10,000 Birds was started back in 2003, way before anyone dreamed of splogs, carnivals, or problogging. However, even then, many of the conventions of the blog format were already in place. Because I had already experimented a bit with Microsoft FrontPage, I chose that old shoe, rather than any of the dedicated programs, as the software for my blog. Amazingly, it took until October of this year, just two months ago, to make the switch to a legitimate blogging platform, in this case the wondrous WordPress.
The coders and webheads out there are no doubt wondering why it took me so long to make the switch. FrontPage is infamous for its clunky code, unbearably offensive to those who strive for elegance under the surface of their site. Furthermore, the software doesn’t come with the bells and whistles of bloggery. I had to hard code permalinks to every post, turn to a third party solution (Haloscan) for comments, and design and populate my archives and category pages by hand. Using FrontPage, with its curious hostility to everyday FTP, meant that I could only post from computers that had both the program and a copy of my site on them. Sounds positively medieval, doesn’t it?
So why do I often miss my old FrontPage days?
Don’t get me wrong… I love WordPress. I’m a true believer, eager to convert other FrontPagers into the fold. But praising WordPress or any other sophisticated personal publishing platform to the blogging community is truly an exercise in preaching to the choir. I haven’t come here to praise WordPress but to bury it. Two months into a life blogging without clumsy, crude Frontpage, here’s what I miss:
- Freedom from coding – With FrontPage’s true WYSIWYG interface, I always knew what I was getting when I hit Publish. Designing a web page was much like formatting a Word document with tables and everything. Especially tables! Sure, the code was bloated, but what did I care? I didn’t have to spend that much time under the hood. Now, my blog is like a souped-up sports car I spend more time fixing than driving. The last few months have been a crash course in HTML, CSS, and plugin interoperability. The ability to affect global changes by altering a few snippets of code is nothing short of miraculous, but I really need my tables back!
- Easy file management – My entire FrontPage site was saved on and published from my desktop, or laptop when I was on the road. Any time I copied an image or modified a photo, I could save it to the appropriate folder and work with it on or offline. When I published a new post or page, all of the sites folders would update. Now, any time I want to work with a photo, I have to FTP the file and then type the file’s path into my post. I haven’t found the plugin yet that makes working with images in WordPress nearly as simple as it was in FrontPage.
- Instant, immaculate backup – Because my entire site was located on my desktop as well as my host server, the site was always backed up. Furthermore, I could work on any page offline without resorting to third-party blogging tools. Now that my site is essentially a database, I don’t even want to know what the backup file looks like. I just fear the day I’ll have to dig into it.
Moving to a more sophisticated publishing platform dedicated to blogging was undoubtedly the right move for my site. I’ve already reaped some dividends from the initial investment of time and effort, although other expected gains have yet to manifest. But the move is far from complete. 10,000 Birds is currently a house divided, as much of my content is still only accessible on the FrontPage version of the site. Migrating the content has been a difficult process, primarily because there is no way to automate the process. Every one of my hundreds of posts needs to be entered by hand. This task is complicated by my crippling coding deficiencies; many essential pages, from my About page and archives to my trip reports, will be stuck in limbo until I can figure out how to recreate them without tables. At the pace I’m moving, that may be a long, long time…
This post is part of the December 2006 ProBlogger Group Writing Project
Ah, yes. I started my work web site in the dark ages of 1995, when one hand coded everything. I don’t even think there was a preview of what it would look like when you FTP’d it to the world. Up until probably two years ago, I still hand-coded in Netscape Composer. At work, I now use FrontPage. And for the blog, I use Typepad. I’m a sort of geeky early adopter and sometimes I can barely resist the urge to go to WordPress, but Typepad does make it simple, and I have designed hacks for nearly everything I want it to do.
Just imagine what your kids will be using!
See..it’s too easy to do now, we need a new hard thing to do again 🙂
http://joshmaher.wordpress.com/2006/12/18/2007-prediction-blogs-will-be-replaced/
I was reluctant to move from 8 track to cassette, and then cassette to cd. Now I wonder why I have a remote for my car stereo that’s arms reach away from me. I loose that remote more than the one in the house for the TV. It flashes the wrong time because I don’t know how to change the time and lost the owners manual. Modern technology, that’s the way to go.
Nuthatch, I just can’t wait until my kids can do all the coding for me.
Dave, you’re speaking the truth, brother.
