3 Blog Platform Comparison

This is a part of my report to ease your website starting.

There are many widely used blog platforms: WordPress, Blogger, Windows Live Spaces, Sina blog, Renren, Q-ZONE, etc. At first we planned to establish our website on Blogger or Renren just because of its ease. So we built 2 demos: one on Blogger http://wdhhealthbit.blogspot.com/, the other on Renren http://zhan.renren.com/ehealth to test whether its function could afford our work and make a comparison.

Our website on Blogger

Our website on Renren

A comparison between Blogger, Renren and WordPress

	Blogger	Renren	WordPress
Function	Limited	Too simple	Unlimited
Role control	No	No	Support
Plugin& theme	Simple, few	Very Simple, few	Extensive
Database	No	No	MySQL
Development Difficulty	Easy	Easy (hard for 3rd-party development)	A bit difficult*
3rd-party development	Blogger hack	No	php (open source)
Compatibility	Very good	Very good	So-so**
Stability	Very stable	Very stable	Depending on the manager**
Security	very good	very good	Depending on the manager**
Privacy	Maybe good (Google "Don't Be Evil"?)	Maybe good	Depending on space provider
Cost	No	No	Independent domain& space

* If you want develop your own code, it would be difficult as programming skills required; however, the website will become very powerful and distinctive.

** Internet& website management experience and skills are also needed; I have met some trouble even breaking down our site by hacking just because of my lack of Internet experience.

By comparing these 2 demos, we also a conclusion that Renren is too simple to achieve our basic function; we could achieve additional function by Blogger hack but it is very complex; because of the open source php source code, we could rewrite the code or program new code to implement functions required like in-site messages, different roles and Danmu video sharing we planned on the Blog.

WordPress is a platform more than blog. There are too many powerful API provided by WordPress. We could use to achieve function even access the SQL database so that any social networking and social analysis perspective could be implemented.

Our website on WordPress platform

Danmu Video: a Cute Social Multimedia

This is a part of my report. Someone would be very interested in danmu. 

Danmu video site is a branch of the video sharing site. Unlike other video sharing sites, however, comments are overlaid directly onto the video which called ‘danmu’ or instant roast, synced to a specific playback time. This allows comments to respond directly to events occurring in the video, in sync with the viewer—creating a sense of a shared watching experience.

Danmu appearing on the video screen while playback ensures that all viewers can notice them in order to achieve the interaction between the viewers, even with expression of praise or comment the work to increase the viewing pleasure: when many viewers intend to highlights some meaning of a point at the same time, it will fill in a lot of reviews for the video or the period of continuous video playback that the screen is obscured by these subtitles, like feeling a large number of bullets blowing on the battlefield hail.

Bilibili "CPU testing"

As more danmu means more popular, this kind of social multimedia seems to be more impactive than traditional. Your comments will also become a part of the works, and in some works, danmu is more interesting than the works itself. Seeing amount of danmu flying over his/her work, it is a very efficient courage for the authors.

With Mukioplayer, an amazing WordPress plugin, almost without programming, our group's website could support Danmu video playback and seems very similar with Bilibili.

Our danmu website

However, based on a large number of destructive and sheltered danmu seriously affecting normal viewing, and it would cause a great deal of computing pressure on the watcher’s computer CPU, in particular, the specific time point burst danmu becomes more apparent. So there is a serious problem playback on smartphones and tablets even the mobile clients are published. And the watch won’t pay attention on each comment just as they are too many. So there is hardly any interaction between two watchers through danmu. Only the watchers would notice is the author, it is not propitious to promote interaction between specified watchers.

During our testing, it seems that this kind of video sharing is not very suitable for our website. As Danmu is biased in favor of the ACG class work, such as animations original, relevant music or individual play, the second creation, colleagues, MAD, spoof works, its application may be limited. In our website, there is not too many videos which could attract too many Danmu because our website is biased in health and most videos are suitable for this kind of playback.

Reference

视频弹幕网站

WordPress

Mukioplayer