See, in the background this whole system is based on code that has to be 'supported' by the host's web folk. In this case it is Google who owns Blogger. Well, in the grand scheme of things, and in order to keep folks employed and doing something, these coders and web designers are always up to something new. You know.....gotta keep it fresh!
And things change. Heck, when I started this blog a gizmo called an iPad didn't even exist yet. Nor did iPhones, or smart phones, for that matter. I think we were still pretty deep into the 'flip-phone' era back then..... Anyway....
You have to accommodate new user's ways of consuming content! So, old platforms don't show up as well on modern screens, and well, that means changes too. The result of it all is that older platforms get 'unsupported' and unless you switch to "The New" you may experience issues, or be shut down altogether. I cannot say how many times I've been through this in 15+ years, but I want to say at least three to four times.
Well, here we are with another change and that due to my old template - which I think has been in effect for at least a decade - being 'unsupported', I think..... I'm not sure because Blogger never did tell me. Usually they do warn me, but not this time. Nope! I wouldn't have known anything had changed except for a few clues. One was when my header function went weird, and another was when I couldn't get in the backend anymore and make certain tweaks that I used to be able to do. Now the other day, I look at my blog and .......WHAT?!! Things looked totally wonky.
So, I get in the backside of things and I see that the template has magically changed itself without my permission. Yeah.......so I see where this is going now. Time for a template upgrade. And that is what you are seeing here now. Welcome to the 'New Look" G-Ted Productions!
I know this is probably insanely boring for many of you readers, but it does affect your engagement here and I wanted to explain what was going on. I hope that this is not off-putting and that your enjoyment of the blog continues unabated. But, you know, some people won't take a shine to this and maybe you are one? Let me know in the comments. And by the way, I still haven't gotten the header size and centering completely 100% to my liking. That's going to have to wait for a rainy day.....
So, that's the news today here on the blog. Again- If you ever have any comments, concerns, suggestions, or rants, just let me know in the comments or email me at g.ted.productions@gmail.com. I respond to every request.
Cheers and thank you for reading the blog!
Hi Mark, speaking as a web developer/designer, the key principle of web content is that it is universal. Content written in html in 1996 will still be readable in 2021 with any luck.
ReplyDeleteWhat changes is how the content is delivered and the structure put around that content, as you have discovered. The functionality is one thing (like does it work on mobile phones), but the design of the web is as much about fashion as any other walk of life. So things change.
For this reason I prefer to 'own my content' by not being on a 3rd party system like Blogger. At some point, if Google decides they are done with Blogger, what happens to all those years of words you've crafted? And who owns them?
I much prefer to own my domain name and use a hosting company to host my site and look after my content - I can download it, and move it somewhere else whenever I want if necessary and I know it's all mine. You don't need to be terribly techy - but once you have your content separate from your design you can pour it into any other template you wish on any other platform.
If you are able to (and don't already) I strongly suggest you see if you can download your content to keep as a back up somewhere - you never know, but much of it must be irreplaceable (e.g. your Trans Iowa series), and certainly not available anywhere else.
Well at least the header looks right again, lol. Change for the sake of change seems to be the curse of the modern world. I'm not just some grumpy old dude. I'm all for change if it is genuine progress but moving things around and changing colors is not progress. An example would be having to re-learn how to use your smart phone after each major update.
ReplyDelete@MuddyMatt - Thank you for that wise advice. Just to let you know, I already own the domain 'guitartedproductions.com' and I could move all my content there. You also have a good point about the work being saved, and that has crossed my mind more than once.
ReplyDeleteTime to do something about that.....
@Phillip Cowan - I hear you. It frustrates me to no end to have to re-learn a way to do things when there was nothing wrong with the old way.
ReplyDeleteIn a digital world where attention spans are just long enough for 30-45 second Tik-Tok clips, written word and blogs are a dying breed. Having recently dipped the toe into doing some video I can attest that the creation of content is a bit easier but the editing is time consuming... but a lot of today's digital content is raw, unedited video clips.
ReplyDelete@Rydn9ers - Well, I’ve heard that “blogs are dead” since around 2008. 😉 I always said in the beginning that I would be writing this blog no matter how many people are or are not reading it.
ReplyDeleteSo, yeah…. Maybe someday I’ll be writing and no one will notice. I’m okay with that.
I don't think you'll need to worry about readership, there are still plenty of analog folks living in the digital age. Even if our reading glasses keep getting thicker every year.
ReplyDelete