Blog Software Breakdown

Even before the whole Movable Type fallout, I had been trying to decide which of the many weblog CMS packages would be best for my needs. (Choice made!) I got tired of flipping back and forth between each of the sites, especially when not all of the answers to my questions were apparent from simply reading the main web page.

This chart displays attributes of different user-installed blog software packages side-by-side for comparison. Only server-installed scripts will be included in this list. (Sorry, no Radio, Blogger, etc.) I created this chart to help figure out what blog tool best suited my needs. Hopefully, it will be useful to the self-hosted blogging community as well.

If you have more complete information about any of these packages, please email that information along with the URL to your blog to "blogware[at]midnightcircus[dot]com". I will integrate your info and add your site to the example site lists at the bottom of the chart.
I have created an Excell spreadsheet to make this easier. You can download it here. Just forward the file to the specified address when you've added your info!

If you have any suggestions for criteria to include in the chart, please include that, too. If your favorite software is not listed here, please mention it and I will attempt to add it. If you are part of a development group for any of the mentioned software, feel free to submit updates regarding upgrades. If I have made a mistake somewhere, please email me with a correction and I will do my best to apply it.

Be sure to stop back as the chart becomes more complete.

Unverified features

I have received a few new submissions since a link to this page appeared on Slashdot. For the sake of getting them online quickly in the interest of these visitors, I added these directly and have not verified the features by hand. I trust that the interested folks who have supplied the data have given me good info, but you should use your own judgement, so I'll list these here until I verify them myself:

Nucleus
SPIP
Blojsom
BLOG:CMS

If you notice discrepencies between the actual features of any tool listed here and what I have in the chart, feel free to email a correction.

Blog Software Chart

In alphabetical order. Entries with † symbol indicate non-default functionality provided by plugins.

