TopTenREVIEWS

By Havalah Gholdston

Xanga’s classic account offers a variety of blog software templates and you can easily change the appearance further with a little HTML knowledge. They offer simple templates as well as advanced options, which we always like to see. A set up wizard guides you through the sign up and creation of your blog.

The free account is great to get you started but the features, storage and image options (which aren't many to begin with) are fairly limited unless you pay for a subscription.

Xanga also has a fairly large and active community - the home page shows featured articles as well as many specialty communities you can join or read. None of the traditional XML-based feed options (RSS and Atom) are integrated in Xanga.

Xanga Screenshots

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Design Tools:

At the beginning choose from 60 template themes – Xanga automatically makes your first post for you – there is an automated welcome message or you can write your own.

They don’t have emoticons to work with, but they have something called minis – these are miniature animations describing a thought or feeling with a cutesy character and saying.

This blog software program supports audio, video and image uploads. With their free download you can utilize a tool that supports quick multiple image uploads. The blog entry interface is better than most since it enables you to change font and fill color as well as insert images, links, symbols and smileys. It also has bullet points, numbered lists, borders, indent and outdent capabilities.

Publishing and Tracking Tools:

Paying for premium will get you 10GB of space as opposed to the 1GB you get for free. The publishing tools are the same. Added security features include an unlimited number of max members per list. Email posting is an added capability as well as downloadable archives. You also get no ads and 99 profile pics instead of the lowly 3 you get for free.

This just goes to prove that the so-called free services are 99% of the time little more than marketing teasers designed to familiarize yourself with the program, then realize you “need” more out of it (because they purposely withheld functions). So yeah, it pays to pay.

Xanga will send you emails with your site stats showing who commented or gave you “eProps”.

Software/Hosting:

Premium prices:

$4 = 1 Month (+100 bonus credits)
$15 = 6 Months (+375 bonus credits)
$25 (USD) = 12 Months (+625 bonus credits)
$100 = Lifetime (+2500 bonus credits)

The service proved to be a bit of a trickster about upgrading – there was no indication this added service level is even available until we attempted to download 4 user pics (1 over the allotment for a free account).

Tech Support/Help:

Tech Support for the Xanga blog software is completely respectable: searchable knowledge base organized by tasks, FAQs and a link to contact them at the bottom of every category.

Posting to your Xanga, Your Account, Design & Layout. Codes, Comments & Eprops, Profiles, Media, Premium, Emails, Finding Other Xangans and Miscellaneous are the help categories.

Summary:

Xanga has many social networking aspects but doesn’t display sexual material on their home page so it is a good choice for most bloggers. However, this site is more for personal journals or blogging, rather than business blogs. If you need a business blog see TypePad or WordPress.