Web (2.0)

Weekly Read: Upstart Blogger

By EAN ⋅ February 24, 2008 ⋅  Email this Post ⋅  Print this Post ⋅ Post a Comment

If you’ve ever had the desire to start your own blog, there are hundreds of sites to check out. Thousands even. A lot of these sites provide some pretty good information for beginners, but you really have to piece everything together here and there if you want to get the complete package. Some pages have themes, some have information about ads, and others have methods to get to the top of social bookmarking sites. But a site that combines all of that information–those are few and far between.

Several months back, when I was looking for my first theme, I came across a site called Upstart Blogger. It offered something I had never seen before. A mix of themes, well written articles on how to blog, and a great page dedicated to helping people start a semi-profitable blog in 30 days. It was so informative that I just had to stick around.

While the content on Upstart Blogger is exceptional, a lot of people think of the theme as hit or miss. I actually love it. There’s something about a site that is almost completely devoid of pictures that feels very powerful, very authoritative. With only the words on the screen to carry the reader along, you know there is going to be some powerful prose packed into each post. As for the abundant use of underscores–fantastic. Very few sites are willing to try something truly unique, and the typography at Upstart Blogger borders on perfection.

Despite the overall good design, Upstart Blogger’s homepage suffers from problematic navigation. It’s the first blog I’ve seen that includes a post’s permalink under the excerpt–and it doesn’t work too well. I welcome design that breaks out of the box, but some things should be standardized.

Unlike so many other blogging tip sites, Upstart Blogger is not just about putting words on a page. There’s a real sense of commitment to the whole blogging medium as well, and nothing showcases that commitment better than the growing set of custom downloadable Wordpress themes offered on the site. They’re all Creative Commons licensed and most of them are worth checking out if you’re into minimalist design. Impressive work all around.

The only real drawback of Upstart Blogger that I can see is that they are mostly directed to Wordpress bloggers. If you’re using another platform, they have some good general tips, but a lot of the content is Wordpress specific.