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Should Have Been Easy

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by

Margaret

My major issue with WordPress thus far is that it wouldn’t let me edit my last post once it had been published. Believe it or not, I make numerous mistakes or want to change words or phrases (perfectionism!), so I was FRUSTRATED. I do know how to edit, and it should have been easy as my post title indicates. Strangely, the edits worked fine on my phone, but not on my laptop. We’ll see how it goes with this post, eh?

Shall I discuss the million methods to migrate a Typepad blog to Word Press? But oops, photos don’t automatically come in. There are many other complicated steps that must be taken. And OH, in order to get images, you have to have an expensive business account. According to my more techie friend, Tonya, even the simplest method of export/import is hellacious and the very opposite of simple. I’m not sure she’s succeeded even after trying for days to migrate her archives. Tonya? https://beachagates.wordpress.com/

Then there’s the changing of templates which should take no time at all and might give me a sidebar. I picked one out and activated it. An hour later, it was still not finished, so I gave up. I’m going to have to deal with this one for a while. I don’t hate it, but I wish the whole post showed up instead of just the title. Is that what everyone sees? This site looks different (better) on my phone than on my laptop; however, I don’t use my phone for blogging. The idea makes me very stressed!

My mood is a little like Obro’s right now.

Otherwise, I’m learning that I have to approve people’s first comment, so if you leave one and it doesn’t show up right away, no worries. Once you’re on the approved list, it’s not an issue.

Today is an Open House at my parents’ house; I have many mixed feelings about that. I don’t know that a holiday weekend is the best time to have one, but what do I know? There’s been a bit too much moving on this year and it doesn’t get any easier, does it?

In case I haven’t mentioned it, thanks to my dedicated and thoughtful blog friends who have stopped by on both sites with encouraging and complimentary words. Our connections are definitely an important reason why I keep writing. xoxo

Comments

32 responses to “Should Have Been Easy”

  1. addofioJean Avatar
    addofioJean

    I now have your WP blog bookmarked, and am undergoing my own little learning curve for commenting on it 😄. Nothing compared to what you are dealing with, of course. Let’s hear it for lifelong learning!

    Reply
    1. Margaret Avatar
      Margaret

      Bookmarks are good! I think there is way to sign up to have new posts sent to your email. Subscribe?

      Reply
  2. addofio Avatar
    addofio

    This comment comes to you (I hope 😏) via a different, hopefully simpler, route. We’ll see how it works..

    Reply
    1. Margaret Avatar
      Margaret

      Comments come to me in exactly the same way. It’s easy on my end, but it doesn’t sound like it is on yours.

      Reply
  3. Pamela Jones Avatar
    Pamela Jones

    I’m glad to discover your new blog. I’m sure you’ll figure out how to smooth it out. It IS big!

    Reply
    1. pamfrommd Avatar
      pamfrommd

      Now I’m commenting while on my phone and your site looks fine here. Not big like when I viewed on my desktop.

      Reply
      1. Margaret Avatar
        Margaret

        The site looks better on my phone than my laptop. But I’m afraid to fiddle too much and mess things up. One small step at a time! At least I can blog somewhere, right?

    2. Margaret Avatar
      Margaret

      I know! I even cropped the header photo, thinking that would make it smaller but it didn’t work out that way. More to learn!

      Reply
  4. PipeTobacco Avatar
    PipeTobacco

    I wonder if there is an option on typepad for you to at least download a copy of your site before doomsday? In THEORY, Blogger (my site’s host) has some sort of mechanism to download the site and have it (by them, I guess) published into a book copy. I briefly looked at it and yet it seems likely very pricey. I hope if Blogger goes belly-up they may (unlikely) offer us some options that do not break the bank.

    Reply
    1. Margaret Avatar
      Margaret

      Typepad does have an export file that they’ll be sending me but it’s just to try to migrate to another platform and not in a readable format. Sigh. Afte 21 years, it would be cost prohibitive to have books made, I would think. It’s painful and difficult to let go of those archives though.

      Reply
  5. Maureen Avatar
    Maureen

    I find that learning anything new is not as easy as it used to be. Yet I persist. Your reflection in Bro’s sunglasses is an unintentional selfie? I often think about my blog and how I might like to preserve it before it disappears, but I procrastinate doing anything about it.

    Reply
    1. Margaret Avatar
      Margaret

      I procrastinated on the typepad issues for years, knowing that it was dying but wasn’t ready to move, although I did make this WP site and one on Blogger. I figured I would be moving in the near future. What I didn’t expect was that I wouldn’t be able to access my typepad archives, that the whole site would disappear. 🙁

      Reply
  6. Pixie Avatar
    Pixie

    I’m sure all of the bugs will be worked out. I have to bookmark this site.

    Reply
    1. Margaret Avatar
      Margaret

      Even if they’re not, the site works, it’s OK and I have a place to write and share photos. I need to look on the bright side.

