After I wrote the previous post, I decided to take a look at WordPress and see what it would take to get it configured. Next thing I knew, I had my new blog set up. I've even posted a couple of entries on it. So this will be my last post on this blog here in Blogger.
My new blog is at www.ashtonland.com/blog
The new website is not yet finished. I'm slowly working my way through. So if you go and check it out, be prepared for dead-end links.
Bye bye Blogger. You've served me well.
Deanne
14 October 2010
09 October 2010
Upgrade going well
The new website is coming along nicely. It took me hours to get it set up the way I wanted with the web builder application provided by the web host. I was beginning to think that hand coding was better, because I could not make the site look exactly like I wanted. I had to work within their template limitations. But now that I have it together, I'm happy with it.
One thing I didn't realize was how many files are involved with the new photo galleries I'm creating. Big albums that have several hundred photos end up generating a couple thousand files! Thankfully, my phone has a fast connection so I'm not sitting for hours trying to upload everything.
I'm probably about a quarter of the way through the upgrading and uploading process. I will definitely meet my November 1 deadline. I actually thought I'd get it done by next weekend, but when I was finishing off an album yesterday, I decided I was really quite sick and tired of the whole process. So I don't see me spending the majority of my waking hours working on the website like I originally thought.
I have definitely decided to move my blog to the actual site. When I have WordPress configured the way I like, I will make the move. Until then, I will remain loyal to Blogger. As for the archive conundrum: For now, I'm just going to keep a link to Blogger available on the site. I know Blogger keeps inactive blogs available for at least a year, so I have awhile to figure out how I want to store old posts. I imagine I'll end up cutting and pasting the contents. Which, like everything else involved with this upgrade, will take time.
Today is Saturday and Steve's at work. F1 qualifying has been postponed due to rain. Steve didn't mail off my Netflix on Thursday, so I have no DVDs arriving in today's mail. All of my friends are busy with either school work or their families. I'm not sure what I'll do with myself today. As my friend Beth said on Facebook: I'm living the high life.
One thing I didn't realize was how many files are involved with the new photo galleries I'm creating. Big albums that have several hundred photos end up generating a couple thousand files! Thankfully, my phone has a fast connection so I'm not sitting for hours trying to upload everything.
I'm probably about a quarter of the way through the upgrading and uploading process. I will definitely meet my November 1 deadline. I actually thought I'd get it done by next weekend, but when I was finishing off an album yesterday, I decided I was really quite sick and tired of the whole process. So I don't see me spending the majority of my waking hours working on the website like I originally thought.
I have definitely decided to move my blog to the actual site. When I have WordPress configured the way I like, I will make the move. Until then, I will remain loyal to Blogger. As for the archive conundrum: For now, I'm just going to keep a link to Blogger available on the site. I know Blogger keeps inactive blogs available for at least a year, so I have awhile to figure out how I want to store old posts. I imagine I'll end up cutting and pasting the contents. Which, like everything else involved with this upgrade, will take time.
Today is Saturday and Steve's at work. F1 qualifying has been postponed due to rain. Steve didn't mail off my Netflix on Thursday, so I have no DVDs arriving in today's mail. All of my friends are busy with either school work or their families. I'm not sure what I'll do with myself today. As my friend Beth said on Facebook: I'm living the high life.
06 October 2010
New face for Ashton Land
Our web hosting contract with our current provider is up and we've decided to move to a different service. The move will both save money and provide greater perks. I'm excited. I haven't done anything to our website in ages, and I'm totally caught up with the notion of redesigning it.
I'm particularly thrilled to have discovered Shozam software. Easily 99% of our website is photographs (the other 1% being links to this blog and to some short videos hosted on YouTube). I have wanted a Facebook-esque photo album for our site for years. Steve said he'd create one for me, but he never found the time to do so. Most of the digital album programs out there allow only for the photos and maybe a short tag. I wanted an album that allowed me to write long descriptions of the photos. Happily, Shozam gives me everything I wanted and then some. I've been spending a lot of time (too much, probably) converting all the photos currently on the website into albums. I'm hoping to have them all done within the next few days, so I have time to add new pictures for the relaunch of the site. It's a lot of work, but I'm loving every minute of it.
The hosting service we chose has a lot of perks, including a Premium Web Builder and WordPress. The web builder supposedly will help me make fancier web pages without the need for a lot of coding. Up until now, I've been a purist. I design our site myself and write the code on Notepad. That all stemmed from someone once telling me that since I was a "feeler" type of person, as opposed to a "thinker," I could never write computer code. I set out to prove the jackass wrong. Having successfully done that, I think I may take advantage of the Web Builder this time around.
WordPress creates another conundrum. WordPress is a blog program. I tried using it on this site years ago, but it wouldn't play nicely with our hosting service. That's how I ended up here on Blogger. I really prefer having my blog on my site, so I'm very tempted to use the WordPress. The issue is what to do with the three years of archived blogs stored here? I have found no way to download the files. I may have to just use cut-and-paste and create them in WordPress. Of course, the other issue is that by being on Blogger, I'm connected to my friends' blogs more easily. So I haven't yet decided what I'm going to do.
My goal is to have the new site launched by November 1. Which is also the deadline for UH admissions. I found out that the graduate committee won't make a decision for Spring until after the application deadline. Quite annoying that. Anyway, when the site is ready to go, I will make an announcement via email and/or Facebook. We're talking about changing the domain name for it, too. So it will be all new. I'm so excited!
Which I guess makes me a huge nerd. :-)
I'm particularly thrilled to have discovered Shozam software. Easily 99% of our website is photographs (the other 1% being links to this blog and to some short videos hosted on YouTube). I have wanted a Facebook-esque photo album for our site for years. Steve said he'd create one for me, but he never found the time to do so. Most of the digital album programs out there allow only for the photos and maybe a short tag. I wanted an album that allowed me to write long descriptions of the photos. Happily, Shozam gives me everything I wanted and then some. I've been spending a lot of time (too much, probably) converting all the photos currently on the website into albums. I'm hoping to have them all done within the next few days, so I have time to add new pictures for the relaunch of the site. It's a lot of work, but I'm loving every minute of it.
The hosting service we chose has a lot of perks, including a Premium Web Builder and WordPress. The web builder supposedly will help me make fancier web pages without the need for a lot of coding. Up until now, I've been a purist. I design our site myself and write the code on Notepad. That all stemmed from someone once telling me that since I was a "feeler" type of person, as opposed to a "thinker," I could never write computer code. I set out to prove the jackass wrong. Having successfully done that, I think I may take advantage of the Web Builder this time around.
WordPress creates another conundrum. WordPress is a blog program. I tried using it on this site years ago, but it wouldn't play nicely with our hosting service. That's how I ended up here on Blogger. I really prefer having my blog on my site, so I'm very tempted to use the WordPress. The issue is what to do with the three years of archived blogs stored here? I have found no way to download the files. I may have to just use cut-and-paste and create them in WordPress. Of course, the other issue is that by being on Blogger, I'm connected to my friends' blogs more easily. So I haven't yet decided what I'm going to do.
My goal is to have the new site launched by November 1. Which is also the deadline for UH admissions. I found out that the graduate committee won't make a decision for Spring until after the application deadline. Quite annoying that. Anyway, when the site is ready to go, I will make an announcement via email and/or Facebook. We're talking about changing the domain name for it, too. So it will be all new. I'm so excited!
Which I guess makes me a huge nerd. :-)
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