bakicisns: easy to use blogging sites?

[firecat]

The abbreviation stands for "because all knowledge is contained in social networking sites".

My dad has been living on his own for the first time in 50 years, since my mom recently had to go into a memory care facility. When they were together, his cooking repertoire was mostly limited to barbecue. Now he is turning cooking into a hobby and I'm really proud of him. I suggested that he start a blog, "Learning to cook at 77" and he seems interested.

He uses a Mac and is fairly computer-savvy, but I think a simple blog would be best. Which blogging site/software is easiest to use, in your opinion? I don't think he would need the privacy features of LJ or Dreamwidth, but he might need comment-spam management. The cost should be no more than $50/year.

Comments

[snippy]

I'm using Blogger and Flickr (for easy coordinated photo-posting); they're both free. Flickr lets you upload photos and then post them to your blog. Blogger lets you use HTML or Rich Text Format. I've found them both transparent and easy to learn.

[snippy]

Oh yeah, and on my Blogger blog I have easy comment spam management: all comments are emailed to me for approval before being posted. I've had that blog for a few years and in that time had fewer than half-a-dozen spam comment attempts.

[onyxlynx]

Second the recommendation of Blogger (free, configurable, pictures easy to upload), plus your dad can set up a blog in a few minutes (more if he's fussy) from either Google, Gmail, or any blogger (blogspot--by clicking on the b icon in the left hand corner) site.

Be warned, though; it's a gateway drug.

[jae]

That is so cool! Good for him.

-J

[trixtah]

I'd use Wordpress over Blogger, personally. The Akisimet spam-trapping is excellent (and comment moderation if you want it), and there are nice themes and a ton of widgets to use, should he choose to branch out at some point.

They also over 3GB of file storage, compared to 1GB over at Blogger. Flickr also integrates well with Wordpress (Flickr hosts their own blog there), or there are gallery plugins if you'd rather manage your own images (up to that 3 gig limit for unpaid subscribers).

[amadi]

And this is where I'm a rebel and say social networking journal sites are made for this, because not only can he share his discoveries, new recipes, etc. he can join cooking communities, get ideas for things to try and so on. As much as I hate saying it (especially after a comment I just posted) LJ and the numerous cooking communities there would be the direction I'd recommend.

[prairierabbit]

There are definitely more cooking communities at LJ, but there are communities here at DW also. I like the idea of the journal sites, because the communities make it easy for him to find recipes, discuss successes and failures in the food arena, and also manage those lists. Does he mainly want to post his information for family and friends, or does he want more engagement?

[serene]

In order of how easy/useful I think they would be to him:

LJ/DW
Blogger
Wordpress

I'd be willing to help him with Blogger or Wordpress, if you're not familiar with them.

[apis-mellifera.livejournal.com]

Wordpress.com is turn-key and free (there are pay options, too, but the basic packages is free). They have really good anti-spam measures in place and the interface is pretty easy to use, IMO.

[mama-hogswatch.livejournal.com]

I use Wordpress on some self-hosted sites and like it fine, but I have often had to do swift upgrades to take care of security vulnerabilities.

I'd say if he's willing to pay, he might as well have a paid LJ account and be done with it.

[elissaann.livejournal.com]

I have my blog at wordpress (http://elissaweiss.wordpress.com/). It's super-easy to use, and free! I have to approve all comments.

[dr-brat.livejournal.com]

This might be useless and doesn't really answer your question, but my 89 year old father is on Facebook and seems to enjoy it quite a bit.

I know there are some security issues with Facebook, but frankly, I don't put anything anywhere on the web with the expectation that it won't ever be used in ways I didn't intend.

[zeborah]

I use Blogger and it's dead easy. For me it's even easier than Wordpress but then I'm more familiar with it than with Wordpress so I don't really know. Both are well-known as easy sites; I get the feeling that some people rate Wordpress blogs as more authoritative sort of so if it's not just a personal blog then that might be the way to go.

[lisa-marli.livejournal.com]

My daughter loves Blogger. She had a pretty easy time of setting it up, and with 4 boys in the house, that says a lot. :)

[tedesson.livejournal.com]

nutrimirror.com, though not a traditional blogging site, is both easy to use, and has a supportive community of adults, some of whom are similar in age to your dad.

Plus, I've found it useful for making sure I eat right.

I had no idea I wasn't getting nearly enough iron till I started using it.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

It would be easier for people to read it on the flists. And it can be very simple.

[mdlbear]

Don't overlook LJ (or one of the related sites like dreamwidth) -- it's free, easy to use, and connected to a community.

If other family members are on a service like Facebook, go with that.