Try your blogware before you install

One of the most frustrating things when considering installing new blogware is literally the fear of the unknown, basically, despite the different things written about one piece of blogware or another, until you actually get to play with the blogware itself, you have no real idea what your getting yourself into.

In the old days an installation was the only way to pursue the matter, but I’ve recently discovered a great site that runs demo versions of blogware and other content management systems (many of which also do blogging) so that you can literally try them out before you install.

OpenSourceCMS has by way of explanation: “This site was created with one goal in mind. To give you the opportunity to “try out” some of the best php/mysql based free and open source software systems in the world. You are welcome to be the administrator of any site here, allowing you to decide which system best suits your needs.” And that is exactly what its good for. There seems to be a fairly strong user community as well with a rich variety of comments and rating provided on the various offerings that can also serve as a guide when your considering your next blog install.