When I wanted to start a blog in 2005, I selected Blogger because it was easy. I didn't need fancy templates or design features. I just wanted a little home on the internet for my rants against shaved snatch.
For the most part, this has worked well. Not long after I started blogging, I decided to get a domain name and host for my work. This was partly because cussandotherrants.blogspot.com was a reallllllly long URL. The transition was not without any pain. The blogspot URL was supposed to link visitors to the new URL, but after a few weeks someone hacked the blogspot URL because it was not quite programmed right. This sucked, but was not awful.
This afternoon, Blogger sent an email to the 0.5% of Blogger users who use FTP to upload their blog to a non-Blogger hosted site. They said that as of the end of March, we can't do that any more. People with custom domains would need to transfer to their custom domain services. This means no more cussandotherrants.com. It also means that Google is my host. I understood their reasons, but I still fell into the fetal position and rocked back and forth.
Once I uncurled myself and got up off the metaphorical floor, I realized that maybe this was OK. I pondered the issue on my walk home from work. Sure, now is the worst timing to have to change CUSS to another platform, but it could use a good overhaul. There's no way I could pull this off myself under even the best of circumstances (i.e. - not working full time and writing a thesis). However, people spend money on their hobbies, and so far, blogging has been a pretty cheap one. It's time to invest in it.
So, anyone know a good web designer? I'm pretty excited to work with someone to take CUSS to a new level.
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Actually, I could talk to my friend Nevan (who's moving back to NYC tomorrow, coincidentally enough). He's amazing. And if he doesn't feel he can work on an overhaul of your site, he could certainly recommend someone who might.
ReplyDeleteSuzanne,
ReplyDeleteChange is always hard, especially mentally. Thanks for the continuing efforts to make me and others laugh and sympathize ( even when you don't know us )
I'm sure there are a lot of us that check your blog every couple of days.
I hope you are able to work through this transition so that we the "fans" don't have to CHANGE our
habits.
Keep up the good work.
Midwestern Tom
Thanks Rebecca - let me know what his contact info is.
ReplyDeleteThanks Midwestern Tom! You made my day. I hope this process won't be disruptive to anyone. At the end, it should be a positive change. I hope.
I don't know any web designer, but a cheap way to do it would be find someone who's looking to build a portfolio, someone trying to break into freelancing -- Craig's List may help you with that. It's a strategy I've considered (though the opposite way) for getting my own freelance efforts up and going.
ReplyDeleteHi Suzanne,
ReplyDeleteWhile I personally enjoyed using MovableType for four years, and have recently migrated my blog to Drupal, the next step up for most people seems to be WordPress. It's a wonderful blogging tool.
Chances are good your hosting company already supports WordPress, meaning you might be able to just activate it from your control panel. If not then installation and setup is still pretty easy.
WordPress is very well supported in the blogosphere, with tons of plugins, tons of themes (and people to help you customize them), and especially, tons of support for people migrating their blogs from Blogger.
If you can't find someone nearby to help you migrate to WordPress, or if you'd rather use another platform like MovableType or Drupal then drop me a line and I'd be happy to offer further details, advice and/or help with at least some of the tasks by email or phone.
Good luck!
figleaf / David
I know TWO excellent web designers and they are from the same company. They are sisters (Amy and Susan). They will work with whatever your budget is and are awesome.
ReplyDeleteI know several people that have used them and have been very pleased:
Sumy Designs: http://www.sumydesigns.com/