What, where, where: an overview of travel blogging services

Summer is already in full swing, but far from everyone managed to get out on vacation. Information sea, and navigate with the move in it can be difficult.

Where to go, how to get an airline ticket at a discount, book a hotel room, learn about the pitfalls of selected destinations from experienced travelers and just spend time with interest reading travel reports and viewing photos — well, under the cat, read a comparative review of tourist social networks.

The review got:
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turometr.ru/
tourbina.ru/
tourout.ru/
flagatrip.ru/
geoid.ru/
tripster.ru/
venividi.ru/
yapiligrim.ru/

Geoid.ru

The main menu immediately reports on the wealth of this resource: the number of cities and countries on the site, as well as reports, photos, facts and users who write about all this. I liked the list of popular countries - although five is still not enough, and the list of cities / places most likely would also be superfluous.

However, the functional site is not rich - there are no useful gadgets like the ability to book a ticket / hotel on it. His main service is the ability to read numerous photo reports.

Despite the fact that all posts are rated by the users themselves, the main page, however, displays the topics not chosen by users, but selected by the editors. You can see the choice of readers by clicking on the “reports” link and selecting “popular”.

The registration on the site is simple and unmarked - even it is not necessary to enter the password twice. If you do not add your photo immediately, then instead of the cap you will be chased by a gay black man with fangs - I haven’t met a convincing reason to upload at least some profile photo yet. It will literally haunt you: a plate with a user menu, a search line and a bug report button and, in fact, an avatar always remains at the top of the page when scrolling, eating a large part of the screen height. It is easier to log out - all the more so that the plate for non-logged-in users is half the height, and there is still no possibility to fold it or fix it at the top of the page.

In the profile menu I was pleased with the link “send a message” next to my nickname. Who - it is not clear, not yourself? Clicked, a text entry field appeared - again, there is no destination input field. I drive in “blablabla”, press send and a red plate appears: “Why do you need to send a message to yourself?” Indeed.

Verdict: they are too smart with beauty, but you can read it.

Turometr.ru

Elegant, like a Christmas tree, a site with a penguin in the logo. Penguin is a great totem for a tourist project, rich in various connotations. I personally associate it with “Kinder Surprise”, and what about you?

There are so many special effects in the form of pop-up layers that it seems as if nothing is poked on the main mouse - something will jump out or open from somewhere. Most of the useful links are hidden in such menus - one must assume not to overload the page. Mostly very topic, but in general the main one came out just a little bit overloaded. The apotheosis of meaningless beauty - a pop-up menu at the bottom of the page, a la Mac or Sony Vaio.

At the same time, the functional “Turometer” is the richest service in this review. In addition to a gentleman's set - booking air and railway tickets and hotels, the site has announcements of hot tours with the possibility of ordering online, and information about events held by the site or with the support of the site - expeditions, quizzes, competitions. By the way, the quiz about Turkey ends the other day, the prize of which is a trip to Antalya for two. You can still have time.

Otherwise, this is a normal blog service with all the standard features for communication, information exchange and the establishment of new connections. By the way, the site is made on the livestreet platform, so in some places it is almost Habrahabr.

Registration on “Turometer” is the most convenient, because, oddly enough, this is the only (!) Service from all sites in this review that provides the possibility of authorization using OpenID.

Verdict: the richest and one of the most convenient services in the review, but too many unnecessary ruches in the design.

Yapiligrim.ru

The abbreviation PL in the favicon of this site causes associations with a completely different subject matter .

The main feature of the site is a map on which elephants, eiffel turrets, balloons and other icons appear randomly, displaying, respectively, user reports on travel, attractions, events, as well as hotels, museums, where to eat, airports, railway stations and bus stations . It is not enough to simply hover the cursor to understand what exactly is behind one or another icon - you need to click, and then you will see the explanation and the author of the post. I didn’t catch the principle of the icon output - in one of the combinations I had a link to the 2008 Beijing Olympiad. In theory, past events should be somewhere in the archive, but oh well.

The site trusts its new users - first, you can immediately create a community (there is even a special link to this in the user menu). Secondly, as elsewhere, there is also an opportunity to evaluate user records. Only for some reason, voting is possible only from the pages with lists of announcements of materials, and on the very page of the article the assessment is displayed without the possibility of voting - to change it, you need to return to the list page. Or evaluate articles in advance.

Verdict: very boring site.

TourOut.ru

98th in the Liveinternet ranking, the statistics are closed.

These guys on the site also have a map, only a small one, and also with their own chip - it shows the popularity of countries among the users of the site. On the page with the same card, the title “Visited and Planned to Visit the Country of the Earth” hangs more - apparently, for those who visit the site from somewhere in Alpha Centauri. Well, or just forgot on what planet he woke up today. Where only people in black look? Two scales displaying the gradations of red and green with the division values ​​only given to developers from the same opera too - maybe this is just a bar code like that?

The design of the site as a whole, however, does not look like a stranger from another planet - rather, a guest from the past, but using the site, nevertheless, is quite convenient. The main feature is the ability to organize trips and search for travel companions; it is possible to rob korovany in such a way to collect entire expeditions. Tyome would like it.

Despite the fact that the site is positioning itself as a “social network” and there are even blogs in it, there is almost no sociality in it: if you want to share your impressions with someone, then all you can do is upload photos by accompanying their brief note. It is not possible to rate reports, add friends, or even comment on reports. And the fact that it is impossible to know only when you register: view photo reports to unregistered users - yes, yes, too. By the way, registration at “TourAut” is the most confused and this is the only site in this review that requires confirmation of registration by the link in the letter, and after clicking on the link you will also need to click the “confirm registration” button - apparently, so that you still have Something to change your mind.

