be more or less a blog -- it will have more in common with a contemporary blog than it will with any other kind of site. I used to use Movable Type, and I'm the most familiar with it. But I've heard a lot of people go sour on MT. Any reason to choose another CMS? I need post-by-email for mobile posting from a camera-phone. I also need categories, comments, the other sorts of things MT offers. But anything that offers these same features as MT is fine if I should consider picking a different CMS.

And hosts. I used to use Hosting Matters. They are a little more expensive than a lot of the mega-hosts, but their server space and bandwidth limitations seem more practical than all the bonzo 2000 Terabytes! hosts that are out there. And no set-up fee even on monthly bill. But can I do better for a reasonably priced host?

 

[munkle]

WordPress + ASmallOrange = Blogging bliss

 

[steelphantom]

I second Wordpress. It's so simple to use; even better than Moveable Type.

 

[rendezvouscp]

munkle is more right than a monkey! I recently restarted my own blog, and played with installations of WordPress (which I was already familiar with) and Textpattern; I found WordPress to be a little bit easier when it came to customization and overall use. I'm already hosting with ASO, so I guess I've found blogging bliss! They really are a great combo.
-Chasen

 

[ChicoWeb]

munkle is more right than a monkey! I recently restarted my own blog, and played with installations of WordPress (which I was already familiar with) and Textpattern; I found WordPress to be a little bit easier when it came to customization and overall use. I'm already hosting with ASO, so I guess I've found blogging bliss! They really are a great combo.
-Chasen

I terd wordpress. I've used it for many CMS for blogs and misc. other things.

 

[FattyMembrane]

i've never used wordpress, but i've heard it's top-notch in terms of blogging. Drupal is a full-featured CMS with blogging capabilities and i can't say enough kind things about it. It's takes a little while to get used to, but it's amazingly powerful (and surprisingly small).

p.s. i second the A Small Orange vote. i have several sites with them and they've been the best hosting company i've ever used.

 

[desenso]

My vote also goes for WordPress. It's more than just a blog - you can post simple content. Also, the plugins are fantastic.

Drupal is a "nice" system, but it's not the best. I don't think it has a strong enough community at this point to be a contender. Typo3 is probably superior if you need something more powerful and extensible. However, the fact that you mentioned "Blog" is enough to convince me that Wordpress is right for you. I use it on a site that isn't even a blog, that's how much I like it.

 

[radiantm3]

I prefer textpattern over wordpress, although I haven't tried the latest version of wordpress.

 

[theappleguy]

And hosts. I used to use Hosting Matters. They are a little more expensive than a lot of the mega-hosts, but their server space and bandwidth limitations seem more practical than all the bonzo 2000 Terabytes! hosts that are out there.

Definitely avoid the mega oversellers, TJR Networks has pretty reasonable prices and offers some nice hosting plans. Just make sure you do lots of research before switching hosts.

 

[motherduce]

I use wordpress and bluehost and dreamhost.

I tried mambo, and it was more complicated than it needed to be. I've used Drupal, and likewise, was overcomplicated and not enough theme and design support. Wordpress is great because it has a ton of theme developers that you can review and change and play with.

Bluehost is super reliable, $7 per month for an ungodly amount of space, and they have a nice control panel.

Dreamhost is an awesome company to host with - they are fun, do a great job, and give you an even more ungodly amount of space. We're talking TERABYTES here!

 

[Josh]

I use Drupal + ASO, and that = Joshua E. Stevens.com

However, I am looking for a new host. People can praise ASO all day long (and why not, their prices ARE unbeatable), but 4-5 hour downtime daily is something I could go without.

 

[motherduce]

I use Drupal + ASO, and that = Joshua E. Stevens.com

However, I am looking for a new host. People can praise ASO all day long (and why not, their prices ARE unbeatable), but 4-5 hour downtime daily is something I could go without.

Sorry to hear you're getting rid of Nautilus7 - I visited there a few times last fall. Your drupal site is impressive design for the most part, but some of the articles seem to be just plain white and not flow right with your main theme.

ASO seems a bit overpriced as well, especially compared to some of the deals out there now.

 

[Lyle]

I just moved a site to ASO because of their good reputation and their claims to support Rails. The Rails "support" has turned out to be a disappointment (for those of us on shared hosting) due to some server configuration issues that ASO apparently can't get a handle on. The technical support is very prompt to respond, but if they aren't fixing the problem, it's a moot point.

 

[motherduce]

I just moved a site to ASO because of their good reputation and their claims to support Rails. The Rails "support" has turned out to be a disappointment (for those of us on shared hosting) due to some server configuration issues that ASO apparently can't get a handle on. The technical support is very prompt to respond, but if they aren't fixing the problem, it's a moot point.

Dreamhost launched Ruby on Rails support a while ago, and recently added FastCGI support - they are really good about staying on top of the latest technology - they also have WebDav support, which some providers do not have..