Forgive me if this topic exists in some form on the site.
But I couldn't find anything related to it when searching.

My question:
Is there anyone here who has created and/or is maintaining a WordPress Blog related to wilderness (trips/opnions/gearlists etc).
I have zero experience with blogging and/or WordPress and really wanted to discuss: ease/difficulty, nuts/bolts etc. as it pertains to outdoor adventures. I have perused their site and they offer a LOT of billable add ons. I want to know if anyone is producing a nice blog for free. THANKS!

I have a blog, not that too many people read it or anything. Lots of really nice Wordpress blogs around. The software does a fairly good job at handling photos and has a few of easy to install plugins that will interface with photo gallery software.

Google Jason Klass - not sure what software he uses but he also blogs. So does Calpidder, Balzac, and quite a few others I've frequently referred to for ideas or info on gear items. Sectionhiker.com does a lot of gear posts.

I personally do not blog about gear much, because I write gear reviews.

I suspect Wordpress will be the easiest for you to get started with, since you do not need your own webspace to get one started. Just log in and go.

Yeah--we have a blog on our website. It's not with wordpress, but through Google.

Take a look. It's pretty darn simple, but so is the whole website. Still gives us plenty of options--at least for what we're interested in doing.

I run 2 blogs via Wordpress. My business one I host on my own server space using Wordpress.org but my personal blog I have hosted through Wordpress.com The only add-on I got for my personal blog was buying a URL. If you want to host video it is worth getting the add-on for that, but you can just do that on YouTube for free. And you can add a LOT of photos to a free WP.com run blog.

www.gazingin.com is my personal site (not hiking related but will give you an idea what you can do).

http://blog.trailcooking.com/ is my outdoor blog. You can do very similar with the WP.com setup, outside of running ads on the sidebar.

All three of you have excellent blogs. Thank you for the input. Is it best to keep blogs limited to singular topics? (ie. trail cooking, trip reports, etc) and create separate blogs for other interests? Or can you create "other interest" pages on the same blog? I understand separating professional vs. recreational blogs, but do un-related interests (ie. movie reviews and wilderness topics - yes Im aware those two are not mutually exclusive.;-) ) "clutter" a blog? Im guessing you can create two blogs - link them together on each blog, OR you can create pages/tabs(?) on one blog. Am I making sense? Are those aesthetic issues or practical ones?

I think it depends on you really! I run a separate blog for personal because then I can talk about family, baby, kids, home cooking - which doesn't mesh with business. On the other hand on my Trail Cooking blog I do talk about hiking gear, hiking trips, photos, going 4 wheeling, bike trips - I cover pretty much everything outdoors that we do

Our blog is part of our website...so we feel an obligation to keep it focused on backpacking and the like.

But it's really up to you. You might ask yourself:

1. Why am I writing a blog?

2. To whom am I writing?

3. Where do we share interests?

That would get you started!

Jason Klass uses blogger.

You shouldn't need to buy plugins for a simple blog. I also use blogger and haven't needed any paid plugins. It is very easy to customize and it is even possible to edit the html. There are a lot of free plugins that you can use. Both blogger and wordpress will have communities. Once you decide get advice from them.

I just started the blog 3 months ago and have a very small readership, but it always goes slowly to start.

My recommendation would be to read www.problogger.net. Although it is focused on profit making, I've found that their advice on everything from general setup and focus to design and plugins is excellent.

For most, using Wordpress or blogger just ends up being a personal decision.

If you decide on blogger, let me know and I might be able to give a hand, or at least feedback.

@ balzaccom - Three salient points to consider. Im reminded of the Einstein Quote "A perfection of means and a confusion of aims seems to be our problem" (I first saw in the 1971 Chouinard Catalog, my favorite all time catalog).

@ sarbar - I think wilderness is wilderness, I would toss in everything there. Movies are separate I guess, unless I decide to list or poll wilderness flicks, then I'd add a page for them.

@ Paulo - I found Jason Klass, his blog is nice. I have seen some of his youtube videos. I don't know about blogger, but appreciate your offer of assistance if I go that way.

Yes, you may want to check out using Google. In addition to the blogging, you can also set up a web site, photo gallery and more. If you register a domain name, you can easily redirect in your account setup.


I've been lazy for a while and do need to work on and add to my site features, but you can see some of what I'm working on at: http://www.dirtypursuits.com

@ JPS1021 - Thanks for the heads-up. I liked dirtypursuits (simple, functional, all-in-one-google-deal).
LOVED your photos of Colorado. Some of those are Calendar Quality! (that medieval sculpture was very cool!). I was looking for a new camera and will check out the Nikon Coolpix L22 you said you bought.

Guess it fits that I chose Google to host my sites then. Fits nicely with their clean, simple, fast, use the graphics where they're actually needed concept. Call me crazy, but that's the way I think it should be. No need to use up bandwidth just because it's there!

If you looked at the site, you'll notice I haven't done anything for a while. That is all about to change. Have some restructuring of things on the site to do. Also, I've learned how to create custom Garmin topo maps nad will be creating and releasing them thru Spring. I'll probably distribute full topos, overlay trail maps, gpx and kml files for various areas. Probably send the Garmin install and .img files to www.gpsfiledepot.com though, to save on my file space allocation thru Google.

As for the Nikon L22 camera, it does me well. I actually saw them listed at Frys for $77.00! Plenty enough features for most folks, cheap (in case you break it on the trail) and uses AA batteries so you can replace them if the batteries run out on a long trip. And, as you saw from the blog photos, it can create some very nice photos. Hard to believe that back in the 80s and 90s I used to carry at least 10 lbs of SLR gear in the pack. And now, I think of how I can shave another ounce or two from the 8 I carry!

But, for doing a site, just do it! Forgot about it, but you can also have an email account or accounts set up thru Google Gmail to use with the sites too. Some thing you can't do, like setting up forums, but there are a lot of extra features you can enable thru the use of gadgets and other coding.

Just go for it and see where it takes you. Good luck!

Just wanted to tell you sarbar I really like your websites. That brown sugar frappe sounds delicious on gazingin.

I second that. They're really clean and easy to read. I think I might take some tips.

Oh @peacefrog:
Don't forget to pace yourself. Better to schedule posts and post 1 or 2 good ones a week then run it for a month every day and then run out of things to say.

Paulo - I doubt I could ever run out of things to say! ;-)
I don't post a lot here typically, because people usually are seeking specific information not "conjectured opinion". Like the usual reply in many forums: "why don't you just google that or wiki that" or "I dont have a blog but..."
The great thing about forums/bbs is that hopefully people can connect with others who have actual experience with their specific problems or at the very least can direct you to web info specifically related that might have answers.
I was looking for info about the AT near Lynchburg,VA and posted a request for info on Whiteblaze and sure enough people who lived in Lynchburg and hike the AT were kind enough to supply that info. A blog? You can rant and opioniate like the devil. Make unrelated comments about stuff. etc.

Sarbar - I too add my highest commendations for your blogs.
I have been reading the FBC info...great stuff. And watching your videos on YouTube, very informative and well shot.