TheSchu.net

So, I’m totally aware that it’s been 3 months since I last posted any content on the blog, and for that I apologize. I’ve been all over the place, and I’m gonna try to fill you in on all that’s been happening. Continue Reading…

I’ve been tinkering with designs for the last 3 months. There, I said it. I recently launched a “final” theme for the blog that I was satisfied with for about 2 weeks, and then began designing the one you see before you today. I’ve been fueled by breaking and rebuilding, opening and closing, getting errors when I implement a new code, and retracing my steps until the code works; it’s all been a process, and I love how much I learn in the process.

Below you’ll find some insight into the redesign. I hope you enjoy the design as much as I have enjoyed building it
Continue Reading…

Often times when dealing with the inner workings of code, you may hear me say this phrase quite a bit. I tend to break things. Unfortunately, if I don’t have sufficient knowledge in a certain field, that thing may stay broken.

This time, I broke my blog.

Here’s how I broke it:

(the things I didn’t do)

Step 1: did not export my blog posts as an xml file (which could be reimported later on the new install of theschu.net)

Step 2: did not export the MySQL database where all my wordpress data is stored (did this in a later step… kinda wonky too)

(where I really got started)

Step 3: transferred my registration and hosting of theschu.net to Dreahost

Step 4: installed a fresh installation of wordpress on the new server

Step 5: realized that I had none of my previous posts and databases and passed out for a while

Step 6: used Primary Access Domain in an attempt to recover the aforementioned posts in a exported xml file… didn’t work.

Step 7: panicked a little

Step 8: Exported the MySQL databases

Step 9: Imported the MySQL databases into the new install of wordpress on Dreamhost (is that a yay or nay?)

Step 10: settled into the fact that I couldn’t figure it out

Step 11: wrote an e-mail to my dad asking him to help me figure it out.

Step 12: came to grips that I might have broken the whole thing and wrote this post (on my posterous).

So, as you can see, it’s been a long and slightly stressful process. The thing is, there’s really only a handful of posts that I would sincerely like to recover, but for learning purposes I’d really like to recover 100% of the posts. My hope is that my dad, who knows quite a bit more about MySQL and PHP than I do, might be able to make some sense out of the mess I’ve made.

I’m hoping.

Posted via web from theschu’s posterous

So, today I’ll be working on moving my blog from Media Temple to Dreamhost. This decision had little to do with service, as both companies provide great service. This all had to do with finances, and that eventually trickled down to hosting service.

For the record, Media Temple is a wonderful company and I would recommend them to anyone. Unfortunately, for a blogger with minimal visitors such as myself, they had too much to offer me. Also, being that I have not monetized my blog (nor do I have enough traffic to make money… yet), I’m currently paying out-of-pocket to run it. So, as you could guess, eventually it got expensive. So after much deliberation, I decided that the best thing to do was to move my blog over to Dreamhost. Prior to this move I’d already been hosting one website on Dreamhost (johncschuster.com), so I knew the reliability of the company/hosting ahead of time. Plus, already having an account at Dreamhost meant that I was only paying for transfer costs of my domain since I had already paid for a year.

There are definitely quite a few other cost-effective options out there, one of which I was very tempted to try out called nearlyfreespeech.net. Nearly Free Speech offers hosting costs related to how much bandwidth you incur every month, so there’s a bit of a gamble there. Sometimes one could pay as little as a quarter a month, while other times one could probably shell out as much as I was paying Media Temple. Which brings me full circle to the one argument that made my decision final. Cost. Sure, Nearly Free Speech seems like a great program (I’m sure I’ll have a reason to use it one day ), but without monetization, selling a product, or some other form of increased income, it seems to make more sense to have a fixed cost for hosting.

I’ve heard of other companies out there, but I’m sure there are a dozen more I’ve never heard of. What are you using? Is the cost justifiable by your visitor count or how much extra money you’re making through advertising?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Leave a Comment!

Posted via web from theschu’s posterous

Posted via web from theschu’s posterous