This post is a part of PinoyBlogero’s “Starting out a New Blog” Series. The said series contains step by step tips and guides in helping bloggers create a new blog.

First things first, what is a Blog Platform?
Back at the time when blogs were still in the form of online journals, users had to go through lots of painstaking coding just to upload a single blog post. Yes, plain and raw HTML coded directly into the online journal’s source code (Brings back memories). Blogging soon became widespread and a lot of people soon saw the need for a program that will make blogging easier. Out of necessity, blog platforms were born.

Technically, a blog platform is a blogging software that aids users in easy management of their blogs. From the publishing, design, and even database management, blog platforms had everything handled for bloggers.

But a blog platform alone is useless as it is, it needs to be integrated to a webhost first before it could actually work. Bloggers are then presented with two important choices, should they go with a free/cheap blog on a Hosted Blog Platform? Or should they consider having a Stand Alone Blog Platform where they need to look for a paid host and a buy a new domain of their own?

Hosted Blog Platforms
With the rise of blog platforms on the blogging scene, hosted blog platforms began to pop out to answer the needs of those newbie bloggers who are looking for a chance to try blogging out without worrying about the technical side of blogging.

Getting your blog is relatively easy on hosted blog platforms. All you have to do is to sign up for their service for free (sometimes with a fee), do a couple of tweaks on their options and the design, and you are ready to blog. It is as easy as that, you will be blogging in no time!

Hosted blog platforms offer an easy to set-up blog hosted on their own servers, a subdomain (or a directory) as your blog’s URL, and an already installed blog platform as your blog management tool. It is all about easy management and accessibility on your blog.

Examples of hosted blog platforms are blogger.com, wordpress.com, livejournal, i.ph and many others.

Examples of blogs using hosted blog platforms are http://ninong.blogpost.com (blogger.com), http://dcharmedone.wordpress.com (wordpress.com) and http://micamyx.i.ph (i.ph).

Stand Alone Blog Platforms
Because of the limited features offered by hosted blog platforms, many experienced bloggers went back to having stand alone blogs that are hosted on a paid webhost. Unlike in the past, creating a stand alone blog is now made easier thanks to stand alone blog platforms that are out for a blogger’s disposal.

Building a stand alone blog is much harder compared to a blog on a hosted blog platform. This is because you have to take care of everything in building your blog from the ground up. You’ll have to deal with webhosts, domains, servers, intallations, and other advanced technical stuffs.

The good thing about stand alone blog platforms is that you have full control over your blog, perfect for those experienced bloggers who are looking to take blogging into the next level and for those who are looking for a more professional approach.

Examples of stand alone blog platforms are Wordpress.org, Movable Type, and B2Evolution.

Examples of blogs using stand alone blog platforms are http://silkenhut.com/blog (wordpress), http://chickenmafia.com, and http://www.melovillareal.com/ (wordpress)

There you have it, an overview of the two types of blogging platforms. Want to know which among the two blog platforms is best? On the next part of this series, we will be laying out the different pros and cons of both blog platforms so that bloggers would be able to have an idea of what platform should they choose in building their new blog.

Hope this helps! Happy blogging!

(Note: Wordpress.com is different from Wordpress.org)

What Blog platform are you using right now? Are you satisfied with your blog platform? In your opinion, which is the best among the two? Don’t forget to subscribe to my feeds for up-to-date Pinoy Blogero articles sent directly to you!