What Is Blogger?
Blogger is Google's hosted blogging platform. It allows users to create and publish blogs without having to configure their own web server or install a separate content management system.
Blogger is a hosted publishing platform
Blogger is an online service for creating, managing and publishing blogs.
Google operates the underlying platform and hosting infrastructure, while the blog owner manages the posts, pages, design and settings.
This means a user can publish a website without manually maintaining their own web server.
Blogger combines publishing and hosting
Much of the technical hosting infrastructure is handled by the platform automatically.
Blogger sites can use a Blogspot address
A new Blogger site can be given an address such as:
The blogspot.com domain is used for Blogger-hosted blog addresses.
Blogger and Blogspot are not quite the same thing
Blogger
The publishing and website management platform.
Blogspot
The domain commonly used for Blogger-hosted website addresses.
Blogger can use your own domain
A Blogger site does not have to remain on a .blogspot.com address.
A separately registered domain can be connected to the Blogger site.
The content can remain hosted through Blogger while visitors use the custom domain.
Custom domains are connected using DNS
Blogger provides DNS information that must be added at the provider managing the domain's DNS records.
A typical configuration includes a CNAME for the website hostname.
Blogger also provides a second verification CNAME associated with the particular blog and Google account.
Blogger normally uses a subdomain for a custom domain
A Blogger custom domain is normally configured using a hostname such as:
rather than using only:
The root domain can then be configured to redirect visitors to the www address.
A custom Blogger site can work like this
The domain can be registered with one company while Blogger hosts the website.
Blogger does not have to own your domain
Your domain can be registered through a separate registrar.
This keeps domain registration and website hosting as separate components.
Blogger supports HTTPS
Blogspot addresses use HTTPS automatically.
Blogger also supports HTTPS for properly configured custom domains.
HTTPS encrypts communication between the visitor's browser and the website.
Posts are the main publishing unit
Blogger is designed around publishing posts.
Posts can contain text, images, links, HTML and other content.
Blogger also supports standalone pages
Pages are useful for content that is not primarily part of the chronological blog feed.
Posts and pages have different purposes
| Posts | Pages |
|---|---|
| Usually part of the blog feed | Standalone content |
| Normally date-based | Usually more permanent |
| Useful for articles | Useful for About or Contact content |
Blogger includes a post editor
Content can be created through Blogger's editing interface.
Users can work visually or edit the HTML representation of post and page content.
Blogger allows direct HTML
Blogger can be useful for people who want a simple publishing platform but still want access to HTML.
More advanced page designs can therefore be created without completely replacing the Blogger platform.
Blogger themes can be customised with CSS
CSS can change colours, fonts, spacing, layouts and many other aspects of the design.
JavaScript can add additional behaviour
Custom code can be used to add interactive behaviour to Blogger pages and themes.
This allows Blogger to be extended considerably beyond a basic text blog.
Themes control the appearance of a Blogger site
Blogger provides themes that determine much of the layout and styling of the site.
Blogger themes can also be edited directly
Blogger provides access to the theme's HTML.
This allows advanced users to modify the site's underlying template and add custom HTML, CSS or supported scripts.
Theme editing gives Blogger considerable flexibility. It is possible to make a Blogger site look very different from the default themes when custom code is used.
Blogger uses gadgets for page components
Gadgets can add sections to the site's layout.
Gadgets can normally be positioned through Blogger's Layout interface.
Posts can be organised with labels
Blogger labels act as categories or tags for grouping related articles.
Visitors can then browse posts associated with a particular label.
Blogger maintains a post archive
Published posts have dates and can be organised chronologically.
Blogger provides blog feeds
Blogger can expose published content through feeds.
These feeds can be useful for:
Blogger content can be used programmatically
Feeds and APIs make it possible for software to retrieve Blogger content.
This is how an automatically populated All Posts page can be created without manually updating the list every time a new article is published.
Blogger includes web hosting
A Blogger user does not normally need to purchase separate traditional web hosting for the Blogger site.
This is one of Blogger's most important characteristics.
Blogger is different from running your own server
| Blogger | Self-hosted website |
|---|---|
| Hosting infrastructure managed for you | You arrange hosting |
| Built-in publishing system | You choose or build the software |
| Platform controls server environment | Potentially greater server control |
| Simple administration | Can require more administration |
Blogger and WordPress take different approaches
| Blogger | WordPress |
|---|---|
| Google-hosted publishing platform | Content management system |
| Hosting built into the service | Can be hosted by many providers |
| Theme and gadget system | Theme and plugin ecosystem |
| Designed around straightforward publishing | Can support much broader application structures |
WordPress.com is a hosted WordPress service, while the WordPress software itself can also be hosted elsewhere.
Why might someone use Blogger?
Hosting Included
The site does not require a separately configured traditional hosting account.
Simple Publishing
Posts and pages can be created through a web interface.
Custom Domains
A separately registered domain can be connected.
Code Access
HTML, CSS and theme code can be customised.
Blogger is not a general-purpose server platform
Blogger gives substantial control over content and front-end presentation, but it does not give the site owner the same server-level control as a VPS or self-managed hosting environment.
You cannot simply install any server-side software you want inside Blogger.
What can Blogger be used for?
The simplest way to think about Blogger
Publish without managing the server.
Blogger is Google's hosted blogging and publishing platform. It provides website hosting, posts, pages, themes, gadgets, feeds, HTTPS and support for custom domains. Users manage the content and design while Google operates the underlying Blogger infrastructure.