      Reply
  7. Tonya Avatar
    Tonya

    NOTHING is easy, is it? Sigh. Don’t bother trying to import your text file to WordPress until next week—apparently they have discovered a bug with imports that they are addressing with “high priority.” (We’ll see).

    On my WP blog, I’m able to edit easily, and I also don’t have to deal with approving comments. I can’t begin to tell you why! I also can’t remember how I created my sidebar, but I don’t think it actually came with the site. I vaguely remember using the “Menu” option to create it. I wonder if there is a way to resize your banner photo? (It’s really really BIG).

    Reply
    1. Doug M Avatar
      Doug M

      This is sounding a lot more complicated than even I anticipated for you Margaret. I can’t imagine the anguish you must feeling, given your years of wonderful posts. I enjoyed them all text and photos both. Damn you Typepad! Anyway, from this end things look good so I hope you continue Margaret. I’d be heartbroken if you didn’t, as I’m sure many of your other readers would say the same thing. Good luck with that open house, I bet it sells fast though. And always nice seeing your handsome grand boys. 🙂❤️👍👍

      Reply
      1. Margaret Avatar
        Margaret

        I think it’s more impossible. The photos won’t come over without a bunch of steps or a business account, which I’m not sure I want to pay for. The text MAY transfer. That’s still to be seen.

    2. Doug M Avatar
      Doug M

      Oops I just wrote a comment and hit publish but I think it is going to show up as a reply to one of your previous commenters, sorry about that!

      Reply
      1. Margaret Avatar
        Margaret

        That’s OK. Tonya is friend since junior high and won’t mind!

    3. Margaret Avatar
      Margaret

      I don’t know how to resize. I cropped the photo but the picture size stayed the same. It looks good on my phone, just very large on my laptop. I don’t want to mess around too much until I figure out what I’m doing. (if I ever do!) The edit function isn’t working on my laptop but is on my phone. So, something is amiss and contacting WP is in my future. Sigh.

      Reply
  8. AC Avatar
    AC

    Your template looks good to me on my tablet. It’s very readable — more so than the other. I hope you get the sidebar sorted. Maybe before oyu settle in for good, you could also experiment with Blogger.

    Reply
    1. Margaret Avatar
      Margaret

      I do have a Blogger site. Unfortunately, WP is the only platform that can perhaps absorb my Typepad archives. PERHAPS!

      Reply
  9. Steve Avatar
    Steve

    Do you know Mitchell of the “Moving With Mitchell” blog? He uses WordPress and may have some tips about things like after-publication editing. (I edit my posts frequently and would hate to lose that ability!) Of course it sounds like you have other friends with WordPress too, so hopefully you’ll all be able to compare notes.

    I do see only a list of post titles when I get to the first page of your blog.

    I think a lot of platforms now design templates to fit on phones, believing more people read that way than on computers. I still do everything on a laptop!

    Reply
    1. Margaret Avatar
      Margaret

      I don’t but Michael did give me a person to contact for advice about migrating my blog. Still on this post (and prior ones), I can’t edit from my laptop but can from my phone. I’ll need to contact WP to find out how to fix that. Like you, I edit frequently. I would like to try a new template with a side bar and that shows the whole post, but I also don’t want to mess up what I’ve already set up. Switching platforms is already chaotic enough!

      Reply
  10. Ed Avatar
    Ed

    I used to customize my template in blogger back in the early days but then every time they did a major change, things would get all wacky so I have learned to accept the default ones.

    Reply
    1. Margaret Avatar
      Margaret

      I agree, I’m afraid of too much tinkering around, especially if there’s any chance I can get my typepad archives over here. (looking less and less likely)

      Reply
  11. Betty Renfroe Avatar
    Betty Renfroe

    Well,I know nothing about WordPress or whatever the other was called. So does this mean you’ll still have a blog at the link I saved. I’m easily confused. Will you vanish on September 30?

    Reply
    1. Margaret Avatar
      Margaret

      Sadly, I will no longer be at the TypePad address because that whole platform is disappearing on September 30. 😢This will be my new “home.”

      Reply
  12. PipeTobacco Avatar
    PipeTobacco

    It appears you changed something here at WP so you now have a white background for me at least. I like this change as the dark grey background with white print was not as comfortable to read.

    PipeTobacco

    Reply
    1. Margaret Avatar
      Margaret

      I was trying to get a side bar and a smaller header and instead I’ve managed to do what I didn’t want to–lose what I already had without knowing how to do anything to fix it! Typical!!

      Reply
  13. Bruce Taylor Avatar
    Bruce Taylor

    It all looks good to me. I’ll bookmark it.

    Reply
    1. Margaret Avatar
      Margaret

      Thanks, Bruce. It’s been discouraging and very frustrating at times but I’ll try to make it work.

      Reply

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