nearing the rubicon

I‘m at a crossroads right now, with regard to my blog: I sort of feel like I’m living in a hotel here in exile, and I’m doing whatever I can
to help the hotel feel more like home while my real house is rebuilt, but the longer I stay here,
and the more I try to make it feel home, the more likely it is that it will
become home. I even tried to import the old WWdN entries to this blog, but (big surprise) the import failed. I wonder if I am doomed to have my archives in a useless textfile on my machine in my office until I eventually just suck it up and pay someone to fix the stupid fucking thing.

If I sound frustrated, it’s because I am.

I spent several hours the other day working on WWdN. With absolutely no progress to show for it when I was done, I was so pissed I slammed some drawers, kicked some things, and realized that I don’t give a flying fuck about the technology any more. I just want to write. Yes, it’s nice to have the "I did it myself" merit badge, but trying to do it all myself is eating up time I would rather spend on other things, and is rapidly sucking the life (and enthusiasm) out of me. When I started with blogger and geocities way back a thousand years ago, I loved that the technology made it easy for me to scrape things out of my brain and moosh them up on The Internets. Then I got into the technology and had a good time scooping my brains out, and manipulating the technology to make the stuff I scooped out look a little better. But now, I just want it to work.  It’s the writing that I care about, and time I spend waste dealing with technical bullshit is time that I can’t spend creating things that matter.

Yes, Virginia, I am starting to hate computers.

So I’m working with a friend of mine to completely rebuild WWdN from the ground up. We’re still puzzling out the final design, but it’s going to be very cool (and very different from the current layout) when it’s done. I’m conflicted about sticking with TypePad (and domain mapping) or banging on MT 3.2 until it has the same functionality as TypePad. Right now, I’m leaning toward domain mapping, even though TypePad is having what appears to be the worst technical difficulties in its history (Six Apart has assured TypePad users that these problems are about to go away. I see no reason to doubt that, but it’s still annoying in the mean time, and is the best argument so far to stay with my own installation at WWdN.)

I don’t know what I’ll ultimately end up doing, but it’s clear that I’ll be in exile for much longer than I originally anticipated.

I’ve changed the feedburner feed to reflect the WWd:iX xml file, rather than the WWdN xml file. If you’re subscribed through feedburner, WWdN:In Exile should start showing up in your RSS reader pretty soon, and we’ll all feel . . . at home.

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53 thoughts on “nearing the rubicon”

  3. wil,
    you should try wordpress for your blog. i’ve been using it for a while now, and i’m no web developement expert. its super easy to setup and even easier to use on a daily basis. oh, and its totally free.

  6. Technology is frustrating because everytime I think I’m catching up – it leaps way ahead again. It can be very confusing. I like your TypePad site just as well as the other one. Even better because I think it’s easier to read. Hang in there – your readers will too.

  7. I’m using the service over at blogsome.com (based on WordPress) and like it a lot. It gives me the option of controlling what I want, or just letting the defaults do what they want.
    As someone once said, “…if this site is going to represent me, it should be run by me.” Oh wait, that was you!

  8. Wil,
    I completely understand how you feel. My job is in the IT field, and I used to love builing servers at home, repairing problems, etc. Now with the hours I work, and my commute from Riverslime to Orange county, I just want things to work.
    Building something from the ground up used to be fun. Now I just want to be able to work on the final part of the project, whether it be putting up a web site or playing a game, instead of building and tweaking the system to get to that point.

  9. Wil — you’ve just summed up what happened to my blog, and what seems to be happening to a lot of my other online projects lately as well. I used to love to muck around in the bits, and I still do, but the law of diminishing returns is in full effect. I’m *tired* of having to essentially spackle cats together every time I’ve got pages that seems to me worth building — and I’m starting to avoid the bitpushing in favor of, gads, paper and stuff. There may have been a point where the construction process was a useful filter for projects that weren’t worth the effort, but I’m past that now. I just am.
    That said, and with all thanks for venting on my behalf etc., I seriously hope you’ll stay up here on these Internets. You’re one of the worthwhile reads and I wouldn’t be the only one who’d miss you tremendously.

  10. Dude, that’s exactly how I got a TypePad blog in the first place. I had one of the beta blogs when they started, just as my blog on my own webspace took a permadump on me, and I wasn’t smart enough to figure out how to fix it on my own.

