Friday, June 6, 2014

Wordpress, Mail, and Other Blog Headaches

In my post on Tuesday, during my blah-blah-blahings, I mentioned the fact that I felt stuck. Being stuck is not fun. When my sister was younger, if she was in a position for a little while (not even that long sometimes), her knees would get stuck. Like, I'm afraid to move because I don't want to hurt something. I would usually be with her so I would yell for my mom to come over because moms can fix anything. Mom would massage her legs and Little Sister would be good to go like W-40 on a too-rusty-to-move door hinge.

Wouldn't it be nice if moms COULD really fix everything? Despite what we (and they wish), it can't happen. So this stuck feeling can't be solved from me crying out to my mom (but it does help to get the pent-up emotion out sometimes). Instead, I'll be...well, just read.

What IS going to happen: 

Bye, bye, Feedburner! My mom informed my older sister and I that Feedburner has been dropping people's subscribers without letting the bloggers know. I am one of them. So because I was already annoyed with Feedburner to begin with, I'm swinging hopping over to MailChimp. The good news is that I was able to export my subscribers out of Feedburner and import them into MailChimp. The bad news is that I lost several of you while I still had Feedburner since it kept randomly deleting people. Because of that, I urge you to (re)subscribe. Right now, you can see the whole form on the right hand side so all you have to do is type in your email address and PRESTO! You're subscribed (after you confirm). 

Here's proof that all this computer stuff is not meant for me: it took me 5 hours to figure out how to do all this and it's the simplest "email campaign" out of the bunch (well, after I ditched several other templates). I'll be hosting a giveaway on Sunday so go ahead and subscribe now, you'll be one step ahead once Sunday comes around. If you have any suggestions, complaints, or comments on MailChimp and how it's working for you on my blog, feel free to contact me! 

What I'm THINKING about: 

I fear for my future child's life because I am such an indecisive person that who knows when that poor kid will be able to leave the hospital since he/she needs a name before we can leave. So it's really hard for me to make a decision on the Wordpress vs Blogger debate. When I started blogging, I thought Blogger sounded easier and better and went with it. Now, I regret that decision. However, I'm not sure if I should jump over to Wordpress since it involves SO MUCH WORK (at least it seems like it). I feel like moving would help me...but I wonder if it'd be pointless since it's not as if I'm a "big blog." Another worry I have is that I would lose the amount of followers I DO have. What're all your thoughts on Wordpress? Have any of you moved from Blogger to Wordpress? Tell me your experience!

What I'm trying to FIND: 

Let's say I do move to Wordpress. I'll probably need a new design and I was thinking about even a new blog name. But I don't know. I don't know how I exactly feel about my blog name. Is it really good enough? I'm trying to figure out a name that impresses me. I'm trying to come up with a blog design that impresses me. I want to be impressed. How did you find your blog design?

This is not to say that I AM moving. Just considering. Weighing all my options, gathering all the information before me. Analyzing the water in case there's something dangerous in there so I don't dive in and DIE


I want to hear YOUR thoughts on this, whether it's about Wordpress, blog designs, Feedburner or MailChimp, or your personal experiences about this. 

15 comments:

  1. I've been thinking about using another service than Feedburner, so I might pick Mailchimp over time too. There has been a time where I was REALLY tempted to go to Wordpress, but for now I'm pretty happy with my place on blogspot. I just can't afford the money and I don't think it's very necessarily. If I were you and you make the move, you should hire Ashley :) It seems like she makes everything very easy with transferring and stuff! She also offers amazing designs :)

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    1. So far I really recommend it! It's great because there are so many templates, but they can be confusing. I decided with the RSS email CAMPAIGN, but initially avoided the RSS template because it looked confusing with code and boring. Turns out that if I had gone with that in the first place, I would've saved myself a BOATLOAD of time and headaches. I'm so glad you told me that you thought about it and your reasoning why you didn't go with it. I want all opinions! Ashley from Nose Graze?

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  2. We tried to switch over (on the other blog I'm on, not The Readers Den) to Wordpress and we even had someone switching us over and it's still a complete nightmare. We still haven't switched. All these feed burner issues and changes are driving me nuts! Sorry you're having headaches as well, Summer.

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    1. YOU'RE ON A DIFFERENT BLOG?! Did I know this and forgot? Oh no. I'm so sorry to hear that, Rachel!

