Wordpress: Make the switch
I’ve been thinking more and more about going to a Wordpress based platform and having a hard time convincing myself it would be a good switch.
There are a few reasons why I would want to make the switch to Wordpress as a blogging platform and so far I am leaning more towards it.
Reason for why I would like Wordpress:
- Large support for plugins for creating more functionality to my blog
- A working RPC-XML engine that allows Trackbacks/Pingbacks/Remote Editing
- Custom Themes/Templates
- It would help me write Wordpress plugins
- I could learn how to create custom themes/templates and perhaps make some extra money
Now those are some pretty good reasons in my eyes. Especially the Trackbacks etc which I have had a pretty hard time re-creating here on my blog. Even though those are pretty good reasons the main reason for why I have not made the switch has to mainly do with the fact that I would probably lose all my previous posts and have to start from scratch. It wouldn’t be horrible, but I do have more than a year’s worth of posting and comments on my blog and I would sadly miss them.
I could possibly import my posts, but the comments and categories would not be easily added.
I would also have to look for a really good theme that is pretty unique and functional. I wouldn’t really want something that everyone and their dog has right?
Reasons why I like my custom built blog:
- I created it
- Minimum security issues. I control the code so I can control the security breaches etc. No needing to rely on Security Updates etc.
- Custom layout/Theme. It’s all been created by me and I have learnt quite a bit about web design and development while I have been doing it
- People are impressed because I designed/coded it myself. I can use as part of my online portfolio.
So really there are more good things than bad, but the real issue is my content. I am thinking if I were to go to Wordpress I would lose all of it and have to start from scratch. I thought that perhaps if Google comes along and doesn’t find what it is looking for, I could try and redirect with a 301 to the main page. Unless of course I could keep my content (sacrificing my comments) and then I wouldn’t worry as much. Content is king right?
What would you do? I would like to write more Wordpress Plugins, and going to a Wordpress blog would allow me to do this easier. I thought about perhaps starting a second blog but I am having troubles thinking about how I would separate the two etc.
I need suggestions/advice! I’m listening!
February 25th, 2008 at 13:51:04
Comments should be working again. I forgot to add the Captcha scripts
February 25th, 2008 at 17:09:24
Well…I\’m sure you could, if not then between the two of us, figure out a way to port all content, comments, and categories to another blog platform…I\’m gunna take a look at the wordpress db structure later on tonight…
February 25th, 2008 at 17:15:19
P.S.
Magic \’quotes\’
February 25th, 2008 at 17:16:24
Oh, and you\’re page \\\\\’Advertise.php\\\\\’ has a \\\\/\\\’404\\\\/\\\’ error
February 25th, 2008 at 17:31:42
lol spammy isnt it? I guess i should look at turning off magic quotes.
Thanks Cam
February 25th, 2008 at 17:47:22
Yeah…I would edit posts if I couldn\\/\’t not…\\*hint hint \\*
I think porting to wordpress would be very do-able, if it is anything like I remember…
Unfortunatley, I\’m waiting for a password reset from my web host…It\’s been a while.
February 26th, 2008 at 13:09:56
It really would not be all that difficult to turn your existing site layout into a standardized WordPress theme. Then you could switch and nobody would ever know! Muhahahah!
Might start here:
http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development
February 26th, 2008 at 14:06:24
I like that suggestion. I do plan on looking at creating themes for Wordpress and what better way than to recreate the one I use for my custom script?
Thanks!
March 6th, 2008 at 12:43:43
Well, I am in the process of switching from Blogger to WordPress and I have to admit, I’m a little frazzled since I’m not a geek!
March 6th, 2008 at 13:46:15
What part is frazzling you? Perhaps I can help.
March 13th, 2008 at 01:29:19
Hi Tyler,
In regards to what I found frazzling… in the process of switching, I thought I had lost numerous posts (I might have, but I’ve discovered that having more than 600 posts actually has made me forget how many I have lost, if any). Now, the more I use WordPress, the more I like it!
Of course, I can’t alter my theme because I’m not using the paid WordPress version, but even with the free site it’s doing everything I wanted. Well, except for following up on this particular comment.
But I do enjoy my newfound freedom with WP
March 13th, 2008 at 05:37:47
I do like the fact that Wordpress offers the free hosting option. Of course hosting it yourself is a bunch more fun though. I pay under $6 a month for hosting this blog site at Bluefur.com using the promo code dynamicshark