Settled … For The Most Part

I’m settled for the most part. It’ll take some time to get everything sorted out and back up to speed, but all in all the move was relatively painless. The only thing that needs immediate attention is the artwork gallery. I didn’t have a way to back up my databases, so I’m going to have to rebuild them (for the third time).
Everything else has gone rather well.
I got WordPress re-installed for the blogs without any trouble, but the much vaunted Blogger importing feature didn’t work at all for me. That was disappointing. I have over 1,800 posts that I made through Blogger, and I’d like to port them over to WordPress. Doing that by hand would a nightmare. But what choice do I have, really? I mean, I could just leave the posts on the web site as they are, but I’d like to integrate them into the new site design. I dunno. I’ll think of something, I guess.
The genealogy database went well, too. Although my last host had locked me out of my services, I could still log-in to my database using my IP address. So I was able to save the database as a gedcom file, and simply import that file into the new database. It caused some problems with the images and maps, but most of those were worked out quickly. Right now the data itself is in place. That’s the important thing. I just have to re-work some of the bells and whistles, like images.
The image gallery is the problem child. I’d like to state right now, for the record, that Gallery 2 sucks compared to Coppermine (if anyone cares). I know it has a few perks that some people like better. Like its layout is more flexible. I switched to Gallery 2 from Coppermine for that reason. But then I discovered that Gallery 2 has a pretty nasty bug in it. One which I don’t think could be accidental. I had uploaded a lot of images. After image #666, the database stopped working. It wouldn’t let me upload any more images. Well, it would, but it wouldn’t put them in the right place. In short, after 666 images, it essentially stopped letting me add new files.
Ha ha. Very funny. So funny I forgot to laugh.
I left Gallery 2 in place because I had so many images in it, but I re-installed Coppermine, and was in the process of switching things over when my relationship with my server host went south. Problem was, Coppermine doesn’t have a native backup feature. They recommend you install a program called phpMyAdmin that’ll let you backup and maintain SQL databases. Problem was, my slack-ass server host had locked me out of direct server maintenance because my Plesk license had expired (that’s something that should be updated as part of the hosting plan), so I couldn’t install the phpMyAdmin script.
Just another reason to leave.
I’ve had this “new” server since October of last year. I got it and then couldn’t get my DNS information to work out right. But I’ve learned a lot since then, and I’m having no troubles now. Assuming everything doesn’t just stop working, I think I’ve found a new home. This server works much better. It’s faster and more stable. I like the system, and the maintenance functions. I like being able to install whatever scripts I want and control more of the overall functionality of the web site.
Eventually, I’ll need to move to a dedicated server. Assuming I ever reach a point where I’m generating enough traffic. I mean, right now my web site alone gets around 500 unique visits a day. The Malleus is on this server, too, and it gets around 1,000 (26,657 total for April). Those are not big numbers in the overall scheme of things, I guess. But they’re respectable. If my music begins to pick up some steam once I start posting it, you can see where this could get unruly. I have eleven domains hosted on my server. That adds up.
Overall, I’m very happy where I am now. I’m finishing up the last few pages of the web site that need to be converted (all in the Personal section). I’m also going to be changing the index page to make it more integrated with my store. Plus, I’m going to start converting the images of the mysterious people who litter the web site into original artwork that better reflects who I am. I’m also going to change a few of the navigation images at the top of the web site (I’m tired of people asking me if “web logs” are the same thing as “blogs”).
Once I finally nail down the web site, I can move on to such esoteric activities as making a living. But that’s another post for another day. Or least a rumination that doesn’t belong in the updates category. All I’ll say in closing is that I’m very happy with the new web site layout (although it’s been a much bigger undertaking than I ever expected), and I’m very happy with my new server. Hopefully there’ll only be good things from now on. I’m a little weary of getting kicked in the teeth.