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I hired someone to do a little housekeeping for me, but it’s not what you might think. As you may have read on Friday, this past weekend was THE weekend for making the big switch from the Blogger platform to WordPress. For many of you who read this through a reader or get this through email, it really shouldn’t affect you much at all. I chose to make the switch for a number of reasons, but primarily, the reason is blog growth. There comes a point where managing a blog takes more time than actually creating posts, and I’ve been told by nearly everyone (translation: bloggers who have their shit together more than I do) that the WordPress platform is simply a better use of resources. It just simply allows me to do more while still focusing on the fun stuff, like writing a few of those longer posts you’ve been asking for (family stuff, time management tips, etc).
This is pretty much the first time I’ve hired anyone to do something for me blog-wise. I admit that I’m a nerd and find things like HTML and CSS fun. But since this involved much more than changing a font color or background image, I didn’t want my readers to be inconvenienced by my lack of expertise, and I called the pros. I am very glad I did, because even that had me in a sweat. The design is something I’ve been working on myself, so there may still be a few kinks to iron out. But the biggest focus has been on making this site easier to navigate and find the things you’re looking for faster (thanks again to those who participated in the reader survey!). I’m still making changes to several areas like the Lessons Learned page (which is now a project gallery with photos instead of links), but hopefully this new layout will be easier for both of us.
Again, the main reason for the change is that the blog has been growing. And I am so very, very excited about having more of you to share my crazy ass stories with. I want to continue to make this site better, and your feedback is very much appreciated. Please let me know if you find anything particularly difficult, and have patience with me as I figure all of this new stuff out.
Tomorrow will be another update to the staircase and entryway (hmm, don’t you think it’s time for some color?) – looking forward to seeing everyone else’s updates!
Looks good – I am glad the switch has gone smoothly so far – that is definitely something I would want help with too!
I have a random question for you – if thats ok? How have your floors held up to Charlie’s nails? We are thinking of going with a laminate floor in our new place – and my dog looks similar in size (and appearance for that matter) to yours.
Yes, they’ve held up very well! Haven’t regretted the choice at all in that regard. However, the floors are very sensitive to standing water, so be very careful about when you put them in (I’d advise after taking care of any plumbing or other issues).
Such a switch would make even the pros break out in sweat! ;-) Glad everything went okay =)
Good on you for hiring someone! I wish I had done that from the get go and I transferred from WP.com to WP.org and it was an epic mess. Anytime I need anything else done, I am definitely going to find someone with more CSS patience that I ever could muster up. Good luck on your switch!
Hi Sarah,
I’m wondering if you’ll be adding an image to each of your posts? As they are listed now in your main page with a title and intro text, it’s not as visual. Just a thought! I love your blog!
I’d like to, but the feature image requires uploading each image to the server rather than it linking via URL, which causes space ($) issues for me. I’m working on it and had the same thought!
For some reason I can’t see the right side of your post….for example the last word I see in the first line of the post is “this”. I am reading from my iPad, and I also can’t “pinch” the screen and zoom out or in….just wanted to let you know:).
Thanks for letting me know – I haven’t even begun to try it out on mobile devices yet. Still working on that!
Looks good so far, congrats! It must be stressfull troubleshooting all the little gremlins, even with the pro help. I’m only a few months along, using Blogger and although I’m bumping into it’s limitations already, I’m much too gun-shy to switch.
It looks great. I just signed up for a WP blog and I have no clue what to do next. So, I have a blank page floating out there in blog land!!!!
Your site looks the bomb. Congrats, and welcome to wp! Your site looks good over here ;)
Your new wordpress site looks great Sarah! Are you enjoying the backend part of it?? :) Good luck! :)
Thank you! I’m kinda overwhelmed at the backend part of it! Blogger doesn’t have anything like these plugins (it’s like shining a flashlight on my blog after nearly three years of being in the dark). While that’s great and all, maybe I should have picked a break in my school schedule to have really allowed myself to get into it all, or maybe it’s a good thing that I can only do bits and pieces here and there so I can better learn what’s important. I am loving how much I’m learning though!