	b2Evolution	bBlog	BLOG:CMS	Blojsom	Blosxom	Expression Engine	MovableType	Nucleus		Pivot	pMachine Pro	Serendipity	SPIP	.Text	TextPattern	WordPress
Current Version	0.9.0.8 Oslo	0.7.2	3.0 final	2.15	2	1.0	3.0	3.0	Current Version	1.14	2.3	0.6.5-CVS	1.7.2	0.95	Gamma 1.18a	1.2 Mingus
Home URL	here	here	here	here	here	here	here	here	Home URL	here	here	here	here	here	here	here
Trial URL	here	OSCMS	here			here		OSCMS	Trial URL		here	OSCMS	OSCMS		OSCMS	OSCMS
License	GPL	GPL	GPL	BSD	MIT	Personal/Commercial	Non-Commercial	GPL	License	GPL	Personal/Commercial	BSD	GPL	BSD	BSD	GPL
Cost (US$)	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free	$149/$199	Free	Free	Cost (US$)	Free	$45/$125	Free	Free	Free	Free	Free
Minimum Server Requirements	PHP 4.1 MySQL 3.23	PHP 4.1 MySQL	MySQL 3.23.28 PHP 4.0.6 (or PHP 5.0.0)	Java 1.4 Servlet 2.3/JSP 1.2-compliant app server (e.g. Tomcat)	Perl 4 or 5	PHP 4.1 PHP XML MySQL 3.23.32	Perl 5.004_04 Berkeley DB/MySQL/ SQLLite/PostgreSQL	PHP 4.1 MySQL 3.23.38	Minimum Server Requirements	PHP 4.0.6	PHP 4.06 MySQL 3.23	PHP 4.1 MySQL 3/ PostgreSQL	PHP 3 MySQL 3.23	Windows 2000 Server .NET Framework SQL Server	PHP MySQL	PHP 4.1 MySQL 3.23.23
Localization	cs-CZ de-DE en-EU en-UK en-US en-CA en-AU es-ES fr-FR fr-CA it-IT ja-JP lt-LT nb-NO nl-NL nl-BE pt-BR sv-SE zh-CN zh-TW	en	cs, de, en, es, fr, zh, ru, ja, ko, nl, it, lv, sk, fi, gl, fa, ta, tl, pt, pt-br	en-US	en	en, ca, zh, nl, fi, fr, de, hu, it, ja, pt, es	en, ca, zh, da, nl, et, fr, de, el, he, hi, hu, is, id, it, ja, ko, la, ms, no, fa, pt, ru, sv, ur, cy	en, es, de, fr, zh, ru, ja, ko, nl, it, cs, lv, sk, fi, gl, fa, ta, tl, pt, pt-br	Localization	chi/ace, cz/cs, de, ee, en, fr, fry, it,kor, lv, nl, ru, se, sk, spa	en, zh, cs, da, nl, fi, fr, de, id, hu, ja, ko, no, it, fa, pt, ru, sk, sl, sp	en,de,fr,cz,da,spa	en, fr, ar, bg, ca, cpf, da, de, eo, es, fa, gl, it, nl, oc, pl, pt, vi, zh		en, de	ar, en-GB, en-CA, es-ES, fr, ja, de-DE, nl-NL, sv-SE, it-IT, hi
Multilingual	Yes		Yes†	Yes			Yes	No	Multilingual			Yes	Yes	No		Yes
Data Storage	Database	Database	Database	Flat Files	Data File	Database	Flat Files	Database	Data Storage	Flat Files	Database	Database	Database	Database	Database	Database
	b2Evolution	bBlog	BLOG:CMS	Blojsom	Blosxom	Expression Engine	MT	Nucleus		Pivot	pMachine Pro	Serendipity	SPIP	.Text	TextPattern	WordPress
Max. Weblogs	Unlimited	1	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Max. Weblogs	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	1
Multiple Sites		No	No	No			Up to 3	No	Multiple Sites			No	Yes†	Yes		No
Post Ordering	ascending descending alphabetical category		ascending descending alphabetical category	descending ascending† alphabetical category	ascending descending alphabetical category		ascending descending alphabetical category	ascending descending alphabetical category	Post Ordering			descending category	ascending descending alphabetical category	ascending descending category		ascending descending alphabetical category
Categories	Multiple	Multiple	Single (Multiple†)	Single	Single (Multiple†)	Multiple	Multiple	Single	Categories	Multiple	Single	Multiple	Multipl		Multiple	Multiple
Subcategories	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Subcategories	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Keywords	No	No	Yes	Yes†	Yes†	No	Yes	Yes	Keywords	No	No	No	Yes		Yes	No
Default Post Fields	3	2	3	9		4	4	3	Default Post Fields	4	4	7	7		3	3*
Max Post Fields	3	2	Unlimited	9		Unlimited	4	Unlimited†	Max Post Fields	4	7	Unlimited†	Unlimited		6	Unlimited
Post Editor	Plugin Based	Plugin Based	Textarea HTML	Plugin Based	Plugin Based	Textile	Textarea	Textarea HTML Plugin based	Post Editor	Textarea HTML Textile	Textarea	Textarea HTML Plugin Based	HTML		Textile	Plugin Based
Draft Mode	Yes+	Yes	Yes	Yes†	Yes+	Yes+	Yes	Yes	Draft Mode	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes+		Yes+	Yes
Post API Support	Blogger b2	MetaWeblog	Blogger MetaWeblog MovableType BLOG:CMS	Blogger MetaWeblog Atom		No	Atom Blogger MetaWeblog MovableType	Blogger MetaWeblog MovableType Nucleus	Post API Support	No	Blogger	Blogger	No			Blogger MetaWeblog MovableType
Post Moderation	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes†	Post Moderation	No	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes
Post Pings	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes†	Yes	Yes	Yes	Post Pings	Yes	No	Yes	No		Yes	Yes
Bookmarklets	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes†	Yes	Yes	Yes	Bookmarklets	Yes	Yes	No	Yes†		No	Yes
	b2Evolution	bBlog	BLOG:CMS	Blojsom	Blosxom	Expression Engine	MT	Nucleus		Pivot	pMachine Pro	Serendipity	SPIP	.Text	TextPattern	WordPress
RSS Output	0.92, 2.0, RDF	2.0	0.91, 2.0 RDF	0.92, 2.0, RDF	0.92	Yes	2.0, RDF	0.92, 2.0, RDF	RSS Output	2.0	Yes	0.92, 1.0, 2.0	0.91, 1.0, 2.0	2.0	0.92	0.92, 2.0, RDF
Atom Output	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	0.3	Yes	0.3	0.3	Atom Output	0.3	Yes	0.3	No	0.3	0.3	0.3
Comments	Yes	Threaded	Yes	Yes	Yes†	Yes	Yes	Yes	Comments	Yes	Yes	Threaded	Threaded	Yes	Yes	Yes
