Hi KC,
I know there are a ton of blogging tools out there - some free, some not free. I'm biased towards WordPress because it's one of the best blogging tools available for free, in my opinion. What was unwieldy about it?
If you're looking for a
hosted blog solution, there are the following:
- TypePad - Commercial. You will have yoursite.typepad.com, but they do offer domain mapping on some of their top tier plans.
- WordPress.com - Free. A hosted version of the stand alone WordPress software, you can upgrade in order to have domain mapping.
- Blogger - Free. Doesn't have nearly as many features as the others mentioned, though the new version does have domain mapping, if I'm not mistaken. You've already mentioned that you didn't like Blogger.
- LiveJournal - Owned by SixApart (TypePad & Movable Type). Free and Commercial, but wouldn't recommend for professional purposes.
- Square Space - Commercial. I haven't used their service, but I've heard great things about them. Check out their features for a complete overview.
Stand alone blogging software
- WordPress - Free. In my opinion, one of the best because of its community and flexibility.
- Expression Engine - Commercial (their core is free, but not for the faint of heart). I've only used pMachine, but can tell that it's pretty good software. Some users swear by it.
- Movable Type - Commercial (free personal license available). I personally am not a fan, but it tends to be where the big businesses lean when they want a blog. Build with Perl instead of PHP.
If you're looking for a desktop blog editor, which is what Windows Live Writer is, then I'd suggest looking at alternatives like
BlogJet,
BlogDesk,
Zoundry or
w.Bloggar.
There are plenty of others, you need only do a Google search to find some.
~ Teli