Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Spring Cleaning - To Do’s

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.

7 comments:

  1. Hi! Enzo, I for one missed you when you went away. I'm so glad Dev made sure his blog stayed around when he couldn't, I still wish it could still be carried on in his name as a memorium, surely he had a Protege who could do it. What happens to all the others who blog through his site??? Bye for now, Jenny.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jenny - Dev's site still appears to be publishing so either he cued up all those posts or someone is doing it.

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  2. Of course you were missed. Tsk. And yes, KD's blog got swallowed up, along with his gmail email address. How rude is that. I wish Blogger would at least give some sort of notice period. And good idea, I shall go backup my blog right now!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Fondles. And thanks for the confirmation and added info about KD. I didn't realize his gmail email was also taken away. Wow that is even worse and didn't realize something Google (Blogger) would do.

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  3. Hi! Enzo, Dev cued the posts to run until the end of April, but someone found some extra pages to post, so it will be going on as long as possible. Dev was hoping to personally write to everyone to say goodbye himself, but got too ill too quick to do it. Bye for now, Jenny

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  4. Thank you! I just did a backup for the first time ever, oh horror. Most of my stories are from the book I'm writing, so I have them on my computer, but some posts I drafted straight in Blogger. And comments wouldn't want to lose them!! So, thanks again for the stern reminder!

    Sadly, Devlin's blog is not there anymore, the domain name was bought by someone else. I wonder if there is a copy somewhere else. After all, nothing really disappears once it's published.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Sore - A delayed response, but glad you listened to my stern reminder, at least that is coming in clear.
      (First back up ever? I hope you have now gotten into the habit.)

      I just saw that Dev's blog is gone which is an unfortunate loss. I need to catch up on things her in this corner of the blogosphere. Thank you for stopping by and commenting.

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