WordPress or MovableType

These days, if you’re going to blog, or if you are already blogging, then you’ve probably come across at least one, if not both, these names.  Based on my own searches, I’m guessing these are the top two cms products available right now, but which is really the top?  And does it matter?

I have this blog running WordPress 2.5, and I have a second blog running MovableType 4.1 (but I don’t maintain that blog, I just use it for testing different software.)  I can say that the install was much quicker and probably, from the average user’s view, simpler to install and setup with WP than with MT.  WP just about set itself up completely once the process started, whereas MT required a bit more user input including creating the database myself.  (Not horribly complicated, but could be an intimidating step for some users.)

Both systems provide a dashboard for creating and managing content, which are fairly easy to use and navigate through.  Although, I personally prefer that of WP, I can’t say that one or the other is superior.  I think it’s a preference for look and feel, which varies day to day.  You’ll have to load each and decide if it matters to you.  They are both done well enough that this probably won’t be your limiting factor.

WP and MT allow addons, or plugins.  So this is probably a toss-up as well.  Although, some may argue that MT comes loaded with certain features that would require a plugin in WP.  To which I would aruge, again, that this is only an issue of preference and isn’t a final determining factor since features in one system are available in the other system.

Spam filtering, is probably one of the biggest issues after ease of use and installation.  I haven’t had much experience with the MT spam filter since I don’t actively blog with it, but I have had quite a bit of use with WP, and I can say that it has caught quite a bit of spam.  WP clearly sorts out the spam and labels it for my review and removal.  It’s a breeze.

Overall, I like them both, but probably will not switch this particular blog from WP to MT.  MT is a worthy blogging software, but I couldn’t find an easy migration tool.  If I decide to maintain a new blog in the future, I’ll revisit the issue and possibly switch to MT.  MT does appeal to my geek and tweak style, so it has that going for it.

Update: After snooping around each platform a bit more, I found that it is pretty easy to migrate entries from one system to the other using the import/export feature.  I did lose my formatting when going from WP to MT, but I guess if you don’t have a ton of entries, you could easily go in and fix that.  Although, there may be a way to keep the formatting.

WordPress or MovableType was first posted to justinll.com on June 18, 2008.

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