Comment Spam	login filtering blacklist	moderate delay duplicate shutoff	moderate filtering members ipban userban	ipban duplicate disable shutoff	?†	login filtering captcha duplicate ipban userban	login moderate ipban delay	login ipban moderate† delay shutoff† blacklist	Comment Spam	duplicate ipban blacklist	login delay	redirection plugin	moderate	none	delay	massedit moderate blacklist ipban linkcount others†
Comment RSS	Yes	No	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes†	Comment RSS	No		Yes	Yes†	No	No	Yes
Template Storage	PHP File	Flat File	Database	Flat File	Flat File	Database	Flat File/ Database	Database	Template Storage	Data File	Database	PHP File	Flat File		Database	PHP File
Template Tagging	PHP functions	Smarty	Proprietary	Underlying engine	Proprietary	PHP functions	Proprietary	Proprietary	Template Tagging	Proprietary	PHP functions	PHP Functions	Proprietary		Proprietary	PHP functions
Edit Templates Online	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Edit Templates Online	Yes	Yes	No	No		Yes	Yes
Template Expert	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Template Expert	No	No	No	No		Yes	No
Edit Templates Offline	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Edit Templates Offline	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		No	Yes
Template Conditionals	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes†	Yes	Yes	Yes	Template Conditionals	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes
	b2Evolution	bBlog	BLOG:CMS	Blojsom	Blosxom	Expression Engine	MT	Nucleus		Pivot	pMachine Pro	Serendipity	SPIP	.Text	TextPattern	WordPress
Open Registration	Toggle	No	Toggle	Toggle		Toggle	No	Toggle	Open Registration	No	Toggle	No	Toggle		No	Toggle
User Security	permission groups	single user	user/group permissions	user permissions		permission groups	user permissions	permission groups	User Security	permission groups	numeric levels	permission groups	user permissions		permission groups	numeric levels
Trackback	Yes	Threaded	Yes	Yes	Yes†	Yes	Yes	Yes†	Trackback	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes†		No	Yes
Pingback	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes†	No	No	Yes†	Pingback	No	Yes	Yes	No		No	Yes
RSS Aggregator	No	feed	aggregator	No	feed†	No		feed	RSS Aggregator	feed	feed	Yes†	aggregator?		No	Yes†
Forum	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Forum	No	Yes	No	Yes		No	No
File Editor	Yes	No	No	No	Yes†	No	No	No	File Editor	Yes		No	No		No	Yes
CSS Editor	Simple	No	No	Simple	No	Simple	Simple	No	CSS Editor	Simple	Simple	No	Simple		Fancy	Simple
Plugins/ Extensions	Drop-in	Push-button	Push-button	Config	Drop-In	Push-button	Drop-in	Push-button	Plugins/ Extensions	Hack	Drop-in	Push-button	Config		Push-button	Push-button
Plugin Directory			here	here	here		here	here	Plugin Directory			here	here			here
Visitor Logs	Yes	No	Yes	No	No		No	Yes†	Visitor Logs	Yes		Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes†
Referrer Logs	Yes*	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes†	Referrer Logs	Yes	No	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes†
Imports From	b2 Movable Type Manywhere Miniblog Geeklog	none	Movable Type b2 Blogger Nucleus	Movable Type Roller		pMachine Movable Type TypePad Greymatter* Livejournal*	Greymatter NewsPro Blogger	Blogger Greymatter LiveJournal pMachine b2 Movable Type	Imports From	Movable Type Blogger Greymatter Nucleus	Movable Type Greymatter Livejournal*	RSS Feeds	None		Blogger* Movable Type*	b2 Movable Type Greymatter Blogger Textpattern LiveJournal RSS
	b2Evolution	bBlog	BLOG:CMS	Blojsom	Blosxom	Expression Engine	MT	Nucleus		Pivot	pMachine Pro	Serendipity	SPIP	.Text	TextPattern	WordPress
User Profiles	Custom	No	Custom	Simple	No	Custom	Simple	Simple Custom†	User Profiles	Custom	Simple	Simple	Simple		No	Simple
SEF URLs	path_info	path_info	mod_rewrite filesmatch	URLRewrite mod_rewrite	mod_rewrite path_info		filenames	mod_rewrite filesmatch	SEF URLs	mod_rewrite filesmatch		mod_rewrite path_info	mod_rewrite		mod_rewrite	mod_rewrite path_info
Thumbnails	No	No	Yes	No	Yes†	Yes	Yes	Yes†	Thumbnails	Yes	No	Yes	Yes		No	Yes
Category Images	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes†	Yes	No	Yes	Category Images	Yes	No	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes
Skin Switch	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes†	No	No	Yes†	Skin Switch	No	No	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes†
Cross-Post	Yes	No	No	No	Yes†	No	No	No	Cross-Post	Yes	No	No	No		No	No
Linkroll	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes†	Yes	No	Yes†	Linkroll	Yes	Yes	Yes†	Yes		Yes	Yes
Password Posts	Yes	No		No	Yes†		No	No	Password Posts	No		No	No			Yes
Blog By Email	No	No		Yes†	Yes†		No	Yes†	Blog By Email	No		Yes†			No	Yes
	b2Evolution	bBlog	BLOG:CMS	Blojsom	Blosxom	Expression Engine	MT	Nucleus		Pivot	pMachine Pro	Serendipity		.Text	TextPattern	WordPress
User Community	here	here	here	here	here	here	here	here	User Community	here	here	here	here		here	here here here
Documentation	here	here	here	here	here	here	here	here	Documentation	here	here	here	here			here
Sample Sites	Samples linked here http://fplanque.net/	Samples linked here		Samples lnked here	Samples linked here and here		http://www.gamewhore.org/ (v2.661) http://www.icyshard.com (v2.661)	Samples linked here	Sample Sites	Samples linked here Webring of Pivot sites		Samples linked here	Samples linked here			Samples linked here Photomatt

