If you are sitting reading this, and would like to try your hand at blogging, but are thoroughly perplexed at the thought of templates, plugins, SEO, FTP and all the rest - all you want to do is write - then this review of Thoughts.com may be just what you are looking for.

Thoughts.com is a completely free Blog service, that allows you to share your thoughts with others from all around the world. The instructions to get started are refreshingly simple:

1. Sign Up.
2. Invite Others.

And 2 is optional! I thought I would sign up to see what’s entailed and it’s really very easy - the sign up process took a couple of minutes, and consisted of some very basic personal information, including name, country, city, email & profile details, and I had a test post live on the web in less than 5 minutes from starting. The whole interface is very clean and simple, and the actual blog posting front end looks like a mini word processor, in fact for those who care, it is actually the same TinyMCE visual editor used in WordPress.

All this means is that to get published, all you have to do is type in what you want to say, upload any associated photos or videos, enter the security code and hit publish. I’m not a fan of these ‘Captcha’ codes, but Thoughts obviously need some anti-spam protection, and the codes are very clear.

It really is as simple as that. If you’re a novice web user, or you have no desire to learn any HTML or worry about web hosting then you will love this service - just write and publish.

Limitations

Obviously with simplicity, comes limitation. Personal customisation is limited to the uploading of your own avatar picture, and a choice of colour schemes for your blog, which are basic but functional:

This is the blue, and you have a further choice of navy, grey or default. A further limitation, common to many free blogging services, is that you are not allowed to commercialise your blog in any way - no adverts, no paid posts, no affiliate links, nothing at all. However, apart from that, and the entirely reasonable ban on offensive or hateful content, you can write about what you like.

All Your Own Work

If all you’re interested in is writing however, these points won’t concern you, and you will also be pleased to hear that Thoughts.com are very upfront about who owns what you write - you do. It’s very clearly spelled out in the TOS, that the content remains wholly your own, and you may reproduce it and use it in any further form you wish, and this is very important for the future, as your writing develops.

Other advantages to writing with Thoughts are that your community is ready-made. Even with other free platforms like Blogger or WordPress.com, it’s till up to you to find readers. On Thoughts, recent posts are shared through everyone’s dashboard, a tag-cloud of what’s popular enables like-minded bloggers to find each other, and a voting system for each post helps to promote popular bloggers. Additionally there is a fairly active community forum where you can introduce yourself and get to know other bloggers.

Other advantages include apparently unlimited bandwidth, the ability to restrict posts to friends or family, and even the chance to try out podcasting.

Is It For You?

If you already use and enjoy the likes of WordPress or Blogger, then probably not, you would just find it too limiting. If however, you’ve used those services and found yourself confused, or frustrated at the lack of interaction then this service should suit you. Equally, if you’re a total novice, this service is quick, simple and an ideal way to get started and to see if you’re going to like blogging. It is completely free, there is no obvious advertising that I can see, and with minimal effort, you’re likely to get some readers straight away.