I joined the blogosphere insisting on using the Microsoft .NET Framework as my blog engine. After many struggles and much attraction to the ease of use and features of WordPress, I have made the switch.
WordPress is a PHP-driven blog engine, which means it doesn’t need a Microsoft server to run. I am, however, still using WinHost and Microsoft server technologies by choice. One of the cool features of WordPress is that I can easily create my own themes for personal use and profit.
Now, what deep and controversial theological topic shall I tackle first?
So what “many struggles” you had with BlogEngine.Net?
Would like to know so we can help improve it.
Thanks,
Brian Davis
Part of it was random failure for widgets to load and random errors associated with that. I tried different themes, thinking that was the problem, and eventually resolved that issue (although I don’t remember how I did it). I also experienced random errors along the way that I unfortunately didn’t document. Most of them were resolved fairly easily. I remember having a hard time getting SMTP to work.
I’ll admit that I like BlogEngine.NET. It is a good blog engine and for those who understand ASP.NET can be a powerful tool. Probably the biggest motivation for the switch is this: WordPress can be used as a CMS and for the average Joe is very user friendly. It can be deployed on Apache servers, which opens up cheaper hosting options. Add those together with the ability to create custom themes and you have the ability to develop user-manageable websites for clients fairly easily, which is what I plan to do in the near future. The thing that I like least about WordPress is PHP. I’ve never liked PHP and probably never will. ASP.NET is so intuitive and orderly. Would I consider switching back? Who knows?