Wordpress vs Blogger: The Age Old Battle

"Once I make up my mind, I'm full of indecision."

- Oscar Levant

I began my morning yesterday with a hastily-read article on the merits of Wordpress.

Being ultimately impressionable, I created a Wordpress account and proceeded to scroll merrily though the templates. I mean, if there's one thing I can never erase about myself, it's this: I love searching for templates. 

Templates are cool. Templates are awesome. And OMG, I was going to re-design my entire blog!

The nerd in me was exultant.

So I searched.

And searched some more. 

... and then I kept right on searching, recycling through the ones I'd already seen in a desperate bid to find a suitable template.

After about four hours, I had to acknowledge the dark frustration that had begun to fester in my chest: WORDPRESS HAS THE WORST COLLECTION OF FREE TEMPLATES I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.

I was going barmy clicking through each of the odd hundred or so templates. How do other people do this? How are they satisfied with their templates? Am I just fussy and neurotic? I mean, if it isn't an ugly font, it's an ugly grey border that refuses to be eradicated sans the requisite $30 a year just to get your hands on the CSS.

Then, in my darkest hour when it seemed like all hope was lost, the $65 Watson theme unfurled its seductive tendrils and beckoned...

"Look at me," said the Watson theme in a husky dulcet tone. "Look at how minimal I am - I'm everything you're looking for in a template. Sticky post function, clean header space AND a proper sidebar! You'd be so happy on Wordpress with me ... Buy me ... buy me ... buy me ..."

"NO!" I howled in agony. "SIXTY-FIVE DOLLARS FOR SOMETHING I CAN'T EVEN WEAR IS DAYLIGHT ROBBERY!" 

"Well, I don't know about it being daylight robbery," said the Watson theme icily. "I really prefer to think of myself as a safe and necessary investment. Kind of like bonds."

"Did you really just compare yourself to bonds? Bonds have returns ... eventually. You're just a black hole! I'm going to regret you the minute I hand over my credit card details!" 

"You dropped $175 on an Isabel Marant canvas tote last month just because it had sequinned accents, who's the black hole here?"

"OMG. Who told you about that?"

"I know everything," said the Watson theme flippantly. "I'm like Google, only cuter 'cos my tags are framed in black boxes. Buy me, and find out what else I can do..."

I rubbed my eyes in disbelief. "This conversation is over. I'm heading back to Blogger."

"Why won't you buy me? You buy just about everything else," said the Watson theme sulkily. "BUY MEEEE!!!"

As the last shriek of the Watson theme's banshee call faded into oblivion, so it came to be that I COULD NOT FIND A SUITABLE THEME ON WORDPRESS WITHOUT DOLING OUT A WAD OF CASH. 

Until I figure out a way to mould a template to my fancy over on Wordpress (or until they come up with something better), Raincloud for Rent shall remain on Blogger, where I hope Google will not delete my work on a fanciful whim. <-- 48 hours ago, I hadn't even realized that this was a legitimate threat.

... Blogging in 2012 is so much harder than it was at the turn of the century.







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