My Alternative to WordPress, Joomla, Blogger...: MyStarterBlog

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!