Have you ever looked forward to something and dreaded it at the same time? Mixed feelings, yep I definitely have mixed feelings today. Between Naps on the Porch is moving...moving to Word Press.
(Image from Google Images, Pinterest and a bunch more places)
If everything goes as planned, you'll hardly notice a thing. If you read BNOTP via an RSS feeder or email, you should still receive it without any issues. If you read online, you'll automatically be routed to BNOTP's new home. The move should take place sometime in the next few days.
As with any move, there will be some "unpacking" time. But shortly you'll find a much more organized, better designed BNOTP when you visit. There will be category headers with drop-down menus which will allow you to quickly find the information or post you seek.
It will take me a little while to get all those posts tagged and in place under the categories and there will be a slight delay due to a special wedding that's scheduled this Sunday :) but hopefully I'll get those categories filled in quickly. I'm trying to be optimistic about that part. I see some late nights ahead of me.
Why is Between Naps on the Porch moving?
Well, there are lots of little reasons but the main reasons are:
1. When you blog on the Blogger platform, you're blogging for free. You're using Blogger's resources. Some folks say you don't really own your blog, although Blogger says that isn't true. But what is true is if at some point Blogger's system mistakenly thinks BNOTP is a spam type blog, it can make it disappear.
The thought of losing 3 1/2 years worth of work is unthinkable. I've heard of it happening and I know many of you know someone who has had it happen to them. Blogger does have some options for trying to get your blog back if it's deleted in error, or so I've read. I just don't want to have to worry about possibly having to deal with this one day.
2. Blogger has made lots and lots of really great improvements in the Blogger platform over the past year or so. They've added threaded comments and they've improved SEO by letting us title and add alt tags to our photos. But, Blogger templates are still very limited.
A Word Press blog can be designed however you wish. There are talented designers out there working every day to create new "plug-ins" for WP blogs. Plug-ins are sort of like gadgets in Blogger or apps for the iPad. They let you add cool functionality to your blog.
What are the negatives of moving? Well, you have to pay hosting fees and as your blog grows, those can really ad up. If something breaks, you're on your own or you have to find someone who can fix it. You're also responsible for keeping everything updated so your blog stays protected and functioning.
Another negative (but not really) is the horizontal pictures you see here at BNOTP are going to be a little smaller. This shouldn't really be a problem, though, because anytime you're reading any blog or site and you want to see bigger pictures, simply hit Ctrl + on your keyboard a couple of times. Hit the + button as many times as you like while holding down the Ctrl button and you can make those pictures as large as you want. You can make them fill up your whole screen, if you like.
Once you hit Ctrl +, all the pictures in the post will be equally large. Once you're done reading a post, hit Ctrl - a few times to take things back to normal. It will no longer be necessary to scroll from left to right to see the BNOTP sidebar after the move.
Tablescape Thursday:
I hope to have Tablescape Thursday up tomorrow morning, but if it's running behind, I know you'll understand. Timing is a bit rough for this change since my son is getting married on Sunday. Lots going on around here. I still need to find a pair of shoes that are comfortable and I need to pick up a few more things to get ready for the big day.
Thanks for being patient during the transition. You'll have a new and improved BNOTP once all the dust settles!
