I am in the process of reviewing the changes that occurred resulting from the move. I will likely make some tweaks and such as I learn more about the new service. One thing I failed to do is move my media. There were a number of files, so pulling them from my computer and getting them on the new site will take a little time. Please accept my apologies for any interruption.

I had to also move the WordPress and Laughing Squid logos to the top of the bar, along with my e-mail. This is a temporary fix, seeing how I prefer these closer to the bottom of the page.

I also noticed that the footer is now missing from the home page. Although I’ve looked at older and newer versions of the code, I can’t seem to figure out why it disappeared from the new home page. It does appear in FireFox, but then the background disappears halfway down the page.

In the meantime, I’ve rolled back to 2.0.6 (the last version I downloaded). I will continue to watch the WordPress page to see if a fix is released. I may attempt to upgrade again, but I may need to see what’s going on under the hood (even though I don’t know PHP).

As with any project, there is always a list of up-front work that must be done before jumping in and just doing it. And implementing the work also requires following a plan of attack (typically called a project plan). Even though this is a personal Web site, even I approached this using the project management skills that I developed during my time in my current position.

I first started by reviewing how I could use WordPress 2 for blogging and as a CMS. I ran it in a special folder within the former site, mostly for blogging. The features that I sought included a simple blogging system, a scalable CMS, open standards that are easy to learn, flexibility so I could customize the look and feel as I saw fit, and a community of developers that provide plugins and support. I also wanted to get away from using expensive HTML/Web editing software, such as Microsoft FrontPage and Macromedia/Adobe Dreamweaver. After evaluating a number of open source systems, I chose WordPress becuase of its simple, PHP-driven architecture. Plus, there is a large community of WordPress users and developers that have contributed their efforts into making it easy to add functionality (in the form of plug-ins and themes). After evaluating it for a few months, I’ve decided to adopt WordPress for the new site.

The next step was to determine if I could update the code so it had a similar look and feel to my old site. However, other issues arose with my former Web host that necessitated me to move my domain to a new host. Unfortunately, I didn’t maintain the old pages or the old page format. However, I do have most of the content stored on my computer. Although I had to spend some time migrating the information after putting the new system into production (that is, making it go live), the data were there and available to migrate.

To date, all of the blog and “soapbox” articles are now on this site. But some links to previous pages and other Web articles were no longer available, so I had to indicate that. I also imported some pictures, but I only have a few available (those that are part of the blog posts). Finally, I had to make it all fit into the category structure. That alone took some time, seeing how my site has evolved from updates for a day to writing about specific topics. After reviewing everything that I’ve written over the past six years, I guess my life isn’t that boring afterall.

I’ve also continued making small tweaks to the layout of the site. Unless I decide to reformat the look and feel, I plan on keeping the site’s format in its current state. There are a number of plugins available for functionality as well, and I will evaluate those if I feel compelled to add them.

My next steps are to continue migrating information from the previous site to this one. I also have a number of pages that can be added. Reworking and rewriting these will take some time. However, now that I have comments open, I am willing to listen to others’ suggestions. Just remember, though, that I am not a programmer; adding content is one thing, but adding functionality will take me some time (thank the developers for plugins). The end goal is to continue making this site a useful one as well as a means for me to keep my family and friends in the loop.

My new WordPress blog

I’ve also added some information to the “about me” section of this site.

At this time, I am not allowing people to post comments on this blog, because this is a test blog (at this time, anyway). As I continue to test this, I may add information about my primary Web site.

One thing I would like to test is adding a recent vacation’s narrative and pictures to a WordPress site. The trick will be to make it so that it doesn’t read like a blog as much as a scrapbook. I’d gladly like to hear feedback on such a task.

I currently use Dreamweaver MX 2004 to edit my permanent Web site. I don’t know if I’ll continue using that or if I’ll move to using WordPress in its entirety… only time will tell. Either way, I will need to migrate all of my old entries… that will take some work. Until then, let’s see how this goes.