(Updated) Decisions Decisions ...

A Story by dw817

I really like Writer's Cafe. I am NOT happy about all the downtime they've been having. I have to make some decisions. Here is what I wrote in Xanga ... and a message to my friends.

This post was made yesterday (Jun 29 2013).

Following it is a post I have written for my Writer's Cafe friends today (Jun 30 2013).

There is a new post made today in Xanga seen below (July 1st 2013) and this should finish it up

WORDPRESS IS QUITE GOOD !

Going to make this a quick post. Likely I see Chris tomorrow and his Dad at the hospital so I need to get to bed very soon.

I puzzled over why Xanga, Inc. would choose WordPress as their server, why them ... So I spent several hours today examining their predicted and expected home.

At this point in my evaluation, WordPress is the most powerful blogging system around, albeit COMPLEX, but powerful. I can see how to write my own public comment routine in it, my own private message routine, and stream my own private videos with even greater protection than Xanga offered earlier, all for Free.

Now, they are STILL making it exceedingly difficult for people to learn how to post flash and videos in there as you have to use their own macro-coding (which was not easy to find information on), but I'm learning, and so far I can post Youtube & my own server's videos.

It requires a bit of tedious programming to do all this though, and - I'm a bit of a programmer in truth so I'm up to the challenge and willing to learn more.

Writer's Cafe, where I am now, is dying several times a day now. They are so exceptionally busy in there all the time. Not too surprising since it's remarkably easy to use, you can upload an infinite number of images per post, and just go nutzy at it like a kid in a candy store with no real ability of coding needed on your part.

But - they are not equipped to handle the traffic they are seeing - I am aware of this now, and the last thing I want to have is to try and work seriously on my posts and coding on a server that is down half the day.

WordPress has never been inactive every time I have checked it. They also offer a full-screen across to display your blog and a full-screen across Online editor with no ad-windows. They also have a clumsy but functional ability to store images on your own account, definitely not as good as Xanga's, but it's there.

I could write a book on how to access all the little bits in there that they definitely did not make easy to find.

In original Xanga I was using AdBlock plus but even then I had skewed margins unless I had a premium account, which I got for the purpose of visitors not having to see the ads. I'm not seeing such forced screen restrictions in there, and I can build a custom CSS interface as well, much like Xanga's themes.

There is a good chance I will go to WordPress, kicking and screaming all the way - but nonetheless, it is the future of blogging. Their total configuration staggers the imagination for depth and completeness.

But I will tell you now it is not - absolutely NOT for beginners if you plan to do anything more advanced than write simple text posts you are going to REALLY need to know HTML coding and to use the secret macro-coding they've locked away in the interpreter.

So - expect to see me in there experimenting more and more often and maybe, by the end of July, if Xanga for some reason doesn't resurface, I'll make a single post in there to introduce myself and start to avidly blog and visit the rest of you.

Oh, and I've also transferred all my earlier Xangan posts over to there from uploading the single XML Xanga has provided in the archives. While I'll likely leave them all at a protected level to start with, I can and likely will later refer to them and even unlock them for readers.

I'm also experimenting with how to make my own XML files so I can use an offline editor like Seamonkey to upload mass posts directly into it.

This system that Xanga has in mind for the future for WordPress can be done, but they shouldn't charge a dime for it unless it smacks - I mean REALLY smacks of Xanga's easy-to-use interface - cause WordPress currently doesn't.

If they do, really REALLY keep all the simplicity of Xanga, then I believe it will be well worth the $4/mo. they have set. Cause I really DO NOT wanna pick at this diamond mountain with my toothpick to make it halfway presentable for visitors - but I can if there is no other way, especially since all my posts are already transferred there.

So ALL OF YOU OUT THERE, download that WordPressWXR file [LINK] NOW to your Hard-Drive and ALL OF YOUR POSTS will be saved, you don't need to be a paying member to do this, and they can be transferred and rescued to WordPress - which is what they were designed for.

I - need to sit down and explain how to do this.

Current WordPress is clumsy, tedious, and their controls are badly designed. I can reprogram these with some work so they are easier for visitors to access, but it won't be done overnight.

Goodnight ...

Okay, now here is the post for my friends in Writer's Cafe.

WordPress is immensely powerful. It is quite difficult to do any interesting things in there like post videos or flash but it can be done with work.