Criteria Descriptions

The criteria in the above chart are described here.

Current Version

This indicates the current version number of the software in production as of June 13, 2004.

Home URL

This is the URL of the home page for the CMS software.

Trial URL

This is a URL at which the software is installed for demonstration/trial purposes. Thanks to OpenSourceCMS (OSCMS) for hosting the many open source weblogs that are available.

License

This indicates the license requirements for the installation of the software. This is a general overview - please see the software sites for actual licensing requirements.

GPL: GNU Public License
Personal: The software is available for personal use on one site. Usually requires a button/link to the software site and cannot be used to generate income.
Commercial: The software is available to commercial use on one site. Restrictions of the personal version are usually not applicable to the commercial version, but there is also usually a higher price.

Concerning the Movable Type 3.0 license

The free version of the software includes 3 "weblogs" in the license. However, the definition of a "weblog" in MT terms is relevant to the discussion of how it applies to my chart. This quotation (from here) explains MT's position on "weblog" in their license:

In our licenses, we now address this with this language: "Weblog" means a single Web site viewable at a single URL (Uniform Resource Locator), consisting of one or more weblogs as generated by the Software via the "Create New Weblog" function of the Software.

I think there is a lot of confusion around this issue, which is what has MT users in an uproar. Much of this seems to stem fromwhat a "weblog" is, whether it is a section of a site or an entire site itself. I think this terminology is clarified (not entirely, but well enough) in the quotation above.

I should also note here that the commercial license terms are really not that different from those applied to MT version 2.661. If you are using the free version of MT 2.661 for commercial gain, you may be violating the license terms.

Cost (US$)

This is the cost of the system in United States Dollars.

Different prices may be listed depending on the licensing available. Some packages cost different amounts based on the number of output streams and/or users that can post.

Minimum Server Requirements

This indicates the minimum requirements of the server on which the software is to be installed. This usually is not indicated in the power/speed of the server, but in the installed software on which the blog software is dependent. This software may have additional license requirements and costs that are not indicated here.