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  3. I follow bloggers through email--some are feedburner,wordpress,and some others.. Since the beginning of april something happened to all the people i followed with feedburner..I also resubscribed to some other blogs with another email address so i didnt miss out.. I got the emails back towards the last week of april and it stayed for about 2-3 weeks..then poof but of my email accounts dont have any emails from anyone feedburner.. I wrote to a few bloggers but they are clueless of what happened.. So right now i get emails from people who are using wordpress..i have no clue when the others will come back and i had so many people that i was following..

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    1. That's the same problem my mom had! She resubscribed to my sister, it worked for a week, and then dropped her again. Well I'm using MailChimp now so you can subscribe on the side :) I hope you have a better time in the future with all your blogs!

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  4. If you switch, make sure you get someone who actually knows what they're doing. I know bloggers who have switched and it was a nightmare, because the person who helped them wasn't all that great. You should check out or contact Ashley @ Nose Graze. She knows her stuff.

    Her blog: http://www.nosegraze.com/
    Her design and development page: https://creativewhim.com/

    Sometimes I wish I would've stayed on Blogger just because it is simple, but I'm mostly glad I switched to WP because there is so much more freedom. You just need to research the heck out of it.

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    1. Ashley seems to be a popular rec! I do love her blog :)

      It does seem like there's more freedom, but I don't know how much. Like, exactly what's the difference and what it'll let me do, you know?

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  5. So exciting!!! I know you touched base with me about blog design and I passed along my designer's info. I had my blog hacked and my design disappeared and I can't get a hold of her to help me restore it :(. Very sad. BUT, I've just decided to invest in a new design and Lea Designs (from LC's Adventures in Libraryland, even though she's not blogging anymore) is doing my design. It's not cheap, but she worked with me to find a package that would give me what I needed for my budget. I'm super excited to see what she comes up with! I don't know anything about Wordpress but I hear that it has more features than Blogger does. I've been happy with Blogger thus far, although like you the change and stress of moving are just too much for me!

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  6. Blogger vs wordpress is such a hard thinker. Like, just omg. I suppose it is whether you want to design and get into the nitty gritty or have a nice user interface. I love both blogger and wordpress, just differently. There is also wordpress.com vs wordpress.org to consider! Wordpress.com is free like blogger, and you don't need a domain name, but wordpress.org has so so so much more freedom and power so if you're into having fancy things and want to dabble in code/design then it is a little better but you do need a domain name & host to use it so in conclusion idk idk.

    One thing you can't do on wordpress.com (the free blogging one) is use javascript, and you can do that on blogger. Sure, it's hard but it's not impossible. That kind of code just doesn't fly on wordpress.com. Um, so if you were into fancy coding or plugins not included in the design then it becomes a problem. A lot of people aren't fussed about coding, I wasn't when I started with websites (I have some separate to my blog), but it only took a year or two before I really noticed the difference and was frustrated by the limitations of wordpress.com

    What seems to work best for me is making loads of test blogs and having a fiddle with different platforms. Different things are important to different people and they both have their merits!

    Anyway. I have OVERSHARED my thoughts.

    Happy Saturday!

    <3

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  7. Ugh, right there with ya, girl! I just this week signed up for MailChimp and just started the emails. Then yesterday I found out that it costs money. >.< $15/mth. Which isn't that much, just frustrating since Feedburner was free. But like you, I also lost a few subscribers unbeknownst to me, so I felt the switch was imminent. The stresses of blogging, huh? lol

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  8. I have no intentions of switching to Wordpress any time soon. I'm okay with Blogger and I've heard so much about how terrible the transition to WP can be if you don't have the right person helping you through it, but I'm on a budget so it's unlikely I'd be able to do that any time soon, anyway. I did, however, switch to MailChimp this week myself because I'd had a few complaints from email subscribers that they weren't getting my emails anymore. Setting up the campaign was easy once I figured out what I was doing wrong, lol. I subscribed to your MailChimp list, and your email was in my inbox this morning, so I think you're good to go. :)

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  9. I'm contemplating the same options of moving to WP. I've already moved my personal blog from Blogger to Wordpress by myself, and while it IS a headache, once it's done, it's okay! I'm still nervous about moving my book blog though...

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  10. I think I need to switch from Feedburner, maybe I'll try the one you're using now.

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  11. So many hard decisions, ones that I still struggle with, ha. I was in the same boat as you, I REFUSED to switch to Wordpress for the longest time but now I love it. It is honestly probably the best thing I did for my blog, but everyone is different. I say do whatever you think would fit you best and what you will be happy with :D As for the followers, I don't believe I lost any at all! All the redirection stuff that goes with changing over makes it so people will always be able to find you :)

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