Free Blogging With i.PH

Saw in Yugatech that i.PH blogging is now free. So I tried it. Here's what happened.

If you're interested in blogging, you can sign up for i.PH's free BlogStarter package, which gives you 12 MB of space and 100 MB of data transfer per month.

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09/16/2005 Update: This has been upgraded to 100 MB of disk space and 1000 MB of bandwidth or data transfer per month. See https://www.i.ph/plan_comparison.php

J. Angelo Racoma (J Spot) broke through his 5 Gig limit on his blog for the month of August 2005. That's 5000 MB of data transfer on his i.PH blog, because around 204 people visited his site daily.

So, if your i.PH blog hits the 1000 MB (or 1 GB) monthly limit, and if your site is similar to Angelo's, that means your site is getting 40 visitors daily.

Viloria.com is using around 120MB of space; data transfer is about 5000 MB per month (sometimes less). Average number of visitors per day is 2000. Why the low bandwidth consumption? The site contains few images or photos.
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I signed-up for the free blogging package and got surprised, because you need to enter your cell phone number before you can get the free blogging service. You also need to send a certain text message to a certain Globe cell phone to verify that the mobile number you entered really belongs to you.

(Other free blogging services do not require you to input your phone number.)

Once you sign-up and post your test entry, you'll notice advertisements. True, you can get rid of the advertisements if you opt for the non-free or paid blogging plans, but there are paid plans that still come with i.PH's advertising.

(09/15/2005 Update: The paid plans are now ad-free.)

I tried posting a couple of entries and found the entry screens a bit confusing. For example, the button that you have to click to publish your entry can't be easily found. You'll also have to scroll to the right if your monitor's resolution is set to 800x600.

(The entry screens of Blogger or even WordPress are easier to use. But they're not Pinoy.)

Here's an interesting twist, though: The free service allows you to offer pay-to-read content, and accept payments via PayPal or via G-Cash!

What happens is some of your blog entries will offer an introductory paragraph, then when people click on the "read' more..." button, they'll be asked to buy a "blog pass".

I tried it and inputted my G-Cash-enabled mobile phone number, but after a wait of about 122 seconds, I just got a "Backend terminated abnormally" error message. So much for paid content and micropayments.

Still, if you would like to experiment and play around with blogging for free, try it.
[ First posted on 09/01/2005 by Manuel Viloria ]