I’m not really having a lot of fun blogging on WordPress. I hate to sound like a whiner, but I’m having more trouble than I expected. Many of you guys are commenting that you don’t like the ways things look and the commenting process. My biggest beef is that when I upload photos and set up a long post, everything looks great in the text box. It looks just like how everything looked over on Blogger.
Then I click on “Preview.” The photos are this way and that and don’t even match up with the text I so carefully typed. I haven’t had time to troubleshoot HTML.
For example, I have been working on my blog post about our first CSA box of veggies. When I uploaded 11 photos to the post and lined everything up, I clicked “Preview” and pictures were on one side with random ones out of order and text all over. I couldn’t publish something so sloppy and unreadable and because of our recent vacation I didn’t have time to try and figure out what went wrong. So when it came to blogging my weekly “lunch wrap up,” I put the photos in “gallery-style” because at least they wouldn’t be puked all over the page.
Regarding Disqus the commenting program, I thought it was easier to comment using Disqus on other blogs because of the open ID. Another feature I was hoping to set up was getting an email for every comment and the ability respond to comments and manage them directly from my phone. I haven’t been able to activate that feature yet.
Lord help me, I’m screwing this whole thing up. Please be patient with me and keep the feedback coming in. I’m not going to stop working on this thing until I love it. While Blogger was free, I’m actually paying for this set-up.
Luckily, I am taking advantage of my summer. Most teachers put off big projects until June. I save lots of stuff for the summer from car maintenance to doctor visits. I’m doing much of this type of work the days that my son is at day care. He is attending part-time. Last week I took the dog to the vet for his annual check-up. I couldn’t have managed our 100 lb dog with my son in tow, as much as he would have loved visiting with all the doggies and kitties in the waiting room.
I can’t spend my precious child-free days trying to get an HTML tag just so. However, I do need to familiarize myself with WordPress and get better at this. I’m so frustrated!
Hey I sent a message via the “contact” form for this site. Lmk about that.
As far as the commenting… I didn’t have an issue setting up the account (mostly because you can just use your Google account by syncing). It didn’t take much time, but people are gonna grunt a little because that comes with change. Like an unexpected change in a lunch menu when kids are expecting “taco salad day” lunch. Lol
Your content is what matters – that’s why you got followers in the first place; your purpose, not how pretty it looks.
Stay sane, Mrs. Q! (Think of this as the small bumps in the road before you reaching you climactic entrance as a published author.)
Thank you! Let’s stay in touch.
HEy Mrs Q. If you are on WordPress, I wouldn’t bother with Disqus – the regular comment form allows people to just enter their email and name. I am confident you will figure out the rest of the issues though – I was about a week into WP wondering what on earth I had done but now, over 18 months later, I wouldn’t go back to Blogger for the world. Good luck! I’m still here, reading!
I like Disqus a lot more than the WordPress system, it’s easier for the blogger to connect with their readers and you don’t need a Disqus account to comment, you can use it as a Blogger user, WordPress user, anon user etc.
I’m going to talk to my designer about this. I was the one who told him I wanted Disqus and he agreed that it was right for my site. Hmm.
Thanks so much Mardi! I’m flattered you are reading! 🙂
Are you using windows live writer to create your posts? It’s a free download and it makes it so easy to plop in photos and size them. Then, you upload your draft to wordpress and can edit (like add tags) before you publish. It’s super easy. I’m going to add lightroom too, but haven’t got there yet. Katheats.com did a post a while back on how she does her posts. You might want to look it up. It saves me so much time. I wanted photos on my blog, but couldn’t spend time uploading etc. Now, I export from picasa and drag and drop into live writer.
I’m glad someone else recommended Windows Live Writer, because that’s exactly what I was going to do. It’s quite the handy little program!
Wow, many people are recommending Live Writer — it must be good!
Thanks! I think I need to download this software asap!
hi Mrs Q., i am amongst those who do NOT like the new look of your posts on this page. and i am wondering….why are you changing to this website? what is it about blogger that you didn’t like?
One of the things I didn’t like on Blogger was the length of my URL. I never expected to take this very far, but once it became obvious that the blog was getting bigger than I had imagined, I knew that I needed to go self-hosted.
So many people rave about WordPress that I had thought it was the better blogging platform. So far it’s been a bit more difficult for me because it is more technical. Blogger is very easy to use. I think I would recommend Blogger for most people.
Mrs. Q, let me say that this will be worth it. I *love* your new layout – so much cleaner and easier to read than the Blogger format, especially for long posts.
Thanks! Overall, I’m pleased with the new layout. My designer did a good job. I like the lack of clutter!
The HTML view in WordPress is super easy to use, and definitely has more control over the look when you upload. Also agree that the regular comment system has worked fine for me – not sure what the advantage of disqus is. (also, I like the new look better!)
I’m going to research Disqus a little more. I thought there were specific advantages, but I’m not so sure now. I’m getting a lot of complaints from readers, which is a problem. Thanks!
Sorry to see you’re having so much frustration! The good news is that the feedproxy link seems to have picked up the new site, so something got fixed somewhere. 😉 As for commenting tools, the biggest failing of most of them for me is that they won’t let me know if someone responds to my comment.
It is annoying not to know when someone responds to your comment. There should be some kind of notification. Thanks for commenting!
Mrs. Q., sorry I was one of the “critical” feedbackers. I know how frustrating change is for the user, so I will definitely hang in there and be patient. I still love your blog, just giving the feedback you solicited. Overall, I love the new look!
I think we’re all learning right now Mrs. Q!
The new layout takes a little getting used to as a user because everything isn’t plopped right on the front page so they have to make a click or two to get more information. Oh well! Doesn’t make you any less of a blogger.
As for your troubles, WordPress IS overwhelming and I got annoyed with it mostly because the individuals in my blogging circle are big Blogger users and it was hard to connect with them easily. Just give it time, you’ll get it figured out!
Thanks for all your hard work! I just know that you’ll get everything just the way you want it before too long. I’ll do my part by giving you feedback 🙂
I use blogger and Typepad, and I suspect it would work with Word Press, but Microsoft has a program called Live Writer that I write my blog posts in and can arrange them and fix them all up on the program and then have it upload drafts to our blogs or just post directly to them. It is great to have some “work in progress” that you don’t even have to be connected to the internet to work on. Anyway, it might be worth looking into and easing some of the stress of this for you. Good luck!
I’m going to have to get that program! Thanks!
I hate to be a whiner, but I do not like the new site. I find myself visiting a lot less. I really enjoy the photo posts more than your block of text posts, and this layout seems much more condusive to blocks of text. But this may just be my issue. I tend to be ADD in blog reading. Enjoy your time off, I am so jealous!
I also haven’t really put in that many photos because of the trouble I was having posting them. I hope to post more photos in the future!
I hope everything will be going smoother soon. 😀
Thanks! 🙂
Wow, I had been on a reading hiatus and I saw that you changed the site’s look. It’s true that it seems daunting now. This is why I can’t quite move my blog from Blogger to wordpress *I have no patience to figure things out* ^.^ But I am sure you do. So good luck!~
It’s getting easier!
Yes there should realize the reader to RSS my feed to RSS commentary, quite simply