so, cara has planted this little idea in my head: moving this blog over to wordpress. this notion both excites and terrifies me - as most interesting things in life should, i guess! - for myriad reasons.
i'd have to back up my blog! (yes shut up i'm totally negligent and totally lazy)
i'd have to import my blog!
i'd have to learn a whole new program thingee!
i would be confused!
and stressed!
and ahhh!!
ok, you get the point. but a) of all, i'm obviously just type-a overreacting to the whole endeavor, and b) of all, change is good.
so, my few dear and loyal readers, i'd love your vote - stay with this tried and true (but relatively boring and often ornery) little blog format, or make the leap and possibly drive BoyCat crazy with my whinging and hand-wringing in the process?
decisions, decisions.
this would probably also be a good time to acknowledge that yes, i have not been posting much more than one-liners, cats, and public transit observations for the last few weeks. this is mainly because i am actually busy and doing things. which i consider a good thing. except that i don't get to write as much. which is a bad thing. what i need to figure out, a la cinnamon, is how to function on four hours of sleep a night instead of, oh, eight or nine. then i'd be onto something! but i'll figure it all out eventually and be back with more coherent things to say.
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7 comments:
Quite honestly, the whole process was much easier than I had anticipated. Importing the blog involved clicking a few buttons. And the program really isn't very different and it's pretty user-friendly. The writing tool is not incredibly different . . . it has its own little bugs (embedding picture can sometimes be a pain in the ass), but I have mostly had less trouble with it than with the Blogger system. You also have a lot more control.
I do run off of my own domain and just use wordpress as my blogger tool. So I'm not incredibly sure how everything works when you're actually hosted off of wordpress. I know that it's different and that you have fewer options than if you run off of your own domain (for example, you can't use plugins and you have fewer template options). Buying a domain really isn't very expensive -- mine cost around $160 for two years -- but obviously everyone still can't afford that. From what I have heard from people running off of a wordpress domain, though, it is an improvement over blogger, but you'd have to ask them about specifics.
Still, I say go for it :)
Uh..............
Why?
I mean, you're not looking to create a hyper-dynamic, multi-dimensional, multi-contributor blog with a billion widgets so, you know, if it ain't broke?
I'm with toast. I think that if you want to really do more with your blog, you should move over. But you don't seem like you do. That said, if Blogspot is keeping you from sharing more of your awesomeness, then do the move.
And what is this backup that you talk of? ;-)
Hello, first time reader!
I actually tried to get my blog over to wordpress - twice. Not getting my own domain, but just using it as I use blogger now.
As much as I would like to get my own site or even get over to wordpress (I really do not know how to do HTML, and get bored quickly with the blogger layouts, lol) I can never get my head wrapped around it. I also don't like how you have to buy credits to change the HTML, since you can do it on Blogger for free.
However, I know that worpress can be spiffy. I am thinking about going over there (again! lol) come March 2008 - I am in Japan right now and blogging away my time here, but when I return to the states, I plan to shut that blog down and start afresh.
The Overheard in NY quotes are hilarious. I am from NYC myself, but I always forget to look at that site - I usually read the Metro Diary which are equally hilarious.
Oh yeah, I completely forgot about the fact that wordpress charges for some features. That's weird, since I don't remember having to pay them for anything with having my own domain, and you get a lot more. That is definitely something to consider if you were to host off of wordpress. I don't think that it hurts to sign up and check it out, though, and just keep the name in case you want to use it later (you can't delete an account if you ever want to be able to get the blog URL back). You can turn the blog private, too, so that you don't have to worry about people stumbling across it.
Hey Kate,
First of all, some of the comments here are about the Wordpress SERVICE instead of the installed APPLICATION. The former is similar to what you're doing now--just logging into someone's website and letting them handle all the back-end stuff. The latter is what I do and what would give you total control. Oh, the power...
My short answer--don't even THINK about going to the hosted service if you're tired of blogger. If you're going to change, you ought to get the real benefits out of Wordpress, which means installing the application somewhere and getting the real flexibility out of it. Otherwise you'll just have to deal with limitations just like you do now with Blogger.
That said, there are no fees whatsoever for the Wordpress application, and there's a ton of tools built in. The only thing you have to pay for is web hosting and a domain, which should run you well under $50/year (including registration fees) for the type of traffic you get.
I think that for your longterm branding/success, it'd be a huge step in the right direction. However, to do it right, and let's not kid, will take a lot of energy and banging your head against the wall. You are SO not a geek, so yes, BoyCat would likely have a larger role than he'd like. I made be able to coax David into helping, too, as he's been helping me for years...but we'll see.
So, the long and the short of it should be that if you make the jump you'll be doing a lot of good things for your blog, your readership (though more for potential new ones than for existing readers), and yourself...but you will also be sucking away a weekend or two of your life to get it set up right.
I suppose I'm with toast as well. Unless you have some grand plan, or are just plain annoyed or bored with Blogger, in which case you should definitely switch. Change is always good. Except when it's not. Wow. Late in the day low blood sugar low brain function. Sorry for being totally unhelpful.
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