Hello dear friends, well as you can see, the deed is done. I have redesigned my blog, set up house in a new neighborhood and moved to a new address. And it all still works! Yay!!!!!
So why all the changes? Well as for the design part that’s easy, I like to change things up, both in my real life and here on the web. I was itching for a new design. And I had been collecting my wish list and inspiration file for some time. I was ready for it.
As for leaving Blogger and moving to WordPress? That was a hard decision. I love Blogger, I love the ease with which it allowed me to blog and not worry to much about practicalities. I loved being able to customize the hack out of it and I loved the safety and familiarity of it all.
But Blogger comes at a prize too. We have all experienced the blackout last year, the whole commenting system has given us more trouble than it should, and let’s face it when you are on Blogger, Google owns your blog. And they can do with it what they want….
Google has just announced that they will discontinue Google Friend Connect, and this weekend they pulled the plug on the Photo Editing Website Picnik. If they decide one day that they are not making enough money with Blogger they could just take it down too. Poof! just like that, and your blog would be gone and there would be nothing you could do about it.
photo © 2008 Erik (HASH) Hersman | more info
But to be honest the most important reason for me to move to WordPress was simply the flexibility and potential my blog will have to evolve here. As I was preparing my ‘to-do’ list to give my Blogger blog the new look I wanted, and while I was compiling the tutorials on how to make those things happen, I realized a couple of things. That list was crazy long, the tutorials were getting more complicated all the time AND I realized I was in essence trying to make my Blogger blog look and function like a WordPress blog. So why not take a deep breath and move….
I moved myself from Blogger to WordPress. Well almost by myself. In the end I had to hire a little help. When I decided to move to WordPress.org (self hosted WordPress) I knew two things. One, I could not afford to have the whole design and moving process done by a professional, even if I’d wanted that. And two, I wanted to understand what I was doing. If I was going to be responsible myself for keeping my blog in the air and functioning after the move, than I wanted to know every aspect from what goes on behind the scenes. And what better way to get that knowledge than to figure everything out myself.
Oh and I am a-DIY-girl at heart I guess, in all things, including the blog.
So the first thing I did was buy this awesome Ebook: How to move from Blogger to WordPress by Sharon Huijk
If and when you ever decide you want to move your blog over to the self-hosted WordPress, get yourself this book!!!
(get it here in fact, because I can so wholeheartedly recommend it that I have become an affiliate).
Even if you will pay someone else to do all the work, this book will help you understand what he/she is doing and it will be a reference guide for troubleshooting later.
I think between Sharon’s book and my pit-bull like stubbornness to figure it out, I would have been able to do it all by myself. Except that I made things extra complicated…. of course…..
I decided I wanted a new address too. I never really cared for the “songbird-isnesting” part of my blog address. I hadn’t thought it out enough when I picked it. So I figured if I am going to rock the boat anyway, let’s make a big storm.
When it came to the actual real-deal moving part I asked Sharon for advice. And even though the book is a self-help-guide, Sharon was more than willing and gracious to give me some help and advice anyway. I soon realized that some hardcore coding would be necessary to move my blog and all of you faithful readers to the new destination. I was losing sleep over the thought of messing things up at the last step and loosing all of you in the process. So I ended up hiring Sharon to do that last part for me.
This is Sharon, doesn’t that lovely smile give you so much confidence? It did me…
And she did it masterfully. It all went so well, and it worked almost immediately. And she didn’t loose her patience with me even once, even though I kept pestering her with questions.
She is magic, sheer magic!!!!
And here I am, new blog, same blogger, same Songbird shenanigans.
So what do you think of my new home here? Do you still recognize me in it? Do you like the new functionalities? Are you missing anything? Is something bothering you? Let me know, I love getting honest and well meant feedback.
Oh and I have a question too.
When I designed the blog I used this picture from Design Seeds as my inspiration for the colors.
Lovely blue hues with some warm gray and a hint of pink in it. At least that is what I see in it and how the colors are on my screen. And that is how my blog looks to me too.
But when I look at my blog on my work pc, or on My Love’s Apple computer. The colors are not so much blue as they are gray. Donna described them as Sea Foam Green. So my question is what do you see? When you look at that bottom navigation bar under my header, is it blue as the sky on a sunny but freezing winters day? Or is it the color of the sea?
Pop Quiz!!!! Are you an:
- Apple user who sees a bright blue nav bar?
- PC user who sees a bright blue nav bar?
- Apple user who sees sea foam colors on this blog?
- PC user who sees sea foam colors on this blog?
Just curious I can live with sea foam, even if I designed it with clear blue skies in mind……
| A little more about Sharon’s ebook How to move from Blogger to WordPress. I truly recommend this book to anybody who wants to know more about self-hosting on WordPress and about how to make the move from Blogger as pain free and effortless as possible. This book will not tell you how to design your blog, but that is the only thing it will not tell you. It will teach you what hosting is, how servers work, how to get yourself a domain on a server and install WordPress and all the steps you will need to take after that. Everything explained in such clear terms and with lots of examples that you really do not need a lot of knowledge beforehand to start working with the book. As I said I love it so much that I have become an affiliate because I think that if you want to understand your blog, you need to know what you are doing. |
Love the ‘new’ blog! I just love the photos up top, been trying to find something similar for blogger, seems all the best toys are on wordpress!
