Getting pretty clear that if you want to start a blog or anything like that, #Wordpress is *not* the place to be. And it's not just the recent drama.
I tested it last spring. The whole experience feels grubby and nickel-and-dimey. It's made for people trying to make money, by people trying to get a cut. That's fine, but it's not for me.
So what better alternatives are there? Host a static blog on GitHub pages?
I have had a blog on Google's free blogspot for (looks it up) 16 years, and it's been stable. (Not a general endorsement of Google.)
@richpuchalsky
I have one too, for about as long.
But it feels pretty stale - both the platform and my blog - and I wanted to shake things up a bit.
And yes, de-googling my life wouldn't be a bad thing. I'm fine with using Google for some things (I like Android and their Pixel phones), just not have my entire life there.
@jannem
Honestly I think think static blogs are vastly underrated. So using github pages or something similar isnt a bad idea.
If you are looking for alternatives, I would honestly consider Hugo. It has a bit of a learning curve, but it's actually pretty nice once you get used to how it works. Many themes for hugo already have ways to connect it to GitHub pages.
There are other places that host static websites too if Github isn't your thing. I've previously used
https://www.infinityfree.com/
@jannem Let us know where you end up. I'm blogging on Squarespace and it's ridiculously expensive.
@mjausson
If I need to pay I'd rather pay for hosting and set up something for myself. That's of course not feasible for most people; self-hosting is a lot of work.
@jannem When I write a blog post I just toss it up on Kofi. Easy enough, tips are there if people wanna leave 'em, and I don't need super-fancy formatting for a lot of what I want to talk about, so.
@jannem I host my own, built with ikiwiki, although I'm starting to get annoyed by it's limitations. I've also used Jekyll for another one, and it's definitely better in many ways, although it obviously has its own set of issues and lacks alternatives to some of the Ikiwiki features and plugins. I'm currently looking into something with AsciiDoctor as primary source document format because I find Markdown too limiting for my used, and dislike RST
@jannem
If you're considering github pages, have a look at codeberg or sourcehut pages instead to avoid contributing to a Microsoft database
@jannem@fosstodon.org
a) go old school - search for free web hosting. If you get a domain name, it doesn't matter if you change web host as any old links you posted on the net will still work.
b) Alternatively look into the *key platforms - #Misskey and its forks currently on #Sharkey. These have feature sets that include image hosting and static pages:
here's a link to one of mine
@jannem If a user, org, or company still wants a full featured CMS, with lots of 3rd party development, Joomla has been steadily cranking away with updates and improvements. It has custom fields built right into the core.
I'm involved with and love using Backdrop CMS. It's a fork of Drupal that also has custom fields built into core and dynamic custom views of data (views module).
I also love the community, which is small in comparison to Wordpress, but very friend, responsive and active.
@jannem I have been very happy moving to GitHub pages.