Have been thinking about this problem where there's no single location where you can find Blogs on Tonga.  Some people prefer to manage their own website, down to running the server itself, whereas others have just put up house wherever it was convenient for them to do so.

It seemed opportune, or at least another tangent of thought to follow, to find out what was out there to help someone set up a site where they can have multiple users having their own unique blogs. With the user retaining control of their 'blog' environment without intervention from the administration team.

The Xaraya Engine I'm currently on seems to support such an animal, although administration seems to be quite manual for a blog configuration. As I don't expect that many users are interested in an @nomoa.com blog, this shouldn't be a problem. But it would be preferable to have a larger system that allows some automation of signing in and configuration. Another disadvantage of Xaraya is that it is not actually a blogging engine so a number of the 'blogging' features have to be manually configured and can get a little complicated managing for a large number of users. At least that's what I'm thinking when looking at XMLRPC.

Along comes some opportune reads of mu.wordpress.org and lyceum.ibiblio.org

http://mu.wordpress.org

WordPress MU is multi-user version of the famous WordPress blogging application. It is ideal for people wanting to offer a hosted version of WordPress, but due to its complexity installation and maintainance is not supported in the same manner WordPress is. (You cannot get support on the WordPress support forums.)

Using WordPress Multi-user edition you will be able to people be able to sign up for a new blog and have them securely manage their templates and settings without affecting any other users. Only one blog per user is allowed, but you can have unlimited users, and you can have multiple users on a single blog.

Lyceum

http://lyceum.ibiblio.org

Welcome to Lyceum - Enterprise Class Multi-User Blogging

Developed by ibiblio.org, Lyceum is a stand-alone mutli-user blogging application, designed for the enterprise. Utilizing the fantastic, intuitive WordPress blogging engine at its core, Lyceum enables stand-alone, multi-user blog services for small and high-volume environments. Lyceum is GPL-licensed, under active development, and free to use.
Designed for the Enterprise

Stand-alone, multi-user blog services make a lots of sense to us, and to a lot of other people. Lyceum is ibiblio’s contribution to this growing collection of tools. At its core, Lyceum is a minimally-featured enhancement to WordPress. We let WordPress do what it does well; we simply added nice things like smart administrative controls, an easy-to-use installer, enterprise-oriented database architecture, support for load-balancing, all the while focusing on flexibility, security and usability.

Visit bTonga

Strangely enough, it seems that most Tongans I've come across who wish to blow hot air are just as willing to 'blog' on the forums and emailing lists that they are on. I suppose it provides the same effect although Forums and Email Lists don't get listed on search engines as retrievable as websites/ web blogs.

Further options ?

b2evolution is a medium scale* CMS centered around the Blog concept (fully featured with multiple blogs, content/presentation separation, full user management, full i18n...) and extending towards features normally provided by Wikis, Trackers or hierarchy driven CMSes.

We believe the blog concept is one of the most effective forms of CMS.

With b2evolution, we provide the technology you need to invent new applications of blogs and solve common problems pertaining to information sharing and collaborative work.

• First release: 2001 (original Cafelog/b2), early 2003 (b2evolution)
• Platform: LAMP recommended. Minimum PHP+mySQL. See requirements.
• License: GNU GPL.
• Status: stable & production grade. However, some features are only partially available. Please check downloads page for individual release status.

MultiUser Blog Reviews over at http://blogsavvy.net/multi-user-blog-tools-overall-ratings-and-reviews 

MultiUser Community Systems (apart from standard portal type CMSs include)

http://elgg.net

Welcome to this installation of Elgg, an open source learning landscape platform. Please feel free to join and check out what the system can do.

Elgg is a new breed of learning environment based around choice, flexibility and openness: a Personal Learning Landscape that firmly places individuals at the centre of their learning.

With the freedom to incorporate all of your favourite tools within one environment, Elgg allows you to showcase your best work with as many or as few people as you choose.