Drupal

Do you still have doubts on where to start your poker blog? This article will introduce you to some of the most popular poker blogging platforms. In my first Poker Blog Engines article I have started analyzing poker social networks and blogging engines built exclusively for writing poker blogs. The rating system was based on 10 key points and their evaluation in a 5 grade scale. To remain objective and righteous I shall continue with the same 10 principles:

1. Visibility to the non-members of the blogging platform
2. The editing of the text + embedding external media (YouTube or any other video, flash replayer etc.) options
3. Tools to customize the design and the looks of the blog
4. Possibility to manage the URI (the ending of the link) of a single blog post
5. Possibility to share it with your friends and various social networks
6. RSS feature availability
7. Is the blog SEO (Search Engine Optimization) friendly?
8. Does it have a statistics engine
9. Scheduling and privacy options
10. Tagging and categorizing your blog posts

When you participate in a social network or a poker community you expect to be noticed. I got noticed immediately after posting my first blog at Railbirds.com – one of the fastest developing social networks. A few comments to my "hello, this is me" type of blog were posted in just half an hour. In the next half my blog had disappeared from the general list as more and more blogs kept coming in. And they were all about playing poker and personal poker experience. And not just 1 or 2 sentences, no spam, no affiliate links. That’s why I was amazed by the blogging service in Railbirds. Need some numbers? I have counted 188 blog posts written in August 11th, Tuesday.

Recently I have started investigating Poker Social Networks. I have started some topics on the major poker forums, such as 2+2, FullContact, Pocketfives asking people what poker social networks did they know. Although these threads were deleted rather quickly (people started advertising their websites even though they were not social networks at all), some answers made me worried. 

…a social structure made of nodes (which are generally individuals or organizations) that are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.

 If you are a poker player and would like to start your own blog to share your experience and views about the poker world, you'll have to decide on the essential issue – whether to use a general blogging platform such as Wordpress, Blogger.com, Tumblr.com, or a poker community blogging engine. Those who have decided to go with Wordpress or Blogger, please read this article just to make sure you know what you're missing and is it worth it.