After the Blogger collapse last week, Blogger is still not functioning properly. Several widgets on my blog are not working and it takes longer than usual to load. The Dashboard has been working poorly for several weeks now. Other people who blog with Blogger report continued issues with posting and commenting. After the unpleasant experience of Blogger being down for 23 hours last week, I have realized that I don’t want to remain without my blog. I love blogging with a passion and want to continue doing it for a very long time to come. I’m only just getting started here, and I’ve got a lot more things to say. A real lot.
So I’ve started thinking that maybe Blogger should not be relied on. I read that there is an option to export one’s blog to WordPress and leave it there as a back-up option. In this case, if Blogger goes down again, readers will simply go to the WordPress version and continue reading there. Or is it a stupid idea?
Or maybe I should move the blog to WordPress altogether? Are there any distinctive advantages that WordPress has over Blogger? Or is it an even more stupid idea?
Does it make sense to buy one’s own domain name? What are the benefits of doing that?
Please help, people, I’m torn and confused. I’m placing a poll in the top right-hand corner and will also be grateful if you elaborate in the comments.
Clarissa's Blog 
I’ve never used Blogger, so I can’t speak to that, but I do love WordPress. I find it very easy to use–you can use the bare minimums, and keep it simple, or you could add more widgets and use the more advanced features as you please. I’m kind of obsessed with the Stats page–I love being able to see where my vistors have come from, and that’s something I never got on LiveJournal. From your posts, I believe you like that as well!
The one thing I did hate about Blogger when I visited your page was the comments page and commenting. I rather like having comments and post in the same window, and for me, I can post here without having to confirm my identity every time and type in the capcha (??) box. The comment box is also bigger, which is also nice. The spam filter is pretty good–I have a few that get by Akismet every now and then, but it’s not bad. I just delete, and they never make it to my page.
How are YOU liking it so far?
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Thank you, Brittany-Ann! I’m feeling very encouraged. I have no idea how I feel about it yet other than confused and vaguely terrified. 🙂
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You’ll get it. 🙂 It takes some getting used to. I was confused as bloody hell when I first got on here–it’s much different from LiveJournal, and I’d been using LJ since 2003. I just noticed you got your own domain name! I’ve been thinking about doing that. Did it cost much?
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It’s $17 per year, that’s all.
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I’d suggest cross posting from Blogger to WP for a while before you switch over. It should allow you and your readers to adjust to changes while keeping an automated backup via the cross-post going.
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Oh, I see, $17 per year. I’ll have to think about this. The cross posting is a good idea — I did this too when I switched (almost 5 years ago) and it helped.
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