The coalescing web

Over the past few days I've been getting used to WordPress since moving my blogs from Blogger.  I did this primarily because WordPress has the ability to have the url drop straight into designed web pages and then allow a link to a blog - when I was using Blogger in anger this wasn't available, and it's how  wanted my business website to work.

  While there have been teething troubles getting this complete, I'm beginning to sense that  the various technologies are starting to gather together, to interoperate better, proving that you can get the best tools from each organisation and tie it all together.

For example, when I started my first blog with Blogger, you had to have the .blogspot.com domain name.  Now there's no harm in that for people looking to create a blog or web presence for free, but once they offered forwarding through registered domain names, I purchased one immediately.  Not long after that, Google announced Google Apps, offering mail, calendar, webspace, docs and more - all for free, and a premier option if you need 99.99% guarantee of email availability.  Again, I signed up immediately for this, nad used Google to purchase my business domain name through GoDaddy.

  This is the first relationship I want to discuss - with Google using GoDaddy for domain names, they essentially took the confusion out of getting a domain and linking it to Google Apps.  Even if you only go for the free Google Apps account, GoDaddy get a domain name sale, and Google still has the opportunity to advertise at you.

Over the past few years, WordPress has gone from strength to strength with lots of serious websites using the software for the own webservers.  The creation of wordpress.com gave everyone without their own webserver the opportunity to create websites with professional tools.

Google has teamed up with WordPress creating a calendar widget.  And more recently there's been developments for domains using WordPress nameservers to create MX records and have email directed to Google Apps Mail.

This is great news for the man on the street, and more importantly it's great for these organisations.  Rather than diluting their skillsets with product diversification, they are building relationships giving them access to eachothers leading edge developments.

I'm really pleased with WordPress, and I'm disappointed that Blogger hasn't developed as rapidly.