We are independent & ad-supported. We may earn a commission for purchases made through our links.
WiseGEEK

Advertiser Disclosure

Our website is an independent, advertising-supported platform. We provide our content free of charge to our readers, and to keep it that way, we rely on revenue generated through advertisements and affiliate partnerships. This means that when you click on certain links on our site and make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn more.

How We Make Money

We sustain our operations through affiliate commissions and advertising. If you click on an affiliate link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission from the merchant at no additional cost to you. We also display advertisements on our website, which help generate revenue to support our work and keep our content free for readers. Our editorial team operates independently from our advertising and affiliate partnerships to ensure that our content remains unbiased and focused on providing you with the best information and recommendations based on thorough research and honest evaluations. To remain transparent, we’ve provided a list of our current affiliate partners here.
Internet

What is a Blog Application?

Mary Elizabeth
By
Updated May 17, 2024
Our promise to you
WiseGEEK is dedicated to creating trustworthy, high-quality content that always prioritizes transparency, integrity, and inclusivity above all else. Our ensure that our content creation and review process includes rigorous fact-checking, evidence-based, and continual updates to ensure accuracy and reliability.

Our Promise to you

Founded in 2002, our company has been a trusted resource for readers seeking informative and engaging content. Our dedication to quality remains unwavering—and will never change. We follow a strict editorial policy, ensuring that our content is authored by highly qualified professionals and edited by subject matter experts. This guarantees that everything we publish is objective, accurate, and trustworthy.

Over the years, we've refined our approach to cover a wide range of topics, providing readers with reliable and practical advice to enhance their knowledge and skills. That's why millions of readers turn to us each year. Join us in celebrating the joy of learning, guided by standards you can trust.

Editorial Standards

At WiseGEEK, we are committed to creating content that you can trust. Our editorial process is designed to ensure that every piece of content we publish is accurate, reliable, and informative.

Our team of experienced writers and editors follows a strict set of guidelines to ensure the highest quality content. We conduct thorough research, fact-check all information, and rely on credible sources to back up our claims. Our content is reviewed by subject matter experts to ensure accuracy and clarity.

We believe in transparency and maintain editorial independence from our advertisers. Our team does not receive direct compensation from advertisers, allowing us to create unbiased content that prioritizes your interests.

A blog is an online writing genre characterized by episodic entries that may be thematically related, related by being a particular person’s thoughts, or be sequential in time like a diary or log. In fact, the word blog is short for weblog — a log of events maintained on a website. A blog application is a software program that provides an online environment and features for a blogger. A blog application may be open source software used by many people or built from scratch by the blogger. A blog application may also be referred to as weblog software or blogware and can be considered a particular use of a CMS (Content Management System).

Hosted weblog applications, downloadable software, and blogware that can be hosted by the blogger’s ISP (Internet Service Provider) are all available. Each of these models could have a basic version that is free, possibly with added options available for a fee, or the software could be proprietary and only available through a licensing agreement. Many bloggers use Blogger® or the hosted version of WordPress® or MovableType® — the hosted version of the latter is called Typepad® — for example. A hosted blog application may or may not be paired with a downloadable option. WordPress® and TypePad® are; Blogger® is not.

While hosted blog applications provide quick set-up and ease of use, they may have limitations that a blogger who uses his or her blog professionally may wish to overcome. Although many blogging tips and tricks can be found on the blogware forums and on blogs about blogging, a certain group of bloggers will prefer the extensibility of the downloadable versions or even design their own from, for example, ASP.NET (Active Server Page for dot-net, also known as ASP+), JavaScript®, and OLE DB (OLE DataBase).

In general, many add-ons and plug-ins are available for any popular weblog application that a blogger might choose to use. These include free and licensed theme templates to provide a particular look and feed, enable ecommerce, or serve as a means of offering the blogger extensive control over the look-and-feel of his or her site. Plug-ins add many different kinds of functionality including calendars, tag clouds, recent post lists, statistics packages, connections with social networking sites, such as Twitter® and Facebook®, ecommerce capability, etc. Professional developers are also available to provide custom-made templates or blog design, as well as for assistance in integrating a blog into an existing website.

WiseGEEK is dedicated to providing accurate and trustworthy information. We carefully select reputable sources and employ a rigorous fact-checking process to maintain the highest standards. To learn more about our commitment to accuracy, read our editorial process.
Mary Elizabeth
By Mary Elizabeth
Passionate about reading, writing, and research, Mary Elizabeth is dedicated to correcting misinformation on the Internet. In addition to writing articles on art, literature, and music for WiseGEEK, Mary works as a teacher, composer, and author who has written books, study guides, and teaching materials. Mary has also created music composition content for Sibelius Software. She earned her B.A. from University of Chicago's writing program and an M.A. from the University of Vermont.
See our Editorial Process Share Feedback

Related Articles

Discussion Comments

Mary Elizabeth

Mary Elizabeth

Passionate about reading, writing, and research, Mary Elizabeth is dedicated to correcting misinformation on the Internet. In addition to writing articles on art, literature, and music for WiseGEEK, Mary works as a teacher, composer, and author who has written books, study guides, and teaching materials. Mary has also created music composition content for Sibelius Software. She earned her B.A. from University of Chicago's writing program and an M.A. from the University of Vermont.
WiseGEEK, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.

WiseGEEK, in your inbox

Our latest articles, guides, and more, delivered daily.