  11. AG: I have no intention of leaving The Internets. I’m just trying to decide where and how I’ll update my blog.

  13. Hey…has anybody mentioned WordPress yet? 😉
    I tried MT for about a day once I got sick of Blogger’s issues. I’m fairly savvy when it comes to setting things up, but MT’s supposed joys still eluded me.
    So I downloaded WordPress and have been sailing happily ever after ever since. Eventually I’ll start tweaking the design. But, like you, I’m tired of dealing with design and just want to write.
    Good luck wherever you end up. We’ll be there, too.

  14. Wil,
    If you would like to try a WordPress blog without installing it on your server, I have a WordPress.com invite sitting around that I would share with you if you wanted it. WP.com is in an early alpha stage, but it will allow you to see how some of WP works.

  15. Wil:
    A couple of people have mentioned using WordPress and I would just like to echo their suggestion. I switched to WordPress last May after using my own custom designed PHP blog for the better part of3 years. It was one of the hardest choices I ever made and one that I had almost made many times previous to actually switching.
    I like using WordPress because it’s 100% dynamic (although you can make it static using a plugin). Every time I update something, I don’ have to worry about rebuilding the entire site which can take some time. It’s written entirely in PHP which I just love programming in. It’s one of the easiest languages I’ve ever learned.This point extends to developing plugins, which is even easier then making a bowl of Mac and Cheese. In fact, customizing any part of WordPress is easy. I would say, give it a shot. Install it on your server and try it for a week or so. Check out the awesome plugins you can get and remember that there are a whole bunch of people who read WW:iX who would just love to help you out in any way they can, my self included (obviously).

  16. Wil, we’re happy to have you on TypePad, and we’ll be happy to have you on MT if that’s what you choose, too. Honestly, I use both, and I think a lot of times on TypePad not having to maintain servers or keep track of updating software lets me focus on what I’m *saying*, which is what it’s all really about anyway, right?
    There’s definitely lots of options out there, but I know Jay and the other folks on our team (like Lisa and me) love knowing that someone like you puts the tools we use to such good use. Maybe I’ve gotten sappy in my old age, but I still like to think that people make these decisions based on their relationships with other people, and I hope we’ve shown that all of us at Six Apart value the relationship we have with ya, even when technology’s being frustrating. 🙂

  17. Wil, just a simple note to say that I come here for your wit, kindness and insights (and everyone else’s) NOT what your site looks like or any fancy features it may have.
    I think everyone would agree that even if your site looked like a Word document with simple Times New Roman text on a white background, we’d still be here everyday. I would be, at least. I’m all about the words.
    And yes, you’ll get something working again. I’m not the most well-versed computer person in the world but often, if I can’t figure out a glitch somewhere, I give it a day. The next day, I try something new that came to me over the course of the day or so and it works. In fact, it almost always works. Yes, have a beer and a scary movie. It’s Halloween, get scared shitless and forget about WWdN for a little tiny bit… I’ll buy you a beer, even. Just look for three bucks in coins in the mail. 😉

  19. Wil,
    Wow! You’ve got TypePad admins commenting on your site. Wouldn’t have expected that one.
    If it’s any consolation, I’m in a bit of the same boat as you are. I’ve been writing “blog” entries in static HTML on a website hosted originally by Geocities and then Yahoo. I have seven years worth of entries as well as my movie reviews, book reviews, and photo albums (pre Flickr discovery).
    I would love to migrate all this over to TypePad, but it would be a severe pain in the ass. And time consuming to boot. As it stands, my current TypePad blog has links back to my old site (which is only updated in the Movie/Book Review sections anymore). But I still want to make this information available to people should they want to see it.
    You could always do the same. Just link back to the old WWdN site from the new WWdN:IX site. Can’t hurt. May be a bit cumbersome in the grand scheme of things. But it beats conversion.

  20. I don’t have any experience with Word Press, although I hear it has lots of former MT converts. I really like 3.2. Spam Lookup, bundled with the software, works great. I have NO spam that hasn’t been caught by the filter. I also have some other cool plugins built for 3.2. If your friend is willing to help, it should be OK. Before I finished reading your post, I was going to suggest that one of your readers would be more than happy to help you at no charge, I’ll bet. Are you able to import your old blog if you set up a new installation of MT 3.2? I moved all my stuff to a new domain, and exporting and importing was a piece of cake — except I had to republish all my comments and trackbacks, and considering how many you get, that could be onerous.

  21. I’ll jump on the WordPress bus as well. I use it and enjoy it. Wow even the admins are commenting on here. hehe!!
    Good luck, and like someone pointed out, we all come here to read your wit whether there’s graphic fluff around it or not.

  22. Allow me to 7th or 8th the props for WordPress. I’ve used both MT and WP, and found WP far superior in a number of ways. Plus I find it much easier to extend and modify.
    MT is a great product, but I think WordPress beats it hands down. If you want to try out an installation just for the hell of it, let me know and I can set one up for you on my server.

