4 ms·

I honestly think starting a blog in 2023 is exactly as easy as it was 2004 (the year he references), if you take the easiest route: 1. You pick a cheap shared

by onli 4y ago

I honestly think starting a blog in 2023 is exactly as easy as it was 2004 (the year he references), if you take the easiest route: 1. You pick a cheap shared hoster 2. You buy a domain and connect it 3. You download a PHP blog system, like Wordpress 4. You unpack the files into the webroot, configure the database (or use a blog system that supports sqlite, like Serendipity [which I develop for]) 5. Pick a theme, install a minimal amount of plugins. Optionally customize the theme a bit. 6. Done. Sure, going with a hosted offering looks easier, but you still have to manage things like your domain, interoperability and backups, so hosting it on your own gets easier very fast.

cassianoleal 4y ago
Depending on how much (or how little) customisation and interop you require, something like prose.sh makes blogging a lot simpler: No need to worry about points 3 and 4, and very little to do for 5. Backups can be a simple git push.
ivanmontillam 4y ago
I do this, but without the database. I chose Grav[0] because of its flat-fileness, but at the same time I did not want a build process (I mean, why? why do I need to rebuild my blog every time I post?) Put it behind a CloudFlare free tier. Been happy forever after. -- [0]: https://getgrav.org/ https://getgrav.org/
- KronisLV 4y ago
  > I chose Grav ... Been happy forever after. I'm inclined to agree that Grav is a good choice, but it still has the exact same fault as other software out there, notably updates sometimes randomly breaking things in odd ways: https://blog.kronis.dev/everything%20is%20broken/grav-is-broken https://blog.kronis.dev/everything%20is%20broken/grav-is-bro... (note: typically you shouldn't run software updates inside of containers due to their immutable nature and instead just run a newer version of the container, but if you're working with persistent volumes then there's also really nothing preventing you from doing so) Of course, if you don't update it, you'll eventually run into security related issues, which is more or less inevitable whenever you expose anything with write access (even when it is technically protected by an username and password; our industry still keeps getting basic things wrong all the time), as opposed to fully static assets: https://blog.kronis.dev/everything%20is%20broken/grav-security-is-broken https://blog.kronis.dev/everything%20is%20broken/grav-securi... Personally, I will probably keep using Grav for the foreseeable future, maybe even some day carry over the theme customizations that I use as well as all of my content to a more recent version, but for now I'm stuck on a comparatively old version that's thankfully a bit locked down at the web server level. Don't get me the wrong way, WordPress will be even worse in regards to both updates and security, I've seen entire sites be brought down because of a single plugin needing an update that's no longer compatible with something else.
unity1001 4y ago
None of that is necessary. Nowadays common consumer web hosts allow you to install Wordpress with a click. Actually most of them provide specialized WordPress hosting that comes with WP preinstalled and with a lot of optimization. (most of them are managed).
- onli 4y ago
  Hm - Okay, you have a point there. My preferred hoster does not offer this, but many do, and if you don't want to go with a lesser known option that really is even easier. So the old way of hosting it with a shared hoster did improve, nice :)
ymolodtsov 4y ago
The process you described is so much more complicated than signing up for Twitter or Medium though.
- onli 4y ago
  Twitter is no blog. And with both you then later have to fight with the login/paywall. That's exactly what I meant: Looks easier in the beginning, but isn't after the very start.
- scarface74 4y ago
  And then you have to deal with the current Twitter shit show. I want to own my own content.
criddell 4y ago
I don’t know if you can still do this, but you used to be able to create public folders on Dropbox. Dave Winer ran a bunch of experiments serving a blog from a public Dropbox folder and IIRC, it worked great. If you are already paying for cloud storage somewhere, you might be able to start by saving your writing to a public folder. Instant blog.
- onli 4y ago
  No, sadly Dropbox shut that down many years ago. First the ability to host from there, then the concept of public folders in general (they are behind an UI now).

by onli 4y ago

cassianoleal 4y ago

Depending on how much (or how little) customisation and interop you require, something like prose.sh makes blogging a lot simpler: No need to worry about points 3 and 4, and very little to do for 5. Backups can be a simple git push.

ivanmontillam 4y ago

I do this, but without the database. I chose Grav[0] because of its flat-fileness, but at the same time I did not want a build process (I mean, why? why do I need to rebuild my blog every time I post?) Put it behind a CloudFlare free tier. Been happy forever after. -- [0]: https://getgrav.org/ https://getgrav.org/

KronisLV 4y ago
> I chose Grav ... Been happy forever after. I'm inclined to agree that Grav is a good choice, but it still has the exact same fault as other software out there, notably updates sometimes randomly breaking things in odd ways: https://blog.kronis.dev/everything%20is%20broken/grav-is-broken https://blog.kronis.dev/everything%20is%20broken/grav-is-bro... (note: typically you shouldn't run software updates inside of containers due to their immutable nature and instead just run a newer version of the container, but if you're working with persistent volumes then there's also really nothing preventing you from doing so) Of course, if you don't update it, you'll eventually run into security related issues, which is more or less inevitable whenever you expose anything with write access (even when it is technically protected by an username and password; our industry still keeps getting basic things wrong all the time), as opposed to fully static assets: https://blog.kronis.dev/everything%20is%20broken/grav-security-is-broken https://blog.kronis.dev/everything%20is%20broken/grav-securi... Personally, I will probably keep using Grav for the foreseeable future, maybe even some day carry over the theme customizations that I use as well as all of my content to a more recent version, but for now I'm stuck on a comparatively old version that's thankfully a bit locked down at the web server level. Don't get me the wrong way, WordPress will be even worse in regards to both updates and security, I've seen entire sites be brought down because of a single plugin needing an update that's no longer compatible with something else.

unity1001 4y ago

None of that is necessary. Nowadays common consumer web hosts allow you to install Wordpress with a click. Actually most of them provide specialized WordPress hosting that comes with WP preinstalled and with a lot of optimization. (most of them are managed).

onli 4y ago
Hm - Okay, you have a point there. My preferred hoster does not offer this, but many do, and if you don't want to go with a lesser known option that really is even easier. So the old way of hosting it with a shared hoster did improve, nice :)

ymolodtsov 4y ago

The process you described is so much more complicated than signing up for Twitter or Medium though.

onli 4y ago
Twitter is no blog. And with both you then later have to fight with the login/paywall. That's exactly what I meant: Looks easier in the beginning, but isn't after the very start.
scarface74 4y ago
And then you have to deal with the current Twitter shit show. I want to own my own content.

criddell 4y ago

I don’t know if you can still do this, but you used to be able to create public folders on Dropbox. Dave Winer ran a bunch of experiments serving a blog from a public Dropbox folder and IIRC, it worked great. If you are already paying for cloud storage somewhere, you might be able to start by saving your writing to a public folder. Instant blog.

onli 4y ago
No, sadly Dropbox shut that down many years ago. First the ability to host from there, then the concept of public folders in general (they are behind an UI now).