Choose a Blog Tool

Blog planning—Step 4 of 7

There are many blog platforms and tools available for government agencies. It’s important to find one that not only meets your needs, but also meets government requirements.

Develop requirements     

• What are your overall goals, budget, and technical capabilities?
• Decide whether a particular tool is affordable, fits into your current infrastructure, and gives you what you need to meet the goals of your blog.
• Do you need a hosted or stand-alone blog?
  • Hosted blog: a company provides the space to store (host) your blog. Blog hosting may be free or fee-based, and each company may offer a different array of services.
  • Stand-alone blog: you host your blog on your own network. It allows great freedom to customize your blog, and gives you full control of the design; however, it is more complicated and costly than a hosted blog.
• Will your blog be written by one person, or multiple authors?
  • Multiple-author blogging has different requirements, such as separate accounts for each blogger.
• Where will you post?
• Do you need a tool that allows remote posting, from mobile devices, etc.?
• Does the tool comply with these government policies?
• Section 508 accessibility guidelines, to ensure it’s accessible for people with disabilities.
• FISMA (Federal Information Security Management Act), to ensure it’s in a securely hosted environment.

Find a tool

• Federal-compatible Terms of Service Agreements have been negotiated for many free, open-source blog tools, such as Blogger.com and Wordpress.com.
• See an assessment of blog software on Wikipedia.

Once you’ve chosen the right tool, you’ll need training.

Review all steps at a glance on the How to Blog page.

Content Lead: Lisa Nelson
Page Reviewed/Updated: July 27, 2012