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15 April, 2015

It's Getting There

Finally. Some of you might think the format resembles how this blog used to be, and you'd be right.

I got my fill of trying to work with WordPress. Yes, it's a powerful program, with all (and more) of the bells and whistles and stuff, that you could possibly hope for in a blog-writing environment. It just got to be too much for me. I wanted to write. I didn't want to have to re-learn how to be part of the IT crew again.

WordPress was taking all my time (well, all the time that I wasn't spending in the pool) and that simply was not fun. So, I dumped WordPress and InMotionHosting and went back to Google and Blogger, with a bit of behind-the-scenes stuff with Yahoo, or as I affectionately call them, 'Yayhoo.'

InMotion, I'll have to say, had the best tech support I've ever seen. In fact, too much of a good thing. It was really overwhelming, but in a good sort of way.

I had kept the old blog at Google's Blogger, because I was still having some import and formatting issues (read nightmares) with WordPress. It's a good thing too, because I want back to Blogger and revamped the blog. You'll notice some font changes and whatnot. The URL is almost what I want. That would be http://winjama.net. Right now, it's http://info.winjama.net. As soon as I figure out some things, it'll go to winjama.net.

I mentioned Yayhoo. The blog is maintained  or housed at Google and Blogger. The domain, winjama.net, that I own, is housed at Yahoo Small Business. It took me a day and a half to figure out the interface between Blogger and Yayhoo. Lot's of techno-babble to get there. I knew going in that Yayhoo's tech support sucked big time, from my previous time having tried having them host the blog when I first decided to leave Blogger. I didn't expect any changes this time around. And I wasn't surprised.

I spent about two-hours on the phone with Yayhoo's tech support. Language problems cropped up throughout the session, as Yayhoo's tech support is in India (or maybe Pakistan or somewhere). That was very frustrating. I finally gave up on them after 1) having my cell-phone battery discharge, and then after I recharged it, 2) my pre-purchased time expired.

I took that as an omen and tackled it on my own, figuring that if it blew up, not much was lost. Anyway, I managed to get stuff entered in the proper sequence, more or less, and it functions. All transparent to you the reader, but trust me, there's some magic going on between Blogger and Yayhoo to enable you to read the blog.

It's a start - er, a re-start, I guess. I hope you like it. Now, I can concentrate on writing and doing fun stuff. I'll still work at tweaking the layout and such but on my own time, when I feel like it.

Cheers,
Dave

4 comments:

Wilma said...

Glad to see your blog again. The wordpress was not effective from this reader's perspective. I am playing with a still private blog on wordpress, and although there are many things I like about it, I prefer working with blogger. I think I am going to can the wordpress effort. Google blogger does 95% of what I want and I know how to use it. Seems like we have had similar experiences with wordpress, although you put much more effort into it. I am glad to know it isn't just me! Cheers.

Dave Rider said...

Hi Wilma, I really wanted WordPress to succeed, but jeez, I couldn't stand bashing my head against the brick wall any more. I agree, 95% is better than a bloody forehead. Maybe if I had a full staff to work at it. "Comere dogs. Have I got a job for you guys!"
On your post about 'Blue Balls', I ordered a couple spray cans of the glue, so we'll give it a try when the stuff shows up.
Cheers,
Dave

Vivien said...

I hope giving up on "bashing your head against the wall," allows you more time to write posts.

Dave Rider said...

Hi Vivien,
I sure hope so. I've got a couple in the wings that I'm working on. I'm also just about done installing a font - the one I used in the banner image, so I'll be able to redo the whole banner for the blog. About time to get back on track.
Cheers,
Dave