The Blog of Joe

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For those who don’t know me well should know that I’m always testing and trying new tech stuff. Software tools and integrations mostly. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to test gadgets more than anything, but that’s one hobby that I can’t afford (at scale). So, I mess with a lot of software instead.

Until this last week, my blog existed on Google’s Blogger (and few posts were on wordress.com). It’s not something I post to often, but thought I’d resurrect my efforts.

Honestly surprised that the Blogger service wasn’t shut down years ago to be honest. Google has certainly poured more dollars and marketing efforts into much better but shorter lived products (RIP Reader, Google Podcasts, Google Domains, Inbox, Stadia, etc, etc. etc.).

So, since we all know Google likes to Google, I thought I’d move my blog off that site before it reads my blog and decides to do everyone a favor.

Where to go, though?

This took more time than I care to admit, because I had a list of things that were must haves.

• Cheap/free
• Import XML
• Portable (download/backup)
• RSS enabled (or Zapier integration) for distribution
• Blog Focused
• ActivityPub integration (Mastodon, Pleroma, and other social servers)
• Custom domain option
• Not wordpress.com, medium, or substack (all of which I’ve used before)

Blog options I looked at:

❌ – Ghost

This was my favorite outside of Wordrpess.org. Unfortunately, there’s no ActivityPub integration yet (they are exploring it), and it was more expensive on the hosted side for just a blog and I’m also not smart enough to figure out the self hosting version. If my intent was to publish a newsletter, I’d probably consider it. Another day, perhaps…

❌ – Strikingly

No Import. Feature was requested in forums numerous times over the last 10 years ago, so Dev support is really slow to non existent. Pricing was great though. Free and unlimited blogs which would check the block for a lot of people. No ActivityPub integration.

❌ – Btw.so

Loved the simplicity of it. Bare bones with no visual customizations other than images you put in your blog posts. Strictly focused on writing. Also, no importing and no custom domains (yet).

❌ – WriteFreely

Free and ActivityPub enabled from the get go, but no importing and limited customization. No custom domains unless self-hosted.

❌ – Micro.blog

Another ActivityPub based blog that’s free to use and somewhat customizable. Lots of value here if you are okay with the quirks.You can even use your own domain with a premium subscription. I found it to be buggy and extremely frustrating to use. There are limited templates that are customizable if you are okay gettin your hands dirty with a little code. Also, when writing the blog, it’s all in markdown (which is fine), but there are no guides to let you know what specific markdown types it uses, so you have to do some trial and error. You also don’t see what you have until you publish or preview – which is really annoying if you are a stickler for detail and constantly check your work.

❌ – Plume

ActivityPub based. It’s a simple and easy to use setup, but the project is stalled. The main developer has asked that users find alternatives.

❌ – Wix

‘ve built dozens of sites using Wix, but it can be a little too expensive for simple sites that need custom domains. Super customizable though and easy to start.

❌ – Squarespace

Too focused on businesses/ecommerce for my needs. Blog seems more like it was a block they checked. I’ve used it on and off for years and not a fan how things are laid out.

❌ – Weebly

Honestly don’t recall what it was that I didn’t like about it. I think it’s the limited designs for blogs and more focus on business sites.

❌ – Webflow

Interface is nice and reminds me of the layout of Adobe designer software (Premiere Pro. Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.). It’s very detailed and powerful design platform, but also very easy to mess up if you don’t understand what you’re doing. It’s an amazing tool for more experienced and advanced designers. Not this guy. I feel like a bull in china shop when I use it.

✅ – WordPress.org

As much as I hate messing with any WordPress site (fragmented setup/maintenance), this hit all things I was looking for. I got cheap hosting through Bluehost and found a real simple blog template (Cue from SiteNerdy) that reminded me of Btw.so. I also wanted to force myself to learn the platform a bit better and I wanted to own the whole thing when I was done. So, here we go.

Putting together the blocks

One of things I HATE most about WordPress, is how fragmented everything is. I got spoiled by hosted sites over the years where everything you needed could be right there – from domain registrar, to hosting, and everything in between.

WordPress is NOT like that. Installs can be intimidating for a first time user. However, if you are tech savvy they can be fairly simple straightforward or extremely complicated depending on your level of understanding and how much customization you require. For the simpletons like me, I went straight to Bluehost, picked the $2.95/mo hosting option, had them install the WordPress and do the basic setup for me. They also help you with a domain if you need it.

Connecting the Domain

This can be a little tricky since every registrar seems to have slightly different phrasing for different parts of the records for the CNAME, and A & TEXT records. I use Porkbun now because Google Domains no longer exists… *shakes fist*. If any of what I just said was greek to you, stop and get help.

WordPress Themes

One thing that I thought was neat, BUT DO NOT RECOMMEND, is using the AI site builder that Bluehost offered. Holy moly did that turn out horrible. The AI took my instructions and just added it the text of a web template that was nothing like I described. And I got a lot of extra pages that I needed to delete afterwards. This feature really needed some multi step cues instead of a single text box prompt with a minimum word count.

Anyways, once you have WordPress installed, choose the website theme/template you want to use. You can use one of the choices on the WordPress marketplace or choose one of the thousands out there on the web. Just make sure you choose one from a developer you trust.

Plug-ins and ActivityPub

Is there something you want your website to do either on the front end or the back end? Chances are there’s a plugin for that. In my case, I want my new blog to have ActivityPub integration. Meaning if your readers use social media sites like, Mastodon, Pleroma, Misskey, Pixelfed, or any other ActivityPub based site (also known collectively as the Fediverse), they can follow your blog directly from those platforms and engage with it. Pretty amazing. No need to add to their pile of unread newsletters and notifications already in their email inbox.

Making it work however, seems to be easier said than done.

Installing the plugin is as easy as clicking a few buttons. For some reason, I can’t quite figure out how to get it to work properly. At most, my ActivityPub accounts on Mastodon and Sharkey (a Misskey Fork) can find the blog and send a follow request. The request never gets approved though, meaning those accounts still won’t see new posts. I’ve added a couple other related enhancement plugins from the same developer that were supposed to improve that fediverse experience, but nothing is working.

Failed at Federating with Fediverse

I’ve put out a call for help from one of my accounts, so we’ll see what happens.

If you have suggestions, let me know!