Thanks, yes the nice toys are on WordPress
But the revolving header (that’s what it is called) can be done on Blogger too. Want a tutorial? I might be able to whip it up in my DIY Blog design series. If enough people are interested I’ll invest the time to figure it out, test it, and then teach it……
I see a beautiful gray-blue…very pretty! I LOVE your new look. I have been thinking about WP a lot too. Just paid for another banner redesign for my Blogger blog, and now wondering if I should have done that. :s My real hesitations are 1. The cost of hosting and who to choose (don’t know anything about that) 2. being a little scared of having everything moved over, 3. Not sure about posting and behind-the-scenes stuff (I am not very tech savvy) and 4. holding on to see how long Blogger will keep GFC. I worked sooo hard for those Followers…would hate to see them disappear. :s
I am on pins and needles to hear more about your transfer and how it’s all going!!
Oh I know all about those hesitations. It is scary. But all in all it wasn’t nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I did figure that the longer you wait the more work it is. I have a mountain of old posts to go through to change categories and add tags and set pictures etc. I guess I am a perfectionist so I want it all to be like I think it should.
As for your hesitations:
1. I went with Bluehost it came well recommended and it has worked well for me. Not free, but if you have some ad income on your blog, it will pay for it itself.
2. As I said the moving part wasn’t as hard as I thought, and if you keep your domain, or get a domain for the first time it isn’t nearly as complicated as I made it.
3. The posting is nearly the same as on Blogger and I still use Live Writer so that is nothing to worry about.
4. Good luck with that. I fear the end of GFC for all of us is near. I didn’t bother to put the widget back up.
Apple user who sees Sea Foam colors.
Well, I have considered moving from Blogger to Word Press. I love the current look of my blog and would hate to lose that – I also worry it will look too slick. Does that make sense?
Google’s shenanigans of late – getting rid of Picnik, taking down blogs because of spam, all of that stuff makes me nervous, though. And I have ads on my blog now and am making money from them – not as much as the 30-something bloggers, but I am making money.
What to do? I’ll have to seriously think about it.
xo
Claudia
Hi Claudia,
You can customize any WordPress blog any way you want it. Probably even more so than on Blogger. The process is a little more complicated though because there is no handy Editor anymore. So if the look is what is stopping you, don’t let it, you could take that with you.
PC user, and I see a clear sky blue.
Love the new look and new colors. Your header pictures are fabulous!
Looks beautiful, Marianne. I appreciate the tips on making the move, which I’ll hopefully be able to do soon. All the signs are there as far as blogger is concerned with the removal of picnic, etc. I bet my bottom dollar they’ll either make this a paid service or it will flop altogether. I will def. get this book from you when I’m ready. As for your questions, I’m a mac user but don’t see a bright blue nav bar. I see the little birdie in my nav bar. (Unless you’re talking about the Blog Her bar, which I see.) I also see the pretty seafoam colors! Congrats on the new pad.
Congrats on the move! I have recently decided to switch after google disabled my blog this week. Poof it was gone!!!
It was awful, and I do not want to have to worry about that happening again!
OMG that is a nightmare. I personally never had any problems with Blogger but these stories just kept coming up. Scary stuff. At least now I know that when my blog disappears I probably did something stupid myself…..
I see blue and I’m a PC user. That kind of sounds like a commercial. I love the new look and the changing pictures in the header. My only suggestion would be to bump up the font size in your tabs or change to a gray for the letters. The white letters against the light blue tab is low contrast and it’s hard to read. It’s really difficult to see the words on your about me section in the blue tabs.
Thanks, I was wondering about that. It seems to differ among screens and browsers. But on some I have trouble reading it too. I’ll start fiddling with it soon to bump up the readability. Don’t want you to have to squint on my blog.
Thank you for sharing your WordPress journey with us. I’ve been contemplating a lot of blogging decisions currently, and these kind of articles help me (a “newbie” blogger) so much! And, I am a PC user and I see beach blue. It’s beautiful and I love the new look!
I think the new blog is beautiful. I’m using a MacBook Pro and I see pretty blue gray color under your header. I recently redid my blog (but still using Blogger). I considered moving to WordPress but got nervous about such a big change. Perhaps I should rethink that. Thanks for the link to the eBook.
i am an apple user and i see sea foam green
Love the new look! I’m a pc user and see the dark blue nav bar but I love the pretty blues of the blog.
How timely – I spent ALL weekend working on moving my blog to WordPress …. it is ALMOST ready! I am a PC user and I see all nice blues and grays.
Pc user – soft blue- your flash player that changes your header photos isnt working.. You might want to check the code.. just ont tiny dash or dot will throw that off..
looks pretty
ok – flash player just kicked in…. looks to be functioning correctly even when I leave and come back.. you did a great job.
