We’re working on a new set of pages to actually tell people what features we have here on WordPress.com. Right now there is almost no information before you sign up to give you a peek at what you’re going to get.
It’s a little tricky figuring out to prioritize the page though. What features are going to be most appealing to people who have never heard of WordPress before?
I realized that you guys might have a pretty good idea of that. 🙂
So I pose a question: What’s your favorite feature of WordPress.com? What is the one thing that really hooked you after you started playing with it?
(If you want to list a few things, that’s fine. But try to think back to when you first started.)
This exercise will also be good because knowing what you guys like let’s us know where to focus development in the future.
WordPress.com News 
blog stats
Widgets…Love the name and idea behind them.
Tags = Categories
No ads
Easy to use for first time blogger
The communal (open source) origins and evolution of features. It’s fun to see what new feature will be added next. It’s like a little gift.
It’s free so SAHMs can enjoy without guilt.
I forgot to say how much I love the truly helpful help/FAQ/forums.
Categories are definitely my favourite feature.
Immediate publishing and saving of drafts.
Far smoother operation than my previous blog host.
You’ve come a very long way from last year.
Domain Mapping
!
😎
Started at blogger, but switched here because of the tags.
They are absolutely necessary for me: my blog is mostly material for my own reference which I want to be able to filter with these tags.
Spam catcher and categories yep
By the way one feature is badly missing: the “most read articles” …
I came to WordPress for one simple reason. I can’t code (yet). With WP I can blog, without coding. I don’t have experience on other sites, so have nothing to compare. But I am working on learning to code, and from looking at the CSS customization, once I learn enough to attempt to code, the preview feature will allow me to work on it without totally screwing up my blog until I get it right.
· Blog stats
· My Dashboard
· Akismet spam
And Categories
..Uuff Every day WP is becoming better and the most important is that it’s free and easy to use service. Everyone can use it.
My favourite features are:
My Dashboard
Akimset Spam
Categories
Widgets
Templates
Blog Stats
Ranking of blog.
1. My Comments
2. Avatar
3. The Widget
4. Akismet *even sometimes it’s failed to catch the spam*
really cool themes.
Hi Matt,
Actually, I like the “Blog Stats” Feature which describe every thing about the visitiors where there coming from. Really cool feature. But, Why not! “Avatars” is yet another coooool feature. I like very much. Keep growing..
Zeezat
Well, the fact that the blog hosting didn’t die away like my previous hosts did was a huge plus for me 😉
Categories and Akismet Spam blocker were good attractors. Now that I’ve been here a while, I would have to say that I’ve really enjoyed many of the additions to the blog editor, the customizable sidebars, auto-save and now I see we can do avitars…
Good times! Keep up the great work, WP crew!
The most powerful feature is “submits blog to google.com or others search egine”.
Blog stats and categories. That’s why I came here then I discovered the other features to set my other two blogs here on wordpress 🙂 Being on the almost the top in the search engines is one of the features I discovered and loved after being subscribed.
Don’t have the favourite.
It is the set of features that wordpress platform provides and you guys, wordpress.com.
What I would though like to see is more features (for free) and better SPAM handling … i get them a lot 😦
You should promote WordPress as the brand, and provide features and scalability for users to come here.
I love the feature to categorise. However, I do think that it could be improved further. I’ll add on to that later on. Too lazy to think it out now.
Nearly everything.
I like best:
+ Blog stats
+ Akismet
For me the most are categories, customization, organization, community, and overall the stats.
.stats are fine,
.categories are fine,
.sidebar widgets are fine.
Finally the best: simple but awesome templates! I love that!
Akismet
Scheduled entries
Extremely detailed stats
I moved here from blogspot because of categories
so that’ll be my top choice
but I also like
ranking
akismet
blog stats
and probably everything else.
I just love wordpress!
Love the fact that i can get most things done using the sidebar widgets, keep em coming
I think;
-autosave
-akismet
-tags (including tag-surfer)
-my comments
Undoubtedly the superb categorization and pages facility.