  23. I’ve tried out WordPress, and while I liked a lot about it, I found it too difficult to customize, and I wasn’t really interested in learning a whole new set of tools.
    I’m sure that, once it’s out of beta, it’s going to be fantastic, but right now, I’m going to stick with what I know.
    I really appreciate all the comments and suggestions from everyone, including the Cool Kids from SA who dropped in 🙂 Thanks, guys!

  24. But now, I just want it to work. … and time I waste dealing with technical bullshit is time that I can’t spend creating things that matter.

    That’s it, man. You are officially, and for all time, NOT Wesley Crusher.
    Good luck, though. I watch your troubles with personal interest. I’m on MT 3.01 and considering an upgrade to 3.2, but I’d rather wait for 3.21 or 3.22 just to let it sort out.

  27. I completely agree with your attitude. I too am just sick and tired of things Just Not Working ™. I’m tired of having to re-learn a new set of tools in order to keep my web site(s) running. I’m tired of having to deal with broken software, broken web apps, broken databases, broken everything.
    But there is one thing about rolling your own, on your own site. You can always say whatever it is you want and no one is going to delete your content unless you do it.
    I ran into this on LiveJournal this past year which is why I left. I switched to a WordPress install on my own site and haven’t looked back.
    Someone from Type Pad will always have the power to tell you to delete something from your blog. Even if you post nothing out of the ordinary and nothing different than 99.9%of the other Type Pad users, they can still tell you to do it or risk losing your account.
    So, while Type Pad may seem nice in that you don’t have to worry about things breaking, remember you are completely at their mercy for keeping you online in the first place.
    best of luck.

  30. I wouldn’t say that this post creates a PR problem for Six Apart, at all. My problems with the 3.2 upgrade at WWdN aren’t Six Apart’s fault — they’re a consequence of my enormous database, and an effort to switch from SQL::Lite to MySQL. If Six Apart didn’t make TypePad to fantastic and easy to use, I wouldn’t even have the delimma of choosing between an MT install of my own, or using TypePad in its place.
    Whenever I’ve had an MT issue, I’ve contacted Six Apart’s tech support, and they’ve helped me out quickly and with great results. I’ve also had some remarkable above-and-beyond help from Jay Allen when I had some MT-Blacklist issues a few months ago.
    Six Apart has been an incredible company, and they have provided an outstanding and useful set of tools to the entire blogging community. These problems I have had are entirely of my own creation, and shouldn’t reflect poorly on anyone at Six Apart, or any of their products.

  31. WordPress, WordPress, WordPress!
    I made the switch from Blogger to WP a year ago and love it.
    I’ve never used Moveable Type, so can’t comment on your issues, but I suggest you give WordPress a try.

  32. Seriously will, WordPress is pretty cool.
    I just want to echo my encouragement to your frustrations. Technolgy is cool, but not all the time. I recently ditched Linux because I realised that I spent most of the time getting it to work properly rather than using it!
    Just find something that works, and for now if that’s here then so be it. I’m a bit supprised that someone as high profile as you does not have Six Apart begging fix everything up for you ?!
    Oh well…

  33. Movable type is great. WordPress is great. Whatever works, we’ll read it regardless.
    I moved from blogger to movable type to wordpress, mostly because I didn’t know how to install the blacklist by myself and the people who could were busy (friends, not Six Apart), and WordPress was a one-click install with my webspace. But I’m pretty pleased with it, actually. Mostly because it has very easy to install third-party plugins. The joys of open source…
    Best of luck, though. I totally feel for you. It sucks to be cut off from your blog. Makes you feel muzzled, and that’s horrible.

  34. I’ve done quite a bit of blog customization (including paid work for commercial sites) on both MT and WordPress. WP is infinitely easier to customize and deal with. The code is amazingly clean.
    Because I’d been using and customizing MT for so long it took me a while to find what I was looking for, but when I did it was always “holy crap that’s so simple!” Seriously, if you’re thinking of doing any customizations WP is the way to go.
    There are still other pros and cons of course. MT is a little more mature in its built-in feature set, with WP catching up really fast. WP’s non-blog pages are very handy. WP’s CSS integration is dazzling. But difficult to customize is not something I’d say about WP.
    This is really a different discussion than MT vs TypePad or other hosted site. If you’re still a geek you’ll enjoy hacking at the code. If you’re going to hack at the code, go WP.
    Many here I’m sure are happy to help, including myself.