Verdict: It would be a completely useless site and not a social network at all if it were not for the opportunity to gather people for joint trips or join strangers. True, if VKontakte suddenly adds to the creation of events laying routes on the map, then TourOut.ru will have problems.

Tourbina.ru

The site with the name “but it has the word tour” at first glance causes a slight cognitive dissonance: the cap, logo and menu in the style of the beginning zero forums is combined with quite fashionable Ajax special effects and a full set of broadcasts - from Twitter to Yandex. Tapes (the latter pleases especially, since unlike Yandex, which scored a bolt on its reader, I use it and I am not going to change it for another service yet).

As in the case of TourOut.ru , a certain archaic nature of the site does not interfere with using it at all - on the contrary, after a while you begin to perceive the “unfashionable” design as a convenient and effective classic.

With social on the site everything is in order. There is, for example, the possibility of exporting materials to LJ, Li.ru, Ya.ru, and also to share them in all popular services. Other users can be added to friends, bookmarks, and for good posts - in addition to the usual pluses - say "thank you".

There are no restrictions on reading, but to rate and comment - please register (by the way, why doesn’t any travel site register in the style of registration on a plane, for example?). Although it is much easier to register on Turbine - you don’t need to take off your shoes, you’ll pass customs too - requirements are limited only by nickname, mail and double entry of a password, after which the site can be used immediately without any restrictions.

From the services provided, you can especially note the convenient and informative hotel booking service . Separately, you can pay attention to special projects to support the most interesting travel .

Site statistics is closed, but in vain. In my opinion, everything should be pretty good for them.

Verdict: blog service, hotel booking, usability - everything is very convenient.

flagatrip.ru

The site with an incomprehensible name “flagatrip” is one of the most modest in terms of functional resources in the review. The main service is blogs and photo reports. You can not vote for posts, there are no opportunities for sharing records either. Among the photos posted on the resource, there are really interesting ones :) Of the additional social opportunities, only the opportunity to plan a trip and invite friends. Of course, this feature is only for registered users.

To register on the site, you need to follow the link in the letter with confirmation of registration.

Verdict: there is nothing on the site that would not exist on other resources from this review.

Venividi.ru

77th in the livinternet rating among those tourist sites that didn’t give up a counter. At first glance, a rather unassuming site - at least, it does not aspire to look glamorous and web-dance like most modern projects. I would even say more, but, looking at the logo come straight from the 90s, I will keep silent. But on the other hand, he has at once two chips available even to non-logged-in users.

The coolest is the IQ game , where you have to answer questions about different countries and places, guessing them and marking their location on the map. Hit - points are added, missed - removed. The game really delays - the best timekiller for those who work at work, everything, but not work. Added this toy to your bookmarks.

Another cool thing is the widget with the countries you visited on the world map. Purely viral such a thing with the ability to insert into blogs, and also does not require registration to compile.

Further more. The site can be absolutely easy to use in the form of photo hosting, where the images are " stored on the server without restrictions and are not deleted under any circumstances " (the spelling of the original, yeah). And also - without registration. Why do they need it, given that on the download page there are no ads or links to other pages, except for the logo - I do not know, but the thing is very convenient. Also bookmarked.

From the useful for holidaymakers themselves - search for airline tickets on airline sites and a link to a partner price comparison service for hotels and air tickets.

And yes, there are also blogs, ratings, ratings and comments. You can comment and rate without registration. Actually, you only need to log in to Venividi to write your posts. Registration is simple and unclouded - once and ready.

Verdict: After registering, you no longer want to leave the site. Even though the logo comes from the 90s.

Tripster.ru

Thripster was probably supposed to be something like a hipster, but my first association was a bit different.

Despite the abundance of glamorous webdwolf sites in the review, Thripster is the only site in this review that greets the user with a plate at the top of the page with the text “Have you been here for the first time? Learn more about the project. ” And thank God that the only one is a feature as glamorous as it is useless.

The main feature of the site is the service of information about discounts on air tickets . Another feature is the question and answer service .

As for the social component of the site, its specialization is not reports on past trips, but preparation for future ones. When planning a trip, a user can ask questions and view previous discussions on a selected place, learn about discounts on air tickets again. In this sense, the site is pleased with the original idea, but the functionality of the resource could be richer - you can not even dream of getting all the information you are interested in in one place. So "Thripster" is more like a support resource for the traveler.

When registering, you must specify the city in which you visited. A good approach - if you have not been anywhere, you can’t help other participants, which means that you cannot count on their help either. Otherwise, registration without problems, it is not necessary to confirm the email.

After registering, you will receive new questions that appear on the site every two days. In the settings, you can either adjust this periodicity or unsubscribe from them altogether.

Registered users have access to “takeaway gadgets” in the form of widgets and buttons for blogs with a map of your travels, as well as a drag'n'rops button for the bookmarks bar, with which you can even add information about the city you are interested in or the sights you like.

Verdict: a convenient site with clear tasks, it is worth having just in case in bookmarks.

Total

As a result, of the eight sites in this review, I would recommend the following four as the most interesting: turometr.ru/ , tourbina.ru/ , tripster.ru/ and venividi.ru/ - in any order. “If Ivan Nikiforovich’s ears should be attached to Ivan Ivanovich’s nose ...” Each of these sites has its own advantages and disadvantages - but most importantly, each of them has some sort of trick that distinguishes them from other faceless “Portals” and “social networks”, and makes them potentially interesting for users and readers. Which one is most suitable for you - choose.