It is still Spring, correct? The world these days often doesn’t feel like it.
I was away from this blogosphere for awhile, for an extended break (seemingly unnoticed). Upon my return I was indirectly reminded of a few things I wanted to share with you all.
As I mentioned in my return post, I was saddened to hear of Devlin’s passing, but he seemed to have planned well for it at least as far as his blog goes and thus he partially inspired this post.
Spring Cleaning - To Do’s
3 Things To Do within the Next 3 Days
I would say do them today, but I’m realistic and yet I don’t want you to miss the urgency. Please add them to your to-do list and don’t mark them off or remove them until they are genuinely done.
1. Back-Up your Blog - Now!
Why would I want to do that, Enzo?
Because any number of unexpected things can happen. For one, if Blogger decides you have violated their terms of service in some manner they can delete it without explanation or warning. I’ve seen it happen before and it appears it might have happened to KD Pierre as of recently as his blog is now gone.
Trust me, you’ll miss all your hard work, comments drafts and archives, if they were all to suddenly vanish without a trace one day.
Yes, Blogger and Wordpress both have backup features where you can download your blog to your local computer or elsewhere.
Better yet, it is easy to do.
Go do it. I’ll wait.
Blogger = Settings / Manage Blog / Back Up Content > Download
Wordpress = Plugins / Updraft Plus / Back up Now > Download to...
The backup file may no be a perfect formatted blog, but it will be a nice source file to rebuild from on a new blog or new Wordpress site.
2. Get in the Habit of Backing-Up Often!
Again for the same reasons stated above.
And again, I am a realist, so set realistic expectations; monthly backups -- at the very least. Weekly is ideal.
Then go into your computer or phone calendars and set up interval reminders to run a backup.
Wordpress, unlike Blogger, has an easy (easier than you think) automatic feature that you can set up and it will do it all for you (after the initial setup).
3. Designate someone to be your Point-of-Blog Contact.
This is a harder one to accomplish, in my opinion, however just as important.
I’m grateful that Devlin had the foresight to do this and gave access to others to log into and monitor his blog.
The question to ask yourself is, what if you end up with health issues that limit your ability to blog? Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone share your status with your readers?
I have seen Bloggers get sick and sadly disappear leaving their readers to guess the outcome. It would be a nice gesture to have some sort of closure for you, your blog and your readers.
I
am fully aware that this isn’t an easy task for everyone, but if you
have a spouse or a long-term partner, that should make an obvious
first-choice designee. For those of you not in long-term relationships, I’m right there with you and have no immediate solution. If you come up with a clever idea let me know.
That’s it - You heard me fellow bloggers, young ladies and gents, 3 Things To Do within the Next 3 Days - - so now go do it!
Today's lesson: Most people don't like chores, but the rewards are worth the effort, better than the consequences; as is often the case for future planning.
Ok, enough of my preaching.
Well at least for now.
Until next time.
