Time for this week’s installment of Man-day by Jensguy.
Yep, we finally did it, and it wasn’t easy. Thank you for your patience as we completed the process.
Please take your time and let us know what you think as you survey the new site, and please don’t be shy in telling us what you like and what you think we should change. And pretty, pretty please leave a comment so Jennifer no longer has to worry about looking like a site that no one has ever visited or commented on.
Lessons Learned
We knew that we were going to eventually have to move to a WordPress site from Blogger, and that many experts say that you should start with WordPress. It needs to be pointed out that WordPress is difficult to design and unless you are willing to pay a lot of money up front or have somebody familiar with web design in the family, it is probably too large a burden for someone discovering if they want to be a blogger. I could see the struggle to get the design just right becoming an impediment to actual blogging and that would be a shame. Blogger, while it has a lot of drawbacks, is sinfully easy to set up and navigate. It is a great trainer while you decide if blogging is for you.
Once you decide that blogging is something you can commit to, change, right away. The longer you wait the harder it will be. We had to reformat every post on the site after the import, which was about 3 months worth. The changes weren’t insurmountable, but it did take time.
If you are using IntenseDebate you aren’t likely going to be able to import your old comments. I haven’t closed the door on eventually restoring Jennifer’s old comments, but it is going to involve manually editing an XML export and a lot of prayer. It is on my “to do” list.
Once it is installed and configured and formatted to your liking, the difference is tremendous. It is like the difference between driving a tenspeed and a Ferrari. Every little customization that you could possibly want is available. The ability to monitor your site is like night and day, as is the confidence I have in Jennifer’s reported numbers. There is a lot to learn, but we feel very confident that we will be able to grow and give our readers better content.
Final Thoughts
Please feel free to let us know about any questions or criticisms you might have. My skin is pretty thick, and there are still some pieces of the site I am working on. Thank you for helping Jennifer in her new endeavor, and finally, thank you for doing what you do every day. I am not ashamed to say I live in constant awe of you bloggers and the work that you do.