It would be a great service to us woerpress bloggers, if the categories are diaplyed as a pop up menu. as done at
http://layastaro.com/
You may not be able to decipher Gujarati fonts, but seee the pop up feature above ‘View’
I like how it’s the testing place for all things unreleased in the main build of wp.
Akismet too, of course.
My favorite features:
Blog stats
Akismet
My comments
Avatars
I must say I’ve come from an other blogging service, and now I’m much more satisfied with WordPress.
Blog stats, akismet, dashboard, categories/tags, access or up-times, themes (would love more), customer service, widgets, my comments, tag surfer, and it is free.
Don’t like: too few widgets, not enough themes, not recycling dead blogs, and charging to change CSS styles or charging for anything period. Altruism is the best form of advertising.
What I would like: an auto updating tag generator page, Google adwords widgets, more stats, more themes, continued free service, changing my user name, and more widgets.
blog stats for sure
1) The marriage of Simplicity and Power
2) Not owned by Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, NewsCorp, Disney, et al.
3) Pages!
4) User support/community/documentation
At the very first view, I loved the elegant templates. Also that you can surf the blog like a common web page, using pages and categories. That was very important to me ’cause when I started blogs weren’t so much known here in my country.
I host my own WP blog, but tried out WP.com to get Akismet going (before you didn’t require a blog after signup), so I played with my “test” blog. I was really jealous of the BLOG STATS after logging in.
Good thing I just found a site recently that will provide similar status for hosted WP blogs. 😉
the stats and the youtube tag 😉
Bryan, I love all here!
WP is perfect for me…
Great job!
But that I love more is
post protect…
I would like to be in portuguese on future…lol!
I love WP so much!
Thanks!
Sorry , this reply is for Matt!
Matt, thank you very much!
I moved from blogger because of the categories. I like the tag surfing too.
I miss the custom ability of blogger and I do keep my blogger site for when I am too impatient to wait for wordpress to load. All the dashboard pages load so painfully slow compared to all the other sites I visit. Is there some reason for that?
Things deriving from WordPress (as a platform):
– Calendar
– Categories
– Pages
– Awesome templates
– Simplicity (not a feature but still :-))
I could acctually go on and name a dozen more
WordPress.com specific (as far as I know):
– Blog stats
– Widgets
– More than one blog
– Customizable themes
– My comments (although it cannot be widely used as it is wordpress.com only)
I used to be with Blogger, but moved after I got fed up with it constantly crashing on me.
Aside from the lack of crashing, I love Word.Press for:
-the ease of use
-the simplicity of it’s layout
-the stats (a definite plus point)
-The sidebar widgets! They’re great!
-the fact that WordPress does all the worrying about the format, and we don’t have to bother with typing in bits of code here and there just so we can get italicized words etc…
-categories-i love being able to categorize my posts it’s brilliant 🙂
There we go.The features *I* love of WordPress.
As no-one else has mentioned it, I will.
My favourite feature is actually one that’s not allowed. Adsense. I love that it’s not on wp.com blogs. 🙂
I love customizable theme headers, though to me it’s strange that on some themes where custom headers are allowed you can upload straight from the computer and others you need to host it, but it’s a fantastic feature and gives me a chance to play 😀
Oh and it doesn’t have the “adolescent generation” mark on it that MySpace does! Oh how I despise MySpace!
Your professionalism and the community. I really loved the slick UI … can’t wait for the upgrade/tweaks that were suggested a while ago!
Having the ability to keep your posts private
being able to back date the posts
meebo was really great
tags ..defenitely
calender and pages
In sequential order of their appeal to me:
1. Categories
2. Refreshingly cool template designs
3. Drag n drop widgets
4. Blog stats
Cheers
Blog stats definitely.
Akismet.
Templates.
Widgets.