1. WordPress has the ability to both upload and download entire posts, sites, or accounts.
2. WordPress gives full margins all the way across in my writings.
3. WordPress allows for moderate CSS ability, so I can develop my own theme like Xanga.
4. WordPress has a LOT of my Xangan friends on it. I've counted over 70 so far.
5. WordPress will be the engine for future Xanga. If they succeed, I will definitely be found there.
6. WordPress has greater security than here, including moderated comments.
7. WordPress has hundreds of plugins written by programmers just like me to access in there.
8. WordPress has allowed me to transfer all 272 of my posts from Xanga to there.
9. WordPress allows true edit of HTML, while they don't permit everything, standard coding is fine.

Here is what I am going to do. I will post "Monday's Wit & Wisdom" tomorrow (July 1st 2013). Then - I will not close my account here. I will leave it open, but I may change a few things, mostly my profile to show where I can be found primarily.

I'm also going to contact Uncle in private message and give him my personal Email address for security reasons, and anyone else who is in my current friend's list and wants it may PM me to request it additionally.

I will be checking in from time to time to see what is happening, I'll just have to see how busy I stay working in Wordpress and learning their cumbersome system. It is by no means as easy as Writer's Cafe, and were it not for the fact I am NOT just a writer, I would stay in here without hesitation.

I may decide to quit WordPress after further examination of it, especially with the knowledge that Xanga did not get the funding they needed to continue (this will be known for certain on July 15th 2013) - that is also possible, and if that is the case I will certainly return here and stay for good.

I'm not shutting my page down in any case.

I may not even get my WordPress site up to where I like it until the end of July. I won't be opening it until I see some progress there.

And I may post some more things in here later too. I will always be available to read comments, answer questions, partake in discussions, and engage in Reader Requests.

Update: Monday July 1st 2013

OK, it's the next day or so. I lose track. "WordPress Is Quite Good," I'm sticking by those words as they are without a doubt the most versatile and complex blogging system I have =EVER= seen. Wow. I sure hope Xanga gets their act together with the same interface as here cause it will totally ROCK in there and I will definitely pay to blog as I trust Xanga, especially since they said they are transferring all current premium members there.

If they somehow vanish without a trace, ah well, that is also possible.

But I am also going to say current WordPress has an absolutely atrocious and unpredictable interface that just slugs slowly on my computer, and they are REALLY looking out for HTML programmers like me, every corner, groove, edge, and edifice. I found now I can post one thing and view it logged in and it all looks great.

But guess what ? When I log out to view the same exact page as a guest cause I wanna know what other people will see, suddenly all my neat HTML coding acts like it's not even there. Wow. Bingo. Shazam.

Oh I know what WordPress wants to make this little mental nightmare of mine go away. They want MONEY and they want it ba-aaa-ad. They are bleating like gorged sheep in the wilderness !

Well I have news for them, I am NOT going to play this crazy childish game of peek-a-boo-where-the-!@#$-did-my-page-go-this-time anymore seeing one thing viewing my own site logged in and then seeing something entirely different viewing it as a not logged in guest.

I am going to go back to good old, as Uncle says, 'constipated' Writer's Cafe. They may have a ton of traffic in there, so much so that it's difficult to even know when the site is up or down, but at least I understand what's going on in there, and I LOVE their simple and easy-to-understand interface.

And I can post all my HTML, Flash, Inlines, and unlimited images, no problem at no cost with no tricks and no catches. No kidding !!

Bottom-line, gentle WordPress, Xangan, and Writer's Cafe Readers, it means, I'm STAYING here - in Writer's Cafe. As for the future Xanga arriving, and it may well be a pipe dream or I could get a bit more of a pip and say VAPORWARE.

Well, if and when the smell of fresh baked batch-cookies does permeate the bakery, I may pop over to see what's up with that.

But until such time, I am staying HERE. I will return to my regular schedule and post a new chapter for Writer's Cafe Wizardry Tuesday (tomorrow) and go from there.

Thanks especially to UNCLE who really let me see things in perspective. He may say it was nothing but sometimes the tiniest act of kindness or consideration, no matter what it is or how small - can make all the difference in the world to someone who is torn between two worlds.

© 2013 dw817

My Review

Would you like to review this Story?
Login | Register

Reviews

Samuel Dickens

I call it "constipation", this problem WC has and has always had. Whatever you do, wherever you decide to go, I wish you luck and hope you find what you're looking for.