8 Myths About Launching a Pligg Site

[Futurosity]

As Pligg approaches v1.0, Digg-like sites powered by Pligg and other systems are becoming more and more popular. The idea of a site created with user-submitted content is seductive. But there are some things you probably don’t know about what it’s really like to launch a Pligg-powered site.

I've just written a post about eight challenges Pliggers face on Upstart Blogger, 8 Myths About Launching a Pligg Site.

I'd be interested in thoughts and ideas, hopefully with the aim of helping all of us be more successful.

[kbeeveer46]

I think a big thing is that for some people Pligg is there first experience in building a website. I'm not saying don't use Pligg, but don't be so frustrated with yourself if you can't handle it because, even though we're trying to get it as friendly as possible, it's probably not the best solution for the beginners who don't even know html.

One of the goals of Pligg (at least one of mine) is to let you manage your own content management system without even knowing the underlying code and how it works.

[Futurosity]

Originally Posted by kbeeveer46

I think a big thing is that for some people Pligg is there first experience in building a website. I'm not saying don't use Pligg, but don't be so frustrated with yourself if you can't handle it because, even though we're trying to get it as friendly as possible, it's probably not the best solution for the beginners who don't even know html.

I think you're absolutely right. I think a lot of people think Pligg is going to be easier than a blog, but it's not. Pligg isn't a good place to start if you're afraid of getting your hands dirty, either, but I'm hoping it will get easier as the code stabilizes.

[plogpligg]

Hi Futurosity,

I enjoyed your article. It was a good highlight of what you can and can't expect by launching a pligg site.

It comes down to providing good content to readers, and that requires work on the part of the person setting up the pligg site, as well as, hopefully input and contributions from readers.

Actually, I think a blog is probably the easiest type of web page to start using. Especially if you're using a hosted service like wordpress.com or blogger.com. I know some html, and setting up pligg has been an interesting endeavor. There's a lot of things to customize and edit in pligg, which makes it very powerful but not as easy to configure if you're just starting out.

Thanks for putting out some templates also. I'm working on a site using your futurepligg05 template.

If I could get some feedback, it'd be greatly appreciated.

http://www.imtakeaways.com/

[Futurosity]

Originally Posted by plogpligg

Hi Futurosity,

I enjoyed your article. It was a good highlight of what you can and can't expect by launching a pligg site.

It comes down to providing good content to readers, and that requires work on the part of the person setting up the pligg site, as well as, hopefully input and contributions from readers.

Actually, I think a blog is probably the easiest type of web page to start using. Especially if you're using a hosted service like wordpress.com or blogger.com. I know some html, and setting up pligg has been an interesting endeavor. There's a lot of things to customize and edit in pligg, which makes it very powerful but not as easy to configure if you're just starting out.

Thanks for putting out some templates also. I'm working on a site using your futurepligg05 template.

If I could get some feedback, it'd be greatly appreciated.

http://www.imtakeaways.com/

Having a successful blog is a lot of work, too. It does all come down to content, but I think a lot of Pliggers expect their visitors to provide the content. You have to seed your own site with handpicked content, not rely on your feeds, and keep your site clean, which means a lot of monitoring.

[leigh88]

No one will ever make it perfect the first time.

I just like the 8 myths you have posted Futurosity. It tells me how demanding it is to run a Pligg site but there are no sure success with shortcuts either. So might as well do it right and be patient.

[johnymunich]

I have some thoughts I'd like to share about this nice article:

- When I discovered Pligg I really thought it would be easier to set up a successful website. I've spent about 10 hours a week on my site, creating the content, but even though my site appears quite high in google search rankings, the concept is not attractive enough to visitors. Or is my website design so bad? And I kept an eye on some other Pligg websites, and only a small number seem to be successful, some of them have already been closed. The best Pligg site is still pligg.com, maybe I should rather try to clone the concept instead of cloning Digg.

- However, I've learned a lot about setting up a CMS, have struggled with lots of technical problems (as Pligg has lots of bugs) and found ways to solve them. I earned only $5 with Google AdSense in 2 months so I decided to remove all banners from my website. Now it's just for the fun of it. Even though I like Pligg for its functionality, there are many other nice website engines and I might someday just choose a different one to learn something new.

My Dutch Pligg site: MyRiverofLife.nl / Gepubliceerde berichten

[DJBenz]

Originally Posted by kbeeveer46

I'm not saying don't use Pligg, but don't be so frustrated with yourself if you can't handle it because, even though we're trying to get it as friendly as possible, it's probably not the best solution for the beginners who don't even know html.

It's been a good learning curve for sure. My HTML is basic at best, but I'm currently finding Pligg fairly good to work with. I like to delve in and get my hands dirty, but on the downside that means when I have problems I don't know whether to attribute them to bugs or something I've done.

The Myths post was very interesting, I guess you could say the same of many types of new websites, be they blogs, CMSs or even ecommerce sites.

[jagannath]

That was very informative.

Thanks for posting.
I still dont have any pligg powered site and was fiddling with the idea of creating one. Now I will analyse more and then come to a decision.

[rockmymonkey]

I am shocked that anyone would think this kind of thing would be easy. When I launched my site I knew it would be a challenge to get it to the level I wanted. I have a few users that are active, but not near enough to make it worth while.

However, I am a couple weeks from a pretty decent week long ad campaign to get it to the next level.

If you are going to take it seriously it is going to take a ton of work and a respectable amount of money to get enough active users to make it worth your time.

My goal? I want to get it so that the front page is full of stories submitted within the last 24 hours. That is still with the 5 vote setting that seems to be the default. When I can get it there I will be pretty happy.