Update on the new blog format
So, where’s that new blog format I promised?
I realize most of you have not been sitting on a hot stove waiting, but you might be wondering.
It may come as no surprise that I hit a little snag when I came to what’s known as the “migrating” process—that is, the transfer of my old content to the new site. I had been assured by person after person at my host, as well as a WordPress advice group I paid some money to in order to get live help, that the migration part would be a piece of cake and that my host would do it.
But when I actually got to that point the story changed: “Oh, no, we don’t do that.” So then I had to do some research about how to go about making the transfer, which is somewhat complicated by the fact that I have an enormous amount of content to transfer.
Without bothering you with the details, I’ll just say it will take more time than I thought. I hope it will be done some time in the next couple of weeks, but I’ll keep you posted. The way I think it has to go, based on knowledge gleaned in my research so far, is that I will have to transfer this blog (with the neoneocon.com URL) to my new theme first. After that, the migration will happen. So if all goes well, first you will see the new format on this blog and then later at the new URL, with a redirect from this older URL.
I still want to do this because I think there are many advantages—getting rid of the old outdated “neocon” moniker, a format that works better on cellphones and pads, and some new features like drop-down menus for archives and most-recent-comments highlighted. After the migration, there will be some further tweakings and additions such as spotlighting the “A mind is a difficult thing to change” series.
That’s the plan, anyway.
Good luck with the “migration”. In my experience it does not go well. The last one I went through was at work, (new car dealership). We switched from one accounting system to another, it happened over night. None of the phone numbers were correct. they left off a couple of digits and were unusable. Company said it was a software glitch. I suspect it was on purpose.
Good luck…
I sometimes host wordpress on my account at hostek
there are ways
check into the potential of using one of these plug ins
(or duplicate the site, get that working, upgrade its version to current, and apply the new site to that one and let it handle it (some hosts have tools too), but it depends of course – and saying is always easier than doing)
Plugins:
Duplicator
UpdraftPlus
All-in-One WP Migration
BackupBuddy
WP Migrate DB Pro
I cant speak for ANY of them as i have never used any
sorry bout that part…
Artfldgr:
Thanks for tryng. One of the problems is apparently that I’m not trying to “migrate” exactly, in the strictly technical sense, because I’m not changing servers and each blog is on WordPress, as well. You’d think that would make it easier but it apparently makes it harder (at least that’s what I’ve been told by the supposed experts).
There are some WordPress plugins and WordPress tools I can try to use, but there’s no guarantee they will work, and I’d better back the whole thing up.
We’re with you, Neo. No hurry — get it right, then make it happen. If it takes weeks or more, we’ll be here waiting.
“I’d better back the whole thing up.”
True dat.
Mostly I hear (or say), “I should have backed things up.”
Book did something like this when she changed the comment system at her blog. Which just happened to end up wiping out the archived old comments on the old posts, of course.
To me, that was actually a benefit, since it wiped my internet tracks of one of the primary places where people could data mine my activities online without cross referencing too many places to name.
Some of us were enlightened as to the surveillance State even before 2007. Call it intuition, paranoia, or the Holy Ghost: it matters not.
Every once in awhile, I would use the Google spy bot tech (same derivation as Snowden used on NSA archives) to search for old comments I left under this secondus writer’s pen name. Unless they started archiving stuff way earlier than I expected, it was already wiped before the Google web crawl bots could copy and archive them even. Which is… convenient, in some ways. Inconvenient in other ways, since I’ve forgotten a lot of the things I wrote in the past and it would be nice to point to it and say “see, told ya so”.
At Book’s blog, I wrote a lot more comments that were consistently prophetic than at here. Here I mostly wrote short analysis pieces trying to hint at and clue in the things I learned after 2007 and before 2012.
Every place I was online had a consistent compartmentalization or profile I would utilize. This consistent allows people to analyze and read ahead on my behavioral profile more easily. That, in itself, was the trap since every profile was consistent but also different. Humans wear masks in society but appear as their genuine selves online in anonymous pen names. Me, I do the opposite.
You may have noticed a big change on the blog, and not a good one. I can’t seem to post on this blog right now, and in addition the theme is gone and some generic theme has replaced it, without any of my customizing. I’m on the phone with the host, trying to solve the problem. It’s very very disturbing.
