Weblog software

Weblog software (also called blog software or blogware) is a category of software which consists of a specialised form of Content Management Systems specifically designed for creating and maintaining weblogs.

erver models

Many weblog applications are available for users to download and install on their own systems. A wide variety of licenses are used by user hosted weblog software. Some of these are free and open-source that can be used, modified, and redistributed freely under free-software and open-source licenses. Others are proprietary software that may be licensed for a fee or have versions available free of charge.

Other weblog applications are offered only through their developers' hosts, either free of charge or for a fee. These typically include hosting service for the published blog itself, but some offer the option of using this hosted software to update a blog published

Clients

Maintenance through the Internet is a nearly universal feature of weblog software. This is usually done through a browser-based interface, enabling authors to create and update content on the site. Most software supports the use of external client software to update content using common APIs such as the MetaWeblog API and the Atom Publishing Protocol. Third party developers have created such clients, allowing bloggers to publish entries using desktop software rather than the web-based interface. [http://codex.wordpress.org/Weblog_Client WordPress Codex Wiki: Weblog Client] has an extensive list of clients that support most API's (not just WordPress). Examples include ecto and MarsEdit.

Features

* "Title", the main title, or headline, of the post.
* "Body", main content of the post.
* "Permalink", the URL of the full, individual article.
* "Post Date", date and time the post was published.

A blog entry optionally includes the following:
* "Comments" - main|Feedback comment systemComments are a way to provide discussion on blog entries. Readers can leave a comment on a post, which can correct errors or contain their opinion on the post or the post's subject. Services like coComment aim to ease discussion through comments, by allowing tracking of them.
* "Categories" (or tags) - subjects that the entry discusses
* "Trackback" and or "pingback" - links to other sites that refer to the entry

Other applications

Most weblogs have features such as facilitating authoring and editing of blog posts or articles, various linking and web syndication features, and the ability to easily publish the blog to the world wide web.Some services or organizations are also creating weblog applications with extended features to aid communication, such as the wiki capabilities in Socialtext and Traction TeamPage.

Many weblog applications allow the user to define static pages of content which can often be placed into a hierarchy or tree. Pages differ from blog posts in that the content is largely static and not time related. Pages are often used to present information about the blog and its authors. Extensive use of pages can result in a blog that looks more like a website. [http://www.freecharity.org.uk/2007/03/13/who-else-wants-to-use-wordpress-as-more-than-just-a-blog/]

Most weblog applications support English and many other languages. The user selects a language during installation.

Weblog applications usually offer web syndication service either in the form of RSS or Atom. This allows for other software such as feed aggregators to maintain a current summary of the blog's content.

Post moderation requires the people who want to comment on articles that are posted on a blog to be approved before the comments are visible to the world. It could also mean in some cases where multiple people have accounts and the ability to post new items to the blog that new content must be approved by a moderator or administrator before it shows up on the main page. Weblog applications use various user account systems that allow readers to post comments to a particular blog. For instance, users with Blogger accounts may comment on any Blogger blog. Other weblog applications allow users to post content or comments only to blogs where they have an account.

The Post API can vary greatly depending on the system in use. Some types of blogware have plugins for Firefox that integrate into the browser's menus so that right-clicking on selected text on any given webpage will bring up a small window that allows the user to post to their blog. Other types of blogware that do not have this type of interface require a person to fill out a form online. The form that is required for posting material to a blog depends on the type of blogware. Some types such as Movable Type contain a greater number of form fields and choices than ones such as Blogger.

Most types of blogware support adding thumbnail images within blog posts. Photo blogging is a separate genre of blogging that deals primarily with images.

A new trend in blogging software is drag and drop WYSIWYG editing which allows a user to easily modify page elements on the fly. A few companies who pioneering this effort include Squarespace and Weebly.

Documentation and support

Different blogware packages feature varying levels of community support and documentation. Because the installation of some types of software requires an advanced knowledge of computer administration, community support and documentation can be very helpful. The web servers and database software can be more difficult to install than the blogware itself. Also a strong and active community surrounding the blogware gives advice on integrating the blogware into a personal site.

Examples

A partial list of notable weblog software follows:

User hosted platforms

Software packages installed by weblog authors to run on their own servers.

