Honestly, it's awful. I used to really like it back in the early days. But since they got acquired (and even before when they started to concentrate on Spaces) it really started to go down hill. I need to switch to Wordpress soon, but I honestly just haven't had the time.
"And I'd say consistent publishing -- especially in the face of apathy or silence -- is a huge part of building readership." That's absolutely right in my experience.
If you're going to be switching anyway, Octopress is very nice. Octopress uses rake for posting, git for SCM and various organizational bits, host on github or on your own server.
Definite "+1" ... or maybe "+100"... to consistency. That is the key. Look at anyone who you consider a "successful" blogger and I think what you will find is that the key point is that they keep showing up with new posts. And doing so on a regular basis (which for some is daily, some weekly, but most at least a couple of times a week).
"My job was to write twelve posts a day about 'media gossip,' which meant anything unpleasant or otherwise intriguing about anyone who had power in any Manhattan culture industry. There had to be enough posts so that whoever was sitting at my old desk at the publishing house, and everyone in Manhattan like her, could read something new when boredom struck."
Excerpt from book by Emily Gould, ex-Gawker, infamous blogger
I'm a really big tumblr fan. A lot less maintenance than a wordpress server, but all of the customization and tools that are important to me - themes, custom CSS and HTML, and an awesome mobile app.
"And I'd say consistent publishing -- especially in the face of apathy or silence -- is a huge part of building readership." That's absolutely right in my experience.