Travelpod and online blog/journal
I received an email a few days ago advising that come mid-June Travelpod, the online blogging platform, free and simple to use I might add, will sadly be no more. After more than four years of using this on our iPad to record our extended trips in Europe not to mention keeping numerous friends and family aware of what we are up to, I am looking to find an alternative. After a brief search, I have come across the app for Journi which gets good reviews and appears quite straightforward for those who are not computer experts such as me. Would appreciate comments from those with experience of this or others. We are currently mid-trip, well less than half way of a 3-month stay in France, though not meaning to gloat for those still in the rat race (!), so would like to get my replacement blog up and running before too long.
Comments
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LynniB
I had no idea that Travelpod was run by Trip Advisor, see here. I can't really offer a solution as I use a web hosting service to run Caravantravels because it gives me more control, providing I pay the bills!!! There are a lot of people out there using Travelpod including several that post here. Will existing blogs be saved or lost. I appreciate the amount of work that goes into these things so I hope you can find a suitable alternative.
Good Luck
David
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Depends how much you want to write but just before my last trip I discovered >Polarsteps< and I recorded my >outward< and >homeward< journeys on it. I found it easy to use. It can track you in near real time if you want to keep anyone informed of your whereabouts. I also posted about this App >here<. Like David I also record my journeys to my own web site.
Do you not save your blogs to a local disk so you can copy them to a new site?
peedee
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I use Travelpod as well and was so surprised to see it finishing. We found it invaluable for keeping friends and family posted during our long trips and I was always amazed at how many "strangers" read the blogs too.
Travelpod have produced a mini program which will save and download all your blogs to your own computer, so they are not lost. They also download an "XML format" so you can upload it to wordpress.
Like Lynn, I am wondering where to put it for the future. Are Wordpress websites easy to build? Do they cost?
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Wordpress looks like a good option as an alternative but I can't answer the question on how easy they are. It seems you might have to have a domaine name but these are not usually that expensive, less that £20 a year and sometimes free for the first couple of years.
David
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I had considered Wordpress since I follow the excellent Baxterbus, but on searching I thought it all sounded quite involved and beyond me now. I also don't want anything that involves cost or subscriptions so domain names and all that mularkey is no go. Have got a little while yet but in the meantime it would be really helpful to hear from anyone who has used Journi.
Being mid-trip I shall need to investigate how to do the back-up since I just have the iPod with us, but perhaps the pre-published versions created on the app will be sufficient.
Many thanks for comments to date.
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Having had a look at the Baxterbus blog you might not need a domain name as it includes Wordpress in the URL. Have you thought about contacting the people that write Baxterbus to get their view on ease of use, etc?
David
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Having the same angst.
Travelpod was excellent and they have had the decency to warn users and set up decent downloads which I've done.
The html versions allow you to view your blogs on your own PC and print them out if you wish, you can get the site to print the blogs into books if you wish.
I've found the following:
Google Blogger: free, seems easy to use but doesn't appear to allow the Travelpod .xml files to upload (all solutions gratefully received!) may yet decide on this providing I don't want to restore all our previous trips (see below)
Wordpress (basic) is free but you can't upload videos (you need the paid version for that with your own domain which I haven't investigated although there's a massive user base and support.
I tested uploading of a Travelpod file which went in seamlessly BUT you have to upload all of the pictures into a media folder and re-place them in the blog you can't just upload the words and pictures together (so some additional work if you want to restore your previous travels)
I think it's fairly easy to get started and use.
However, the big advantage I see in both of the above is the likelihood of them being around for a while and remaining free (if their limitations are acceptable)
Just looked at Journi but as I use a laptop and compact camera it doesn't suit me as it's totally on an app? Plus the possible lack of longevity worries me although their model seems to be free basic with paid additional services and storage.
One other point which may help is that I find pictures only need to be 640 x 480 pixels becasue they will upload (really useful for poor site Wi-Fi) and download faster, reduce bandwidth and storage requirements which may help keep you in the free package regime (sites may have their own ways and may reduce resolution anyway)
Will follow this thread with interest as I need to make a choice before our next trip.
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I think Travelpod say be careful using a mobile device as there may be data charges or it may soak up your storage depending on the size of your blogs.
They also suggest Travelark (which may suffer from the longevity issue as it's a Travelpod enthusiast who has taken it on?
It gives other potential solutions and blogging sites and may go on to be another platform?
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Travelpod say be careful using mobile devices since there may be data charges or storage issues depending on the size of your blogs.
They suggest Travelark:
This is a site to store your blogs, points to other platforms and is asking for investment to possibly become another platform. It has been started by a Travelpod enthusiast.
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What is the point of blogs? I just jot things down in an exercise book if I want to remember them. Nobody else will want to know.
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I thought the same Eurortraveller, then realised it would save the cost of postcards and stamps. Then having our first blog up and running, I realised how many other people would find it interesting or useful. My Travelpod blogs are currently standing at over 52,000 hits. Several hundred this year and we have not made an entry since last May.
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ET
To someone as experienced as you probably no point at all. However there are thousands of people out there who are either totally inexperienced or for example want to try a country they have not visited before who find blogs of great interest and informative, certainly if my inbox is anything to go by. In the days when we used to read books who was not inspired by Eric Newby or Laurie Lee?
David
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Alan
Truer than you imagine!!!!
David
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My main reason for starting the travel blog was to keep family, friends and former work colleagues informed of what we were doing on our big adventure. The latter group in particular were curious after I resigned from my job mainly due to new management bringing in a new policy of not taking any more than two weeks of annual leave in the summer. No good at all for dragging the caravan into France. In retrospect they did me, and my OH who had already taken early retirement with a respectable pension, a favour as since the end of April 2013 we have never looked back. In fact we tend to look more 'forward' in planning where we would like to go and see the next year.
Anyhow, back to the question of how to blog after mid-June. I have looked at the app for Wordpress and it requires a higher operating system than I have on my iPad and even if an update was released I would be dubious about downloading as last time I had huge problems restoring the system. So it's looking like giving Journi a go since the reviews are good so far. Watch this space.
Thanks for all contributions so far.
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Yes - Wordpress is a good option and if I can use it, it must be easy - although I don't make use of all the gizmos. Basic membership is free. There's a wide choice of themes with each one giving the blog a different appearance. The one I use is twentythirteen. Wordpress and your name will make up the domain name. Pictures are easily added to the library and they can be reproduced in different sizes although larger they are, the quicker the allowance is used. For £30 per year you have your own domain name and storage appears to be unlimited. Mine is here
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