My Alternative to WordPress, Joomla, Blogger…: MyStarterBlog
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For the past few months, I was busy with my new software. That's the main reason for the lack of update on my blog. It took longer to do than I expected. That's the "joy" of programming. 
So Today, I'm officially launching my alternative to WordPress, Joomla, Blogger: MyStarterBlog(MSB).
Where to use MyStarterBlog?
Like many bloggers, I have secondary WP blogs that I don't update often. I'm sure a lot of my bloggers have some secondary blogs too.
By secondary, I mean that I don't post or update WP to the new version like I should. And last year, I learned that the hard way. One of my blog that was much more updated(post) than the others was infected. I wrote about it: Removing wp-stats-php Infection From WordPress.
I will convert all my secondary blogs to MSB soon. The first 2 are already done: MISFan.com and 1 Cool Review.
Is it easy to use MyStarterBlog?
If you are using WordPress, I'm sure you can use MSB. Install the software, enter some information about your blog, add posts and upload the files to your domain.
When you add another post, you only need to upload a few changed files.
Offline(MSB) vs Online Blogging(WP, Blogger...)?
Since the blog is "generated" on your computer, you don't have to mess with setting up a MySQL database. Because MSB does not have a backend, it's more secure than WP.
For example, the example blog(24 posts) below only use 200KB.
http://www.mcgrathinfosolution.com/msb_example/
Because WP use a backend, you would need to upload 4000KB+ the first time.
The comment part was tricky since I don't use MySQL on the server. Since they are secondary blogs, I generally deactivate the comments.
But in case a blogger want to interact with his/her readers for a post, the reader can send a comment by email directly on the post. It uses a captcha to reduce spammers. Here is an example of the subject line:
[My Starter Blog Example] Comment: "Post 24 has a longer title"
If you find the comment has merit, you could add the comment to the post.
Is MSB SEO optimized/Google Friendly?
I asked Rob from NicheMate to make sure that the included themes are SEO optimized from the start. He did a good job on that.
I also wanted 3 pages to be there by default in each theme:
About: I often like to know more about the blogger or blog.
Contact: I once had reviews done but had trouble contacting the blog owner to correct mistakes.
Privacy Policy: Depending on the kind of blog, you might want to tell users what you will do with their email for example.
You can add extras pages if you want like an advertisement page, reviews rules ...
The URL of each post will be based on the title of the post. The RSS feed and the sitemap.xml will be created too. For a post page, the H1 tag will use the post title and the blog title will use H2.
What's the difference between the Free vs Registered versions?
The Free version support 1 blog and has a footprint on each page to MyStarterBlog. I want to spread the word about MSB. The link is nofollow so Google will like that. It's free so I want some publicity in exchange.
The registered version support unlimited blogs, can import text files(batch mode) and WP XML exported files. Of course, no footprint on each pages.
I imported mcgrath.ca(362 posts) and it worked. The downside is that I would loose permalink(URL) and the usage of many WP plugins. Again, it's for secondary blogs or for someone who want to start a new blog.
How much for MSB?
First, I considered the time(months) I put into MSB and WP which is mostly free. You should know that WP does make money from WordPress.com (Premium blogs). That's one of their way they use to pay to support the self hosted WordPress distribution we use.
Second, I wanted to make it affordable for most people.
Third, I wanted to thank the supporters of MSB my own way.
So, the price is .....Drum roll please ....
Only $17USD but I will refund $10 to those that will publish a small 100 words post on their blog or main blog to help get the word out. The link in the post can be nofollow or dofollow.
If you do a post, the final cost to you is just $7 and the time for the post.
Like AuctionSiteWriter, it comes with free upgrade for life.
Now, go download MyStarterBlog!
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18 Comments on this post
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zakk said:
It looks decent but I don’t really see a reason to abandon wordpress for it, there’s just too many plug-ins, themes and resources out there for it.
February 10th, 2009 at 8:02 pm -
Rhys said:
Hi Steve -
Great merit in your program, and it overcomes the WP element I most hate, which is the mandatory database and bandwidth load for each installation.
The big plus for WP (for Me) is the ping factor, which gets my WP sites instantly into the SERPS. Does your program do that?? – and if not, will you consider programming it in? [To make your prog the 'Perfect Alternative' to WP]
February 10th, 2009 at 10:19 pm -
Steve McGrath said:
zakk: If you have just one blog, I guest you don’t see the advantage until you get a lot of them. It’s a lot of maintenance. For me, it’s a better WP alternative for those blogs. Heck, I use WP on this blog too so I understand.
Rhys: Thanks for the compliment.
You can ping manually. In the Browser window, I added 2 button: Google BlogSearch and Ping-o-Matic. When you click on it, MSB go to the page and it filled most of the info for you. Sould not take more than 10 seconds to do. I know, it’s not perfect but you ping the big ones still online.
February 10th, 2009 at 10:30 pm -
Rhys said:
Great Stuff Steve! – Will download it and have a go as soon as your server comes back online (Server time-out error at present)
February 10th, 2009 at 10:45 pm -
Steve McGrath said:
Yes I know. I arrived tonight to find the server down. I don’t know if it’s related to the release of MSB or just plain bad luc/timingk with their server. I tried another blog hosted there and it also did not worked.
I have another site with them but hosted on a different server. That one was okay.
I will found out tomorrow morning if, crossing fingers, they fix it.
Thanks for trying to try MSB
February 10th, 2009 at 10:56 pm -
Steve McGrath said:
Rhys soon after I sent the last comment, the server was back on. Go get it now just in case
February 10th, 2009 at 11:05 pm -
Jrrr said:
How would I add a photo gallery?
March 1st, 2009 at 11:28 am -
Steve McGrath said:
You have to add them by hand. For example, in your post, you would had a line like this:
< * img src="./images/photo1.jpg" title="My photo 1" alt="My photo 1" height="600" width="400" /*>
Just remove the *
Many forget, like me, to add the title or alt tas thus non seeing visitors can’t have a representation of the content.
I have a long list of features to add and this one was in there too. Personally, I don’t use that but some, like you, do.
Btw, I drop the price of MSB to $7.Read MyStarterBlog v1.5.0 Is Out!
March 1st, 2009 at 11:45 am -
slotpro said:
thanks my friend
March 8th, 2009 at 2:52 am -
milaza said:
nice post thank my firend
March 8th, 2009 at 8:47 pm -
Double Bedding · said:
marketing online is my way of making money while working at home, it is a good side line ~
November 3rd, 2010 at 4:12 pm -
Styrofoam Sheets said:
marketing online is of course a good business and also a great way to earn money online ~~*
December 2nd, 2010 at 4:09 am -
stefaniexu said:
Thanks for your sharing, i think. I know somthing about wordpress blog that i never seen before.
March 2nd, 2011 at 6:09 am -
Horse Medicine said:
That was great for your new software. Your story is like with my friend here. She is out of time to update new post of her blog. It is because she has so many things to do like blogging.
June 3rd, 2011 at 2:44 am -
english teaching overseas said:
I really admire this site for being kindness to us. Thank you for your interesting post.
July 15th, 2011 at 10:27 pm -
learning english said:
Congrats for your new software. Your post was great sharing of your idea. How about the rank of the blog? Is it carried to my new one “MSB”?
July 27th, 2011 at 5:06 pm -
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August 10th, 2011 at 2:36 pm
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