If you want to create a blog, you have hundreds of solutions waiting for you, free and paid.
But all of them require technical knowledge at some point: HTML/CSS, databases, etc.
There's a new way of doing it, quick and easy, with the help of Markdown and some talented developpers.
You write the text with the app of your choice, you can even do it with your phone if you're on the move.
You just have to format it in Markdown.
You upload/send it to one of the web apps I'm going to introduce to you, and you're done. That easy.
As a fan of App.net, I must start by introducing 10Centuries, a service based on ADN.
You send a private message to 10centuries from your App.net account, written in Markdown, then 10centuries immediately creates for you a blog page with this text, and inserts it into your blog at re-app.net.
In addition to the standard Markdown (text formatting, inserting links, images, etc.) you can add custom fields for title, tags, author, etc. The possibility to modify the CSS of your blog is scheduled for November.
The biggest advantage of this solution is that the pages are created from the messages stored in your private ADN account: just delete a message and the corresponding page of the blog disappears too.
The blog is the mirror of the messages that you send to 10Centuries.
No one but you has access to the content, not even the managers of the site since everything is automated from your ADN account.
It's free, durable and fun: awesome!
Also based on App.net, Epistles still has some teething problems.
It is still an attractive option, especially if you want the published pages clearly attached to your ADN account.
After connecting with your ADN login, you write/paste on the site:
And here is the result:
Gist.io requires a GitHub account. If you're in this case, it's a very good and convenient service. Otherwise, it's quick and easy to register. :)
The idea is you paste your Markdown text into a "gist" and Gist.io transforms it in a Web page automatically.
You just have to paste the gist number after the gist.io URL, like this: http://gist.io/7184572
The result is very clean, modern and minimalist. We hope that this new service will evolve quickly.
Roughdraft.io is a lot like Gist.io.
Postach.io follows the same idea but you use your Evernote account as the publishing platform. You don't have to know Markdown with this one:
Calepin.co works with Dropbox and Markdown:
Scriptogr.am works on the same idea, and allows you to edit the HTML/CSS:
It does not replace a real site or a complex blog, but if you want to quickly publish a page and be able to give a readable link to your targeted audience, these solutions are very convenient and really appreciable.
Markdown may seem hard to grasp and master at first, but on the contrary you will actually find yourself writing with this format in minutes.
Then you can upload your text with a few clicks (or taps!) and get back a beautiful Web page with a simple URL.
It's great, me thinks. :)
This is an adaptation of my French article.