-Getting Started: How to Start and Grow a Blog
Info on Domains, Hosting, Blogging Programs, Apps, & Blogging Tips
-Blogging Ministries
Types: Personal blogs, Pastor Blogs, Bible Studys, Outreach, Prayer Lines, Youth Ministry, Worship and Music
-Books on Blogging

Getting Started: MovableType -An Evaluation

Posted by Dr.D | .

Image representing Movable Type as depicted in...

MovableType is a powerful blogging program made by SixApart, the same company that operates TypePad. Both programs have a lot in common, but MovableType has more options for customizing. The greatest difference lies in the fact that TypePad is a blog service program like Blogger, while MovableType is designed to be downloaded onto your own hosted site. There are some hosts like Yahoo! who will provide and install the program for you. That is the case with when I installed MT as a test.

Yahoo! offers a choice (*Update-not anymore) between installing the WordPress blog program or MovableType . Both are advanced platforms for blogging. Most of my other sites use WordPress and that is what I started out with. I installed a MovableType program in order to experience and compare features between the two programs.

Setting up a MovableType seemed to be a lot more difficult than beginning with WordPress. I pretty much had it going after 1 hour. It took another hour to find the present template or ‘style’ and get the blog to change. I had to add HTML code to the ‘index’ page in order to have a blogroll. I would have not been able to do this a year ago when I started. WordPress provides linking and blogroll capability as part of the basic program, so does the sister program at TypePad.

MovableType gives you a real clean basic program for publishing a blog, however, WordPress offers greater variety at your finger tips with more than 500 different ‘Themes’ presently available. WordPress also gives you the possibiliity to publish info. or ‘about’ pages, along with fully static pages. MovableType does have a ‘plugin’ that can be downloaded for producing extra pages.

MovableType does offer the easier program for publishing pictures, that is the greatest WordPress difficulty.

Since I started out with WordPress and have 10 different sites using it, I am somewhat inclined to favor it over MovableType. However, it does provide a rather impressive blog.

**UPDATE 8/08: New updated version of MovableType available. *Top