Scheduled publishing!!! This is HUGE for me, because I often prepare two weeks or more worth of posts in advance, schedule when I want them to appear and then feel blissfully free in the luxury of not having to fuss with my blog each and every single day.
Categories. So much more convenient than tagging.
Themes that allow customizable headers with my own image inserted. Yay!
Pages. Makes my blog look more professional.
Themes with tabs for pages. As above, looks more professional.
Responsive support team. WordPress rocks!!
The visual UI eg in sidebard widgets. And as said eariler the spam control is awesome!
I love that there’s NO ADSENSE!
1. No Ads
2. Categories
3. Good templates
Giving me blog stats is definitely a plus. I used to use Blogger, and while I could customize it more, I got less back from it. Personally, I don’t think users should have to pay to do custom CSS, though I think charging users to be able to place ads on their .wordpress blog is expected and totally reasonable.
– Built-in Search 😀
– Categories 😀
– Make Pages!
– Comment System
– Trackbacks
– Sidebar Widgets
– automatically notifying Google/Technorati on updates
– Blog Stats are too addictive! 😀
– Tags
Couldn’t make “Custom CSS” as a free feature?!
I think just love these!
Thanks Matt 😉
Moved from Blogger because seemed more reliable here (less downtime and hassles loading images) but number 1 incentive was ability to categorise. Really like being able to have static pages. Blog stats good but I prefer using Statcounter which is not possible now (I miss this). Would like better control of text without having to remember the html tags (Blogger was simpler this way) but otherwise posting is much, much better system. Havent quite found the theme I want and dont have time to much around with custom CSS but for a free service it is really great. Service is excellent – cant be beat.
Love WordPress.
* Categories
* Akismet anti-spam
* Widgets
* Static pages
* Blog stats
My favourite feature is being able to customise widgets, but it is also my least favourite feature because not every theme has this (dammit!).
Categories are good, but having pages is better- a lot of blogs don’t let you have pages that you can set in hierarchical order. Also, I like the fact that I can get my blog to open on a page rather than automatically on the blog.
I migrated from Typepad and although WordPress seemed a bit tougher at first, what convinced me were:
a) Easy Template Customisation
b) Categories for Links (with the links automatically sorted in the sidebar if you have the right template)
c) Static pages
d) Statistics on the front page
e) Your thriving WordPress community and how you seem keen to keep upgrading WordPress
I look forward to future features (and more templates perhaps?)
Availability of three nice simple themes without silly boring artiness.
1. The “already being worked on” domain mapping.
2. A “contact form” widget, drop-in, plug-in…what have you.
Best of bests:
4) Variety of themes
3) No ads (Yes I’ve seen your post, but I never seen an ad so far)
2) Search Engine Optimized
1) the name “WordPress.com” (yes I love the name 😉 )
Categories and Static Pages – This is why I chose WordPress over Blogger.
Akismet – I’ve yet to have a single spam comment show up on my blog!
Blog Stats – Easy to access, easy to read, and easy to get addicted to.
Automatic Pings/Pingbacks – Saves lots of time.
I never would have used WordPress.com in the first place if it didn’t enable me to easily import my blog.
Because it pwns ?
strong platform… so i trust my site will be remain up !!
1. I love the ready-made templates. They are sophisticated, clean-designed and simply fantastic!
2. I love the interface. It’s a bit complicated to me at first, but once I understand how things work, WordPress is far easier than other blogging services I’ve used.
3. And no ads! Yeah you mentioned there will be some, but up to now… my site’s still looking as I wanted it to look like in the first place 🙂
Love ya, WordPress 😉
I’m new to wordpress though some of my friends already used it.
Just import everything from blogger, and I like the categories – a feature certainly can’t live without. Besides, I like the speed and stability, and the simple interface!
Impressive work guys!
i’m a wordpress newbie.. and from what i’ve seen so far, i’d have to say im luvin getting to create pages, categories, and simply having everything made easy for me to do..
thanks wordpress! ;-*
My favorite features…the lack of crashing and downtime, the neatness of code and appearance, the commitment that the support staff shows to interacting with and listening to users, and the fact that blogging has become a joy once more (can anyone guess where I used to blog?). 😉
Thank you, WordPress!
