Howdy!
Finally decided to get the blog moved from its old location to a new one that offers more whizzbangniftyspiffyblog-o-matic tools. (There seems to be a demand for those things. I was getting e-mail from people asking about the site’s syndication, permalinks appearing before the item goes into the archives, etc.)
I decided to go with TypePad, powered by MovableType, as it seems to be one of the best. From my end there’s a downside in that the posting tool isn’t WYSIWYG, which makes it a bit harder to do what I want in a post, but not too bad. I also figure that the posting tools will eventually get better, and by making the jump now I’ll have my blog in a exportable/portable format, making it easier to “move it without losing it” in the future.
Since I wasn’t using blog software to do the previous site, I had to pull the entries over here by hand. I’ve got them all on the right days (I think), so the basic order is preserved, but the timestamps for the posts before this one are meaningless. Also, I still have a bit of cleanup to do on them (fixing links and images). I’m also trying to get the old comments imported, but this may be a complicated process, if it’s even possible. Worst case scenario, we have to start fresh with new comments on this site (which has a built-in commenting feature).
On the bright side, there’s now an easier way to access the blog. I’ve got it its own URL now. Henceforth, my blog will be www.JimmyAkin.org, while my web site will continue to be www.JimmyAkin.com. In other words, the blog is .org, while the site is .com. Got it?
Enjoy!
Suggestion, since you’re already in the process of settling into a new locale: Archives are much easier to handle if you do them on a monthly basis rather than a weekly basis. If you continue with the weekly basis, before long you’ll have to move them to their own page to keep them manageable.
I use Movable Type and am quite pleased with the power of it. But if you want some WYSIWYG tools there are some available that will post to the blogger API, Which MT uses.
w.bloggar offers good tools for HTML editing and has a preview screen it will post directly to TypePad. This is a windows app and has the benefit of not losing a post in case something happens when you try to post to the server. If you are using the level of Typepad that lets you modify your CSS style sheet than w.bloggar is also helpful in that you can have it remember your CSS paragraph tags and the preview is shown via your stylesheet.
I am glad that you now have a regular syndication feed.
Of course another alternative is to just use a full blown HTML editor and then paste the HTML source into TypePad and publish it.
Welcome to the new host Jimmy. I enjoy reading the blog. Keep up the great work!
READER ROUND-UP
Michelle: Thanks. Done. Had been meaning to do that already but am still exploring how to tweak things with the new system.
Jeff: Thanks for the suggestions. Once I’ve got a better grip on what TypePad itself can do, I’ll start exploring the things you mention so I can add *MORE POWER* (snort, snort, snort) to the site.
Joshua: Much obliged! Will endeavor to do so.
Yes…I also enjoy this blog very much…it’s on my daily reading surf.
Keep up the good work Jimmy. Your understanding of Catholicism (and many other things as well) is very deep.
If you change the color on the right side column to orange, your blog site would look like the flag of the Republic of Ireland.
Ben:
Not gonna happen. In my Ireland there is no Orange. 😉
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