This week is all about the different blog platforms. We are going to talk about the 2 most popular platforms, WordPress (self-hosted), & Blogger. Each of these platforms have their pros and cons and we will take a look at them.

WordPress (self-hosted)
WordPress is an open source blogging platform. What you can do with WordPress is endless, if you have the right skills (or budget).

Pros
*highly customizable
*can be used as CMS
*excellent support (can find a lot at WordPress.org or just simply Google it)
*plugins- plugins are a great way to customize and optimize your blog
*can be downloaded and tested on a local server
*an abundance of premium and free themes to dress up your blog

Cons
*you have to pay for domain/hosting
*can be difficult to customize for beginner users (unless you hire a designer/coder)

Blogger
Blogger is owned by Google and is the platform most beginner bloggers use.

Pros
*Blogger is a free blogging platform
*Domain mapping- you can purchase a domain and have it pointed to your Blogger blog so you have myblog.com instead of myblog.blogspot.com
* Easy to use
*Google Ad Sense- you can make money with your Blogger blog by taking part of Google’s Ad Sense

Cons
*Blogger’s navigation bar- why it is a small price to pay for using their free blog service, it may not look the best.

To decide which platform would be best for you depends on what you would like to do with your blog and what you would like to get out of blogging. Just take the time to check out both platforms, do some research, and ask questions.

Happy Blogging!

First go to Playlist.com and register. Once you are registered and logged in, click the link at the top right corner that says *My Playlists*. When you get to that page, you will see various options on the right side. In that list you will select *Create New Playlist*.  The next screen will have a spot for you to put the title and description of your playlist. Now you have an empty music player. Next type the name of the song or artist you would like on your playlist in the search bar. This will bring up a list of the different songs available. When the songs are pulled up you can click the arrow button to play the song and the plus button to add it to your list. Keep doing this until you get all the songs you would like for your playlist. Once you are ready, click *My Playlists* again to go back to your playlist information page. When you are there, look in the right sidebar for the *Put My List on MySpace* option and click it. This will bring up a page of various places you can use your playlist. Click the *Get the code for any other social network, blog or your own personal website*. On the next page it will bring up various options for your list. You can go through and make your settings according to your personal taste. When done, click *Get Code*. Your music player code will come up and you just have to copy it. Next you will log in to your blog (WordPress, Blogger, Typepad). Depending on your blog platform, you will put this code as a text widget in WordPress, a HTML/JavaScript Element in Blogger, or as a TypeList in Typepad. Save and you now have some fabulous music on your blog!