Have you considered getting a developer to help a bit? If it is just a matter of installing and customizing the plugins you need and formatting the pages, it might not be that expensive.
By the way, I have found the W3C Schools tutorials very helpful when it comes to learning the proper syntax for HTML and CSS. They don’t go into the conceptual side of development too much, but do explain each term and what to do with it.
I can sympathize regarding the move to a new platform. Earlier this fall I had to learn drupal for another site, and now I need to learn how to work with the new Blogger system. It is really a challenge to switch systems.
I tried computer programming in college but couldn’t handle the debugging. Thus, I switched to marketing. I use WordPress (switched from Blogger & Blogger Beta) and have found it somewhat easy to use. My only problem is some things don’t work the same on different browsers. At work I use Safari (Mac) and Firefox. I used to use Internet Explorer and many people still do, so I try and make sure things look right for each. Becomes a hassle.
Your site looks mighty fine, so you seem to be doing things quite well. Keep up the good work.
I hear you, it’s tough to work with WordPress now and again. The benefits are just so worth it, however. Have a wonderful holiday!
We also participated in this project, stop on by if you get a chance!
I’m pretty happy with WordPress, but not head over heels in love either. (Well, I am. But not with WP.)
I know I made the right decision moving to WP, but miss the simplicity of Blogger. If Blogger Beta hadn’t been so messily implemented, I’d have stayed.
For me, the major downside of WP is how much you need to know. The upside is the endless possibilities, combined with the absolutely incredible volunteer support.
wordpress is super cool.Even i did the same.I wanted to build on dot net application but soon i relaiized there is no point in re-inventing the wheel again.
I also got entry in darrens project.
http://technospot.net/blogs/index.php/2006/12/19/predicting-the-evolution-of-techspot-insideout/
And i am feeding your blog.There wont be another chance to meet so many bloggers
Of course the next step is to program your own blogging platform 😉
Good luck in 07
I’m glad to see I’m not the only person who finds WP or switching platforms a bit involved.
John, thanks for the tip on W3C Schools. As far as getting a developer, this site is currently cash-positive (not counting my own exorbitant hourly rate) and I plan to keep it that way.
Birdfreak, thanks for the compliment. I appreciate it!
I’m with nuthatch on Typepad. It’s all I’ve ever used, and I almost never have any problems. (one lost post I think). I’ve long subscribed to the KISS principal (keep it simple, stupid). All eight of my readers don’t seem to mind either 🙂
Well, Mike, I’m with ya. I launched my biz site in 1994 or so, using hand coded html. By the time I started hearing about blogging (around 2003, I think?), I thought “what better way to learn about rss!”
So began an arduous process of doing just what you described: doing it all with a combination of handcoding and AdobeGoLive.
I will say that three years of doing that advanced my technical skills, but yuck! What a grind.
In June of 2003, I imported all those posts into Typepad and tried it for about three weeks, THEN imported all into WordPress, and have had a happy experience with that ever since. Now I see the option of having all one’s sites in a WordPress format and am considering that move in 2007.
May be blogging myself out of my old job as a web designer, in that I’ve been steering a lot of potential clients to WordPress based sites that they can manage all on their own.
(Found your site via participation in the ProBlogger Group Writing Project)
Cheers.
I use WordPress but use Windows Live Writer to write my posts. I actually can cut and paste my images into a post, no ftp upload, it’s embedded into the post. Might be worth checking out.
Two suggestions:
(1) Continue to write your posts in FrontPage and just copy the straight HTML into WP. This is what I do (except I use Dreamweaver) with some of my table based posts.
(2) Use Windows Live Writer. It handles pictures and most formatting better than WP and is a desktop application, so it runs faster. I write almost all my posts on LiveWriter and it is a much better experience than using the WP HTML editor. You get the benefits of WP but have an easier authoring tool.
Good post.
Ellen and Todd, thanks to your suggestions, I’m checking out Windows Live Writer. I appreciate the advice!
A sincere thank you to all you bird bloggers. I got online in 1999 as a complete computer illiterate. Luckily, I learned some HTML and CSS at Delphiforums. I’ve thought about going to a more sophisticated board than Blogger, but don’t know if I could handle it with this #@%^& PTSD.
You guys and ladies have impressed me as well as several like Eddie and his Team. and Bo, (Fatbirder) having helped immensely. All I can say is birders rate right up there with the veteran’s organizations I’m a member of when it comes to dedication to our wildlife. I have all the respect in the world for that.