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| Free Diaries Online |
| The online journaling community has grown exponentially thanks to these sites that offer free journals to anyone with an email address. No longer do you need to know complicated code to publish your life to the internet. Obviously, everyone in the ring already has an online diary - but it never hurts to shop around, does it? |
| Free Online Diary Providers |
 Diaryland
Simple and easy to use if you don't know the first thing about HTML, and incredibly customizable if you do. Diaryland provides colorful templates with all the HTML footwork done for you, and allows you the option to redesign your diary's look and feel completely with your own graphics and layout. One of the best thing about Diaryland is no extraneous banners or advertising on your site - you decide every last thing that goes on your page.
Diary-X
Another good, free service. Though not quite as easy to customize with your own graphics and layout, still fully malleable if you're willing to do a bit more legwork. Also offers full service for the HTML-imparied. They do add their logo to your diary pages, but it's very small.
DearDiary.net
It looks like this free diary provider offers a lot of services the others don't, including the ability to include some kind of calendar on your diary pages. Unfortunately, their 'create a new diary' service has been down for days (as of the time of this posting), so Yours Truly can't offer the full review. It also looks like they put their own navigation frame at the top of your diary pages, whether you like it or not.
LiveJournal.com
This too is a reliable and impressive service, with an unusual catch - you can update your diary with your web browser, or download software that will allow you to do it without a browser. No HTML knowledge is required, but those with HTML know-how can modify the layout and look of their diary to their heart's content. It takes some sleuthing to figure out how to change the way the diary looks, but the option is there.
Scribble.nu
A 'nu' kid on the block, but simple, easy to use, and fully customizable. They offer templates for those who don't want the hassle of HTML coding, but also allow users to change the look and feel of their diaries completely. A little slow to load, but no banners or advertisements of any kind on your diary pages.
My Dear Diary
Easy to sign up, easy to update - but not the least bit customizable as far as I can tell. Your diary will look like the rest of the site and everyone else's diary, and only your entries will change. Offers a place for readers to enter their comments into your diary pages as well.
Xanga
Though the appearance of these diaries are not quite as customizable as some, users do have some control over layout and colors. The interesting thing about Xanga is that they give you the option to purchase a domain name, and will host your diary on their site under that domain name - so instead of yourusername@xanga.com, you have yourusername.com.
The Open Diary
This provider offers free web-based email, an interesting community, and of course - it's easy to use. Their headers, menus, and footers will appear on all your diary pages however, and the most you can change is the table where your entries appear. Also, a little slow to load the two times Yours Truly has been there.
Journals Online
A simple, no-frills place to keep your online journal, run by someone who loves journaling (as opposed to dot-commers). It doesn't appear to be even marginally customizable, and your diary pages will look like everyone else's - but the journaling community there is serious about their favorite pastime.
Blogger
If you want to keep an online journal but don't want to keep it on the kinds of diary hubs listed above, Blogger is a great service. You can keep your diary anywhere online, whether its your own domain, a free website from one of the myriad dot-coms that offer them, or the webspace your ISP gives you. Blogger will allow you to update and manage your online diary without all the hassle of heavy coding, constant FTPing, and serious maintenance. Be warned - this is not for the HTML or internet squeamish. You'll need to know your way around a bit to make use of this. |
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