Localization

This indicates the languages supported by the administration interface of the system. It does not indicate an ability to translate your content into another language. This does not necessarily include localized template samples in all of the specified languages. See this reference for two-letter codes.

Multilingual

This indicates whether the system's administrative interface is localized based on individual user settings.

Data Storage

This indicates the primary source of drawn data for the transmission of site pages. This information is useful for determining the processing speed of the site and the method required for backup of post data.

Flat File: When the site is served to requesting browsers, the full page is pulled from a flat file and is not built on-the-fly by the blog software.
Data File: When the site is served to requesting browsers, the data for the page is pulled from a flat file and inserted into a template for delivery.
Database: When the site is served to requesting browsers, the data for the page is pulled from a database and inserted into a template for delivery.

Max. Weblogs

This number indicates the maximum number of weblogs (channel of postings) that the system can manage through a single installed administrative interface. This number is not the number of sites for which the single administrative interface will manage content (see: Multiple Sites).

Mutiple Sites

This indicates whether the system can manage weblogs across multiple sites. To qualify, all user information and data input must be managed from a single point of entry, although user permission may allow a specific user access to only one of the available sites.

Post Ordering

This indicates the available methods for ordering the display of posts on the site.


descending: Posts can be ordered in descending chronological order, with the newest at the top. This is the default setting for many weblogs.
ascending: Posts can be ordered in ascending chronological order, with the oldest at the top.
alphabetical: Posts can be ordered alphabetically by post topic.
category: Posts can be ordered by the category in which they appear.

Subcategories

This indicates whether a system allows subcategories to be created in a hierarchy.

Keywords

This indicates whether the system allows keywords (these do not count as entry fields, below) to be associated by a post author to each post, and also allows the system to return posts that are related by these keywords via a keyword search.

Default Post Fields

This number represents the number of entry fields available per post in a default installation. This includes such basics as the Title field, an Excerpt, and the post Body. This includes fields that are available in an advanced posting mode, but not those that must be added via an administrative interface.

WordPress has entry fields for GPS information in addition to the basic text entry.

Max Post Fields

This number indicates the maximum number of entry fields that may become available per post after modifying the post fields via an administrative interface.

Post Editor

This indicates the type of editor used to edit the primary post field. Some more sophisticated methods of entry may be available by means of a plugin or API.

Textarea: The system accepts post data directly from a plain HTML <textarea> tag with little or no modification. The data can include HTML markup, and there may be scripted controls that automatically insert these markup tags, but the system does not process the tags.
Texturize: The system accepts post data from a <textarea> and processes it through Texurize.
Textile: The system accepts post data from a <textarea> and processes it through Textile. There may be scripted controls that automatically apply Textile markup.
HTML: The system uses a browser-integrated WYSIWYG solution to allow users to enter post data.
Java: The system uses a WYSIWYG Java applet to allow users to enter post data.
Plugin Based: b2Evolution lets you choose your editor using plugins (included: Textile, Auto-P, Greymatter, BB Code, Texturize, graphic smilies)
bBlog lets you choose your editor using plugins (included: Textile, bbcode, plain)
Serendipity let you choose your editor using plugins (included: Textile, wiki, BB Code)

Draft Mode

This indicates whether the system supports submitting unpublished drafts of posts.

Yes+ indicates that there are additional post statuses beyond published and draft.

Post API Support

This indicates which blogging APIs the system supports.

Some systems, such as Pivot and Expression Engine, are waiting for completion of the Atom API before implementing that for a post API.

Post Moderation

This indicates whether it is possible to require editor- or administrative-level approval of a post before it is published to the site.

Post Pings

This indicates whether the system will "ping" any number of pre-designated URLs using XMLRPC to indicate that a new post has been published to the site.

Bookmarklets

This indicates if posting features are available from a browser bookmarklet.

RSS Output

This indicates what versions of RSS the system will produce for syndication, if any.

Atom Output

This indicates whether the system will produce Atom output for syndication.

Comments

This indicates whether the system supports per-post comments. bBlog supports Threaded comments in which replies that are made to existing comments are displayed so that this is evident, rather than a typical "flat" stream of replies.