  36. Wil, home is wherever you feel comfortable and your “family” is.
    I guess I’m saying that in blog terms, readers are your “family” (some of us the loud-mouthed drunken ones who clog up your toilet) and WWdN readers will always go where Wil goes. Just find where you’re comfortable and we’ll amble over for a heaping helping of your homespun wit and wisdom (as well as some of that FANTASTIC sweet potato pie.)

  37. At the risk of sounding like a faint echo, WordPress… WordPress… WordPress… I can send you an invite for WordPress.com for the tryout. Infinitely customizable, no-hassle install, no license, good support forums. I love it.

  38. Hey Wil,
    I think we’re mostly on the same page. I don’t care about the layout or the URL, I just like reading what you write.
    So whether you stay here or build something new, I’ll keep reading.
    Keep up the good fight,
    David

  40. Yes, Wil, please keep writing. I’ll even read a Word doc ot static html, just for you though ;-).
    And I hope you find you still have some like computers after all this, since I really enjoyed your MacWorld SF appearance last year (I skipped advanced Applescripting for you!;), and hope something nifty like that happens again, real soon (hint, hint).
    Best wishes on the database front,
    jeri

  41. Just my 2C…. I used to use MT, then switched to Word Press, then upgraded. If you haven’t taken a look at the new(er) WP, you should. There is onscreen editing of your css files, which allows you to see immediately how the changes affect the site. Plus more and more good templates around. I honestly think you’d be happy if you decided to crack it. Plus installation is very easy. Some doman hosts (mine is Dreamhost) actually will install it for you. Importing your MT entries also isn’t hard.
    Anyway, think about it!

  42. Hey Wil, I see that your URL has been posted to the #WordPressArmy IRC channel… Revenge of the Clones on your very blog. How nice.
    danamongden wrote:
    “I watch your troubles with personal interest. I’m on MT 3.01 and considering an upgrade to 3.2, but I’d rather wait for 3.21 or 3.22 just to let it sort out.
    You’re going to be waiting a long time. 3.2 has been out since August. It’s been sorted.

  44. I agree with Thomas, ShaneSerack, and the others. Sit back, have a beer, don’t think about it for a day or two and the answers will come to you. And remember, we’ll follow you anywhere. Just keep writing. Please!

  46. Wil:
    You said (refering to WordPress), “I’m sure that, once it’s out of beta, it’s going to be fantastic, but right now, I’m going to stick with what I know.”
    I think people are getting confused about what WordPress is. WordPress, as I understand it, is offically just a publishing platform. You can download it at wordpress.org. It’s currently at version 1.5.2 which means that it’s out of Beta (unless you download the Beta release of the next version).
    Now there is also a hosted WordPress site (located at wordpress.com [not .org]) that implements a multiuser version of WordPress. This is much different than the version you can download at wordpress.org.
    If you haven’t downloaded and tinkered with the version at wordpress.org, you don’t know what you’re missing. It’s _very_ different from what is offered at wordpress.com.

  47. Wil,
    You’ve proved you could learn and use all of this stuff. Now you’d rather be writing and frankly I’d rather be reading your writing. So turn it over to someone else to do. We don’t need your code. We need your words. You’ve got nothing left to prove in the computer area. We already know you’re a geek. 😛

  48. I was going for that same meit badge, and, in the end opted to ditch it in the name of time spent on writing, etc, too. I’d like to say there’s no shame in it, but you seem on here to be even harder on yourself about these things than I tend to be, and even I feel pretty crummy, but my site’s lookin’ alright.
    And, yes, forgive me but I must be another echo in the name of WordPress. I used livejournal for a while, use MT with Metroblogging, and have WP installed on my own site. For all that I didn’t have to time throw at writing my own theme for it, it IS really easy to use, and there are a veritable ton of themes available. Google “WordPress themes” and you’ll see. Also, if there’s one that’s just ‘almost’–the theme editor in /wp-admin is super easy to use.
    Also, I have to say that my webhost (www.dreamhost.com) makes WordPress even easier with a one-click install (includes the SQL work), and they have a great Kbase on all their features. Highest recommendation.
    Do what you’re gonna do, where and how you’re gonna do it, and totally, if the tech is out of your league, that’s ok. Get someone to fix it. I’m sure you’d rather have another book written than have the virtual merit badge anyway. As always, more bound printed matter from you is undoubtedly a good thing.

  49. Slamming drawers, cussing a lot? Sounds like my husband when something goes wrong with his computers. Should I be silly enough to walk…his computers are messing up at this very moment as a matter of fact. “Fucking-A. This shit’s freezing and shit,” he says.

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