Free Multi-user platforms

Software packages installed by weblog authors or domain name owners to run on their own systems available to use by the general public:Developer:
*(Multi-user version of WordPressMU)Samples:
* [http://uvme.mn 5th avenue News] (1st online newsstand on 5th NY)
* [http://leads.net.in BlogCaster (Auto posting enable)]
* [http://maidenafrica.net Maidena] (Free Photo blog platform)
* [http://e2esocialnetwork.com Social Type]
* [http://links.gen.in The Newspaperman]
* [http://womansfuture.info Womans Future] (News broadcasting for Business women only)
* [http://get-leads.in Social Shop] (Multi-user e-commerce platform)
* [http://getshopped.com GetShopped] (Multi-user e-commerce platform)
* [http://blogs.enthrallweb.com Enthrallweb Blogs Software] (Multi-user Windows Platform)

Free and open source software

These software packages are offered as free and open source software

* Apache Roller (Java-based)
* b2evolution (PHP/MySQL)
* bitsyblog (Python)
* [http://www.blojsom.com blojsom] (Java)
* blosxom (Perl)
* byteflow (Python/Django)
* [http://www.chyrp.net Chyrp] (MySQL, SQLite (with PDO), and PHP 5)
* CuteNews (PHP based)
* DasBlog (C#/ASP.NET)
* DotNetNuke (C#/ASP.NET)
* Dotclear (PHP/MySQL)
* Drupal (PHP/MySQL)
* Frog CMS (PHP/MySQL)
* Elgg (Apache, MySQL, and PHP)
* Habari (PHP/MySQL,SQLite,PostgreSQL)
* InkType (MySQL and PHP)
* iNto (Ruby on Rails)
* kablink (Java)
* Livejournal (Perl) (Also available, developer hosted)
* LifeType (PHP/MySQL)
* [http://mephistoblog.com Mephisto]
* Movable Type (also offered in developer-hosted form as TypePad)
* [http://nouz.org/en/ Nouz] (PHP/MySQL)
* [http://nanoblogger.sourceforge.net/ NanoBlogger] (Written in Bash. Uses common Unix tools)
* Nucleus CMS (PHP/MySQL)
* PHPSlash
* phsBlog (PHP/MySQL)
* [http://pebble.sourceforge.net/ Pebble] (Java-based)
* Picoplog (PHP) (photoblog)
* Pixelpost (PHP/MySQL) (photoblog)
* PyBlosxom (Python)
* Serendipity (PHP/MySQL,PostgreSQL,SQLite)
* SimplePHPBlog (PHP/TXT)
* SimpleLog (Ruby on Rails)
* Slash (Perl/MySQL)
* Subtext (C#/ASP.NET)
* Textpattern (PHP/MySQL)
* [http://thingamablog.sourceforge.net/ Thingamablog]
* Typo (Ruby on Rails)
* WordPress (PHP/MySQL) - also offered in developer-hosted form as Wordpress.com
* CELLblog (ASP/ASP.NET) - Community Environment Live Life -webblog 2.0 compatible. ASP soon to be ASP.NET
* [http://jehy.ru/soft.en.html/ Livejournal Visibility Changer] - works fine even for Linux (under Wine). C++ programming language.

Proprietary software

These packages are under a proprietary software license. They may require the purchase of a license key to use them. The specific licensing terms vary but some are free of charge for personal or non-commercial use.

* Community Server (also offered in developer-hosted form as CommunityServer.com)
* ExpressionEngine
* Radio UserLand
* Traction TeamPage
* Windows Live Writer (Free of charge)
* XCAP Community Platform
* Enthrallweb Blogs X1 (purchase, download and host with no additional charges)

Unknown license

* Battle Blog
* Blogsphere
* [http://jehy.ru/soft.en.html Livejournal Visibility Changer]

Developer-hosted

Software services operated by the developer, requiring no software installation for the weblog author:
* [http://uvme.mn 5th avenue News] (1st online newsstand on 5th NY)
* [http://www.aminus3.com Aminus3] (photoblog platform)
* [http://www.blog-author.com blog-author.com]
* Battle Blog
* Blog.com
* Blogabond
* [http://leads.net.in BlogCaster (Auto posting enable)]
* Blogger
* [http://blogge.rs Blogge.rs (free blog with 1GB of space)]
* [http://straussbornman.com BlogIT]
* Blogging Systems
* Blogonize
* BlogSavy
* Blue Kaffee
* Israblog
* LiveJournal and many other sites using the same open source codebase
* [http://www.livingdot.com LivingDot]
* MySpace
* Open Diary
* Quillpill
* [http://e2esocialnetwork.com Social Type]
* [http://www.squarespace.com Squarespace]
* [http://www.supportmaster.com SupportMaster]
* [http://www.tabulas.com Tabulas]
* [http://links.gen.in The Newspaperman]
* Skyrock
* TypePad
* Typo
* Windows Live Spaces
* [http://womansfuture.info Womans Future] News broadcasting for Business women only
* Wordpress.com (hosted version of WordPress)
* Xanga
* Vox

ee also

*Comparison of content management systems