Comment Spam

This indicates the methods available to prevent comment spam. These options are not necessarily requirements and might need to be configured or activated in the system by the administrator.

login: Users must login to leave comments.
filtering: Comments are searched for spam suspect words and eliminated if found to match.
captcha: Users leaving comments must replicate the text that appears in a generated image.
duplicate: The system does not allow duplicate comments.
ipban: The system can ban commenters by IP. Pivot IP bans are checked against both the user's IP and their referrer.
userban: The system can ban comments by username.
moderate: The system can require that comments are reviewed by editors/administrators before publication.
blacklist: The system uses a list of URLs or IPs that indicate spam comments. Pivot blacklists are checked against both the user and the referrer. b2Evolution blacklists are centralized on a remote server and are contributed by the b2Evolution community.
delay: The system requires that a reasonable amount of time passes between adding comments.
shutoff: The system will turn off commenting for a post automatically after a preset amount of time. This is different from manually disabling comments.
redirection: The system will replace commenting users URLs with local URLs that redirect to the specified site. This prevents the link from garnering PageRanking. (See this.)
linkcount: The system will reject or hold for moderation all comments containing a minimum number of links.
massedit: The system will allow the deletion of a batch of comments simultaneously.

Comment RSS

This indicates whether the system offers comments for a post as an RSS feed.

Template Storage

This indicates how the templates for a page are stored and retrieved.

Descriptions of the possible values:

Flat File: The templates are stored in a flat file. The system reads the flat file and inserts post data into the template for display.
PHP File: The templates are stored as PHP files and are executed. The code built into the template files inserts post data for display.
Database: The templates are stored in a database. The system reads the database entry and inserts post data into the template for display.

Template Tagging

This indicates what means the system uses to recognize the insertion points for post data or other functions of the system.

PHP functions: The template contains actual PHP functions that execute to insert post data at that point.
Proprietary: The template contains proprietary HTML tags that are replaced by the system with post data.
Smarty: The template uses the Smarty library to insert post data.
Underlying Engine: The template uses the underlying sever-side scripting engine to insert content. This varies based on the engine on which the system is installed.

Edit Templates Online

This indicates whether the system allows editing of templates via an online interface.

Template Expert

This indicates whether the system provides some development environment for editing templates beyond a blank <textarea>. This might include (at least) a button that inserts code into the editor at the cursor to display a designated post field.

Edit Templates Offline

This indicates whether the system allows offline editing and downloading/uploading of templates, such as via FTP.

Template Conditionals

This indicates whether the system can alter the presentation of a template based on a conidition, such as the category or author of a post.

Open Registration

This indicates whether users can create their own logins for posting on the site via the system.

No: Users cannot register their own logins.
Toggle: The option is available or not based on an administrative setting.
Yes: This option is always on, or must be disabled by hacking or removing sections of the system code.

User Security

This indicates the method used to differentiate the permissions of different users.

numeric levels: Users are assigned a level by number. Users at one end of the range have all permissions, users at the other have few or none, the range between allows different permissions. Individual permissions are generally not assigned directly to users.
permission groups: Users are assigned to a group and inherit their permissions from that group. There can be any number of groups with different permissions as defined by an administrator.
single user: There is only one user account that can log in to the software control panel.
user permissions: Users are assigned all permissions individually.

Trackback

This indicates the ability of the system to initiate a trackback ping to another weblog when a new post is added. bBlog supports Threaded Trackbacks in which pings that are made to existing Trackbacks are displayed so that this is evident, rather than a typical "flat" stream of replies.

Pingback

This indicates the ability of the system to initiate a pingback to a site when a new post is added.

RSS Aggregator

This indicates the extent to which the system can consume RSS from other sites.


no: The system cannot consume RSS feeds.
aggregator: The system includes a full-featured RSS aggregator that can display feeds from other sites. The aggregator may provide its own interface, separate from the templating of the weblog proper.
feed: The system can read the RSS data from a site and integrate that information in some way with the standard posting methods available in the system.

Forum

This indicates whether the system includes an integrated bulletin board-style forum, or the blogging software can be configured to behave as such. To be used as a forum, the blog software must allow users to create new entries with an attached user profile and must also still be able to operate a separate weblog area with private content.

