Although I use Movable Type blogging software, I've been tempted to check out the popular open source Wordpress blogging software. One of the main reasons I've been hesitant to switch is the migration nightmare that would ensure - incompatible templates, incompatible plugins, etc. I use a lot of MovableType plugins that aren't currently available in Wordpress so I'm holding off at the moment.

Well, It would appear that the major blogging companies aim to standardize blogging software to ease many of these issues. Between the Lines has an interesting blog post today about this. Dan Farber writes:

At the Syndicate 2005 conference, a few dozen Web companies–including PubSub, Bloglines, Feedster, Meetup, Newsgator, Rojo, Sxip, CommerceNet and Broadband Mechanics–gathered behind a structured blogging initiative, using microformats and other open standards. "We need to make sure that all new formats, such as events, listings, reviews, audio and video blog posts, are compatible with each other. We are encompassing the evolving standards for structured blogging into a compatibility box, and providing extensions for WordPress and Movable Type," said Marc Canter, CEO of Broadband Mechanics. An "Output This" Web service allows bloggers to route blog posts to any destination. more...