How do you get a blog without the extra level included?

[Nostalgia]

ie instead of dubdubdub.whatever.blogspot dot com, having dubdubdub.whatever dot com. Lots of people seem to have done it with their names.
*sorry about the confusing breakup of the address above, but only way sitepoint would let it thru *

Any advice on which blogging system is the best IYHO? I like a clean, fresh look and one which invites easy interaction.

[Mittineague]

Hi Nostalgia, welcome to the forums

AFAIK, most of the domain_name.blogspot.com (similar to blogspot.com/domain_name/) sites are on free sites. If you get your own domain name and host server you can have whatever you want as long as the name isn't taken already.

[Salient]

Simply buy a domain name (godaddy.com is good), get some hosting space (see the sitepoint forums for recommendations), and go with a product like Wordpress that though free has a heck of a sizeable support community.

Or you could escape into the real world

[snowman2004]

Simply buy a domain name. The domain name will have some sort of control panel. That control panel should allow you to redirect the domain to the longer yadayada. yadayada. com

I'd recommend WordPress.Com - nice free blog with great themes options.

[mmj]

Services like wordpress.com let you buy your own domain name and point that domain to them, so you can continue to use their hosting with your own domain.

Wordpress may charge a small fee for doing this but it is cheaper than most hosting plans and it's easy to set up.

Also, because you control the domain, if you ever wanted to move it to your own hosting account in the future you can, without paying anything more to Wordpress. You'd just point the domain at your new host.

[Mittineague]

That's good to know. So hopefully for the price of a domain name and a few bucks to wordpress.com you can have a "more professional looking" URL

The only problem I can think of is if the name is already taken. For instance, you may be able to get a domain like sitepoint.wordpress.com but you won't be able to get sitepoint.com

[CWebguy]

ie instead of dubdubdub.whatever.blogspot dot com, having dubdubdub.whatever dot com. Lots of people seem to have done it with their names.

You can find a million sites that will give you a free subdomain name.

[mmj]

The only problem I can think of is if the name is already taken. For instance, you may be able to get a domain like sitepoint.wordpress.com but you won't be able to get sitepoint.com

Yep, that's the problem with .com domains these days If you are fussy enough and don't want to do a mis-spelling (like flickr or twttr) it can be incredibly hard to get a good one that isn't taken.

Just to clarify though in case that's not clear, the subdomain you get when you initially set up your Wordpress account doesn't have to match the domain name. That is if you have jeff.wordpress.com you don't need to get jeff.com for it.

[snowman2004]

Its true that its tricky to find short memorable .com domains for reg fee. However, better sounding domains are available in less popular extensions. In addition there are loads of good .com domains available for $500 or less (visit SEDO.com) and now is a good time to buy due to difficult economic conditions.

[Nostalgia]

So, I have been asked by a tech-Amish friend, to recommend the best & cheapest way to set up a site for her dog breeding hobby. I immediately thought Wordpress, but was wondering about having a gallery of pics, which I think she would want. I know that you can link to Flickr, for eg, but not ideal. And how tricky is it for a newb to set up?