File Editor

This indicates whether the system includes an online editor for files that reside on the web site.

CSS Editor

This indicates whether the system includes an online editor for Cascading Style Sheets.

No: This system does not include an editor for CSS of any kind.
Simple: The system allows editing of CSS via direct editing of site files.
Fancy: The system parses CSS and displays its properties in a special interface.

Plugins/Extensions

This indiates the method most acceptable by the developers by which additional functionality can be added to the base system.


Drop-in: To activate this plugin, the administrator installs the plugin files to a specific directory. The system automatically integrates these files with no configuration changes. To remove the plugin, it must be removed from the filesystem.
Push-button: To activate this plugin, the administrator installs the plugin files to the system, then activates the plugin from an administration console. The plugin can also be deactivated through the console without requiring removal of its files.
Config: To activate this plugin, the administrator installs the plug files to the system, then alters a configuration file to inform the system that the plugin is available. The plugin is deactivated by removing the changes form this config file.
Hack: To activate this plugin, the administrator must replace or patch an existing system file. To remove the plugin, the original file must be restored.

Plugin Directory

This URL indicates a directory at which plugins or extensions can be obtained for the system.

Visitor Logs

This indicates whether a system can display a log of the recent visitors to the site, including such information as pages visited, user agent, IP address, IP nationality, etc.

Referrer Logs

This indicates whether a system can display a log of the sites that referred visitors to the system site.

B2Evolution includes a collaborative spam feature that helps eliminates spam from the referrer logs.

Imports From

This indicates from what other systems this system can import post data. This does not imply that all data (posts and comments) is transfered, but that some bridge exists to ease the transition from one system to the other. This import feature includes the native functionality any freely available extension (marked with *).

Importing from "RSS Feeds" indicates that the system can import from an existing RSS feed, rather than importing the data natively. This allows importing from any system that suports RSS output, but may not import things such as user accounts, comments, and other unpublished data.

User Profiles

This indicates the detail allowed in user profiles for the system.

No: The system does not support user profiles.
Simple: The system includes some amount of pre-defined user profile information that can be edited by the user.
Custom: The system provides a feature that can customize the fields available for users to edit in their user profiles.

SEF URLs

This indicates the method by which, if used, a system produces Search Engine Friendly URLs. Rather than http://example.com/index.php?id=4, a URL might appear like http://example.com/archives/my-first-entry.

No: The system does not support the creation of SEF URLs.
mod_rewrite: The system uses the Apache extension mod_rewrite to create SEF URLs and provides some means by which the settings for mod_rewrite can be automatically determined. This method does not work natively under Windows IIS.
path_info: The system uses the path_info environment variable to parse the use of SEF URLs.
filesmatch: The system uses the Apache <filesmatch> directive to match regular expressions in URLs, similar to mod_rewrite. This method does not work under Windows IIS.
filenames: The system writes flat files with names that are search engine friendly by default.

Thumbnails

This indicates whether the system can automatically create thumbnail images from images that are uploaded to the site.

Category Images

This indicates whether the system supports the specification of a distinct image for each category.

Skin Switch

This indicates whether the system incorporates a method by which users can change between styles of display of the site. This may be by CSS or by template selection.

Cross-post

This indicates whether the system allows a user to apply a single post to more than one weblog simultaneously.

Linkroll

This indicates whether the system can maintain a list of links to external sites.

Password Posts

This indicates whether the system allows users to password-protect individual posts so that only those visitors that know the correct password may read them.

Blog By Email

This indicates whether the users can add new posts to the system by sending email.

User Community

This URL references a community site that discuses issues surrounding the blog software. It is important that these sites are active and responsive to indicate whether support will be available for the selected CMS.

Documentation

This URL references the online documentation for the system.

Sample Sites

This is a list of sites that use the specified engine to display content. They reveal what is actually capable of the system in use.

Feel free to link to this chart from wherever you like, but do not copy it - there are quite a few hours of my own hard work behind this effort. If you would like to republish the chart, please email me at the contact address given. I will eventually move this chart to my meta-blog community, Red Alt, after it goes live.