Blog, forum or website: which should you start?
They all live at an address like yourname.co.uk, but they do different jobs. The quickest way to choose is to ask who will be writing, and how often.
The one-question test
| Who writes on it? | How often does it change? | You probably want |
|---|---|---|
| You (or your business), occasionally | A few times a year | A website: a handful of fixed pages |
| You, regularly | Weekly or monthly posts | A blog: dated posts, newest first |
| Your members, all the time | Every day, by many people | A forum: threads and replies by members |
| A group, building up knowledge | Steadily, by trusted editors | A wiki: pages anyone you allow can edit |
A website
A website is a small set of pages that rarely change: home, about, services, contact. It’s right for a small business, a CV, a portfolio, a club’s basic information or an event.
- Build it with: plain HTML (start from a free template) or WordPress.
- Time to look after: very little. An HTML site has nothing to update; WordPress needs updates every few weeks.
- Next: website hosting, step by step.
A blog
A blog is a website with a stream of dated posts, newest first, usually with categories and comments. It suits writing, recipes, travel, a hobby, a business’s news or a personal project.
- Build it with: WordPress, which was made for exactly this.
- Time to look after: your writing, plus updates and the occasional comment-spam check.
- Next: blog hosting and create a blog.
A forum
A forum is a place where members start and reply to discussions, organised into boards. It suits communities, clubs, gaming groups, support groups and hobby enthusiasts. A forum only works with people in it, so it suits groups that already exist or a topic people are hungry to discuss.
- Build it with: SMF, phpBB or MyBB: which forum software?
- Time to look after: more than the others. You need moderation, spam control and software updates, and someone has to keep conversations going in the early days.
- Next: forum hosting and running a forum.
You can have more than one
One Traxio account includes one domain plus subdomains, so you don’t have to choose just one. A common set-up:
- yourname.co.uk: the website (or a blog)
- forum.yourname.co.uk: the forum
- wiki.yourname.co.uk: the wiki, if you need one
Create a subdomain for each, then install the software into it. One database is included, enough for one database-driven app such as WordPress, a forum or MediaWiki. To run two side by side, pair one with something that needs no database (a plain HTML site or DokuWiki), or install the second by hand into the same database with its own table prefix, which most PHP apps support.
Start small. If you’re unsure, begin with a website or blog and add a forum when people start asking where to talk. An empty forum puts visitors off more than having no forum at all.
Common mixes
- A club: a simple website with dates and how to join, plus a members-only forum. Clubs and community groups.
- A gaming clan: a forum first, with a wiki for guides. Forum hosting.
- A small business: a website, with a blog for news if you’ll really keep it up. An abandoned blog with a 2023 post on top looks worse than none. Small business websites.
- A writer or creator: a blog, with a portfolio page. Portfolios.
Your first 30 days are free.
Then it’s £0.99 a month for the same hosting. No card to start, no setup fee, and the same price next year.
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- £0.99 a month afterwards
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