I think this article was very useful
thanks
Here are my main reasons for leaving myblog.de and joining wordpress.com:
– Blog Statistics
– Blogroll
– good administration
– Widgets
But as a real web-designer I miss the ability to customize my blog, like changing the background colors. So I think that users should not have to pay for custom CSS.
You guys have put in some really cool sidebar widgets in the collection lately! Especially love the top posts and top clicks, and certainly not the least, the Platial MapKit!
Have used Blogger and WordPress – WordPress wins hands down.
Three things I like…
– Clarity. A clean layout, simple GUI and clear ethos (tight blogging “feel” about the whole site)
– Templates. Great choice, easy management (love the customised banner options)
– CMS. Stats, Options, Users, Presentation… Yes, yes, yes!
Three things I do not…
– Blog squatting! Please remind and remove those who pick a name and do not use it.
– Picture uploads. Occasional problems with this. Blogger too.
– Sidebar widgets. Easier to customise in Blogger (just edit the code)
Three requests…
– Allow RSS for password controlled/private blogs
– Allow posting onto multiple pages (content seems fixed on additional pages?)
– Keep it simple and really useful… don’t get sucked into finesse and obscure functionality!
Thanks!
Now you have really go tme thinking…
Three more things I love…
– Categories
– No ads
– Akismet
And three more things I would like…
– Tag field as a sidebar widget (either for the blog or the whole of WordPress)
– File management (for readers to download?)
Keep up the great work – hope you are enjoying providing it as much as I am using it!
– Create pages
– Password post
– Calendar
– Spam catcher
– No ads
– RSS feeds
– Themes
– Page load time
WordPress is great and its the first webblog that I’ve stayed at and continuely update everyday or every other day because the navigation is easy and headache free!
Thanks!
customizable banner
flickr
cool themes
NO ads
whole service is very user friendly
spellcheck
you guys rock!
Fast servers, no ads, bug-free (blogger hah!) and a really clean layout. Thanks for the great service!
This probably isn’t even considered a “feature” but what I like best about WordPress, as compared to other blog platforms, is that each post gets its own “page.” I know it’s not called a page, but I mean it’s not just plopped onto the top of an ongoing huge long scroll. I much prefer to organize my posts by subject and title them this way.
1. Pages – Tada ! now its a website 🙂
2. Templates – Andreas09 – Soooooo good
3. User Options – Edit Name, Nickname, Post Name – Essential Confidentiality !
4. Upgrades – CSS and More Storage – Yipee 🙂
5. Like a Mac, its almost perfect.
Excerpt from my first post:
WordPress is simply wonderful, there is room to breath here. The interface is very clean and easy to use, there are hundreds of templates, options and upgrades available. You can upload files, create multiple users and even transfer ownership of blogs between users. WordPress behaves much like a website, with options to create additional pages, secure pages, and even indexing via categories. Another superb feature is the ability to add and point domains to your blog or even host on your own domain. Site upgrades such as more storage and custom CSS are inexpensive and open up the door to a whole new world of possibilities.
for is it the life-saver Akismet, great thing!
As an academic, I needed to start a blog for students, librarians and faculty. I had no technical expertise nor do I know how to write code. But I have many ideas on content and news that I wanted to share with colleagues. So I just jumped in to the WordPress site… and by the end of that day, I had a working blog! Wonderful stuff! I told my boss, “I impressed myself”. Sometimes you just need to get your hands on it and pretend that you know what you’re doing… worked for me. Thanks, WordPress.
I like the
– Blog statistics – easy to know from where people are coming to my blog
– Categories
– Themes
– Import – i imported my blog from blogger as well
– Comments management
I really find these awesome ! Now I won’t go anywhere… i am addicted to wordpress.. 🙂