If you can read this, then you should be able to access the new .org, if you aren’t reading it on the Website already.  This past weekend I got WordPress configured on the new server space from Laughing Squid, finished the redesign of the page templates I’d started on my old server, and started moving older pages to WordPress.  There’s still work to do — I still need to move other pages over, there are page design issues I’m still sorting out (my inexperience with CSS is really hurting me with that), and I may try putting in more features on top of those I’ve already added — but I needed to get moved over by the end of the month, and while I’m not completely moved over yet, I’m certainly close enough.  (It helps that my class tonight got canceled because of a power outage, so I’ll have more time today to work on things.)

Some aspects of the new site are kind of exciting for me.  Although I’m still struggling with some aspects of WordPress, I like how I’ve been able to add a lot of new things without having to do much coding.  I’m hoping that people make lots of use of the AddToAny Share/Save buttons on each post, so I can reach a wider audience.  I’m also curious to see how the new commenting system works out, although I notice a number of comments got lost when I imported my old blog in.  (I had to manually edit XML files and convert them piece-by-piece over the course of an evening, which was not fun.)  I don’t want to load the site up with flashy and unnecessary geegaws, but if I can find things that will be of genuine use (and I’d appreciate suggestions), I’ll probably try them out.

Again, though, I don’t like how I’m surrendering so much control over the maintenance of the Website to WordPress.  Designing every page of the .org by hand was kind of a point of pride for me, since most every Website I designed before then was through Microsoft FrontPage.  Blogger made it easier for me when I just wanted to write text quickly, but I still designed the page templates by hand, and every other page was still hand-coded in Notepad.  Now I find myself using the visual text editor in WordPress just to type this, and while it’s convenient, it’s not easy for me to do this after spending so long typing in HTML tags by hand.  I’m so busy with my professional and artistic lives right now, though, that I need all the time I can get.  I’m hoping that the time-savings I get through WordPress help me spend more time writing new content on here, since I know I’ve been bad at that lately, but I know better than to make any promises in that regard.

For now I’d just like to get more older pages moved into WordPress, get the final design tweaks taken care of, and get some new content ready.  Please try out the new site and let me know what you think.