A PC user here, and I see blue. Never ask me for advice, because I’m known to be terribly honest about it! You asked if there was something I didn’t like. I hate having to click to read the rest of a post. And I’m not crazy about the background. Reminds me of shower tiles. Sorry if that sounds tacky. I would want someone to be that honest with me, but I am probably in the minority.
Brenda
Don’t worry, my friend, I asked for feedback and I got it. I can handle it.
That background does look like tiles, you are right. In fact it was one of your remarks that made me look for a new background. You said that you didn’t like that all the WP blogs started to look alike, and I agreed with you. So I decided up front I wanted a background. But a background that wouldn’t stand out too much and not be too busy and distracting. I kind of like this pattern, but I might change it up if something better passes my path.
About the Read More. You didn’t have to click on that did you? I set it up that the first two posts are always in full, and when you arrive at a post page it will also be in full. Only when you start wandering through the older posts you’d have to click, but choosing which post to catch up on is easier that way too. If you are in full post view you’ll find navigation links at the bottom: Next Post and Previous Post. That way you can also move through my blog and always hit the full post.
And WP lets you choose how to set this up, just like Blogger. So if you want only full posts all the time, you can choose that.
Love the new look , am a PC user and see a pretty sky bleu. I have been thinking about moving from Blogger as well, have been for quite some time. I personally don’t (knock wood) have trouble with Blogger, but still. It IS scary what they are up to lately, eventhough I am not a big time user of PicNic etc. And I am a DIY-er as well. Maybe after I move myself to my new *country* (read my blog if you didn’t know this yet
) I might move to a new Bloghost as well.
Hugs from Marian
I’m on a PC and I see pretty sky blue- looks lovely. I’m on typepad and considering moving over to self hosted wordpress because I’ve had some problems with typepad and the people they recommend for domain mapping (GoDaddy)… bought my domain name in June 2011 and still have not been able to to transfer. So fed up! This may well convince me to make the move!
Apple user: sea foam here
but it’s a very nice, calm color!
Well, Marianne, I am the queen of change here. So I probably should have kept that to myself. It just seemed such an abrupt change. But I do like that you added a background. The tiles just didn’t seem “you” to me. But I am getting old and set in my ways. I never quite know when people ask a question just how MUCH of the question to answer. And then I worry myself over it for days because I think I said too much. Story of my life! I really have liked Blogger till recently. Been using them for about three years. But the problems lately have me very, very shaky… I admire that you had the nerve to take on something of this magnitude. Don’t think I have that much spunk!
Brenda
De foto weerspiegelt wel heel de ” sprong” die je gemaakt hebt.
Ik zie toch meer het sea foam blauw. Ik heb een iMac.
Ik denk wel dat als Google beslist om Blogger te deleten, we daar vroeg genoeg bericht over krijgen.
Het zal wel meer geïntegreerd worden met Googel+ denk ik.
Ik vind het trouwens wel grappig dat ik zelf kan kiezen welke blogbericht van mijn blog te zien is bij mijn commentaar.
I like your new design a lot. If you’re curious about how the website looks in different browsers (or OS platforms), you can simply test it here: http://browsershots.org/ . Just fill in your website URL and the browsers or OS that you want to see. It’ll take some time but well, you can let Browsershots work in the background and do other things in the meantime.
2 Things that I LOVE about WordPress are all the awesome plugins and widgets. One has to be careful not to overdo it, as the more you offer, the longer it takes for the website to load
Heidi
Je blog is erg mooi!
Groetjes Miriam
It looks like the second color from the right on your palette . . . a greyish-blue, like the sea on a blustery day . . . not leaden, but still blue and alive . . . just subdued.
I’m an Apple computer user and also have an ipad. The colors look the same on both computer and ipad. Love the new look and the icy blue colors. To me your nav bar is the icy blue color second from right in the inspiration pic. Your songbird is highlighted in the middle color, a little brighter aqua. I really like the color choice. The bar is easy to see & find and doesn’t jolt or distract from your photos or content.
Marianne–love the new look of your blog! It’s so pretty. I guess I’l always be a “blogger” blogger.
so happy for you, glad it’s done! I know you are too!
gail
Your navigation bar is sky blue. Your reply buttons are deep seafoam green. The below box surrounding your archives is soft seafoam green.
No matter what color it shows, it’s beautiful! I’m going to buy that book!
Donna
I am a PC and Google Chrome user and I see sky blue in the navigation bar and teal buttons. Looks very fresh to me!
Just thought you’d want to know…there’s a typo in your heading…I think you intended to say “Welcome to my new home ON the web” (versus “Welcome to my new home ONE the web”). And, I love your new look!
THANKS!!! Now go figure that no one told me and I was blind to my own mistake. Thanks for the heads up.
Hi,
I’m using Sharon Hujiks book too, but got stuck at page 59 step 6: drop .html from incoming links. I did everything it said, but got an error message. How did you manage this step?
Any tips?
Nicole