In the meantime I’m putting this message on all my newer posts to alert people that for now I’ll be posting at the new site. So follow this link for further updates.
I sincerely hope this problem will be fixed soon, but I have no idea whether it will be possible. At any rate, the new blog is still operating very well, and I can always post there. So for now, consider that the place to go to read my work.
Comment preview also doesn’t seem to be working, but that’s a very minor problem compared with the rest.
As I said in my most recent comment, the site got changed to some generic theme for a while, missing all my customizations. This was something the host inadvertently did, and then they claimed they couldn’t undo it. Fortunately, though, I got a very nice guy on the phone in the second call I made to them, and he helped restore it to its former glory.
I still can’t post, but at least the blog looks as it should, and the comments function.
For now 🙂 .
Unfortunately, I can’t offer any help with the migration, though it does seem quite strange that “migrating” from WordPress to WordPress is more difficult than migrating from WordPress to a different host.
I recommend you back up everything to THREE independent locations (I’m serious about this):
1) WordPress probably provides a back-up mechanism. Don’t trust it, not if they have so much trouble moving something within their own domain.
2) Make a copy onto your home computer.
3) Make a copy from you home computer to a USB stick (I have one that can hold 256 GB) or other device and store it off-site (ie NOT in your home).
This may sound like overkill, but I’ve seen enough disasters to know that you can’t be too careful protecting important data.
For example, consider this not-implausible scenario:
WordPress screws up and cannot retrieve your back-up. You saved a copy on you home computer, but the hard drive dies catastrophically and all the information is LOST.
If you don’t have that third copy, you’re screwed. Another data disaster.
Good luck, Neo. Take your time and be safe.
One more thing:
A back-up counts for NOTHING until you’ve tested it by actually retrieving some (or all) of the data it contains.
I’ve heard of cases where data has been “backed” to some device and/or copied with special software. Only after the main copy fails do people discover that they are unable restore the data using their untested “back-up” copy.
The Other Gary:
Did you see the comments I posted right above yours?
Now the blog won’t let me into the dashboard, and I can only post at the new blog here.
It has nothing to do with the migration, apparently. It’s some entirely separate glitch that’s happening, and it’s a big one. Fortunately I have the new site, but if people don’t find their way there (and if this site doesn’t get fixed), I’ll have to do a redirect to lead people automatically from this URL to the new URL.
Needless to say, I’m not the least bit pleased about it.
Neo wrote:
Did you see the comments I posted right above yours?
Yes, I did see the comments. I’ve bookmarked the new site.
I’m sorry you’re having so much misery with this. I wish I knew more about it so I could offer some helpful advice.
Anyway, definitely DO NOT trust WordPress’s “back-up”! There’s a good chance it’s worthless. I’d now suggest you make 3 back-ups in addition to WordPress’s alleged “back-up.”
The Other Gary:
I already did a backup through my host (not WordPress, but my host). I don’t know any other way to do it–do you have any suggestions? I will also put it on a USB stick.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.
People keep saying I need to hire a web developer, but I can’t seem to get one to call or email me back.
Neo wrote:
I will also put it on a USB stick.
OK, let’s assume your host is reliable. If you can get a copy onto a USB stick, just copy the contents of the USB stick to your computer’s hard drive (may take a long time). Then store the USB stick someplace safe that’s not at your home. Now you’ve got 3 copies:
1) The host’s copy,
2) The USB stick copy, and
3) The copy on your hard drive.
Make sure to test all three, eg retrieve at least a few posts (with comments) and check that they seem correct.
The Other Gary,
I have a copy on my downloads, but I can’t read it. When I try to open it, it says it needs something else to be able to read it. It’s not empty, though—I can see there are a lot of bytes in there.
Neo,
What do you mean by “a copy on my downloads”? Was that supposed to read “a copy OF my downloads?”
1) Are you able to download EVERYTHING you’ve ever posted and all accompanying comments?
2) I was wondering what form the data would be in. What is the extension of the file name containing all the stuff you’ve downloaded? For example, if the file’s name is “Neoneocon.zip” then the extension is “.zip”. The extension will (hopefully) tell us what program is needed to open the file.
The Other Gary:
It’s supposed to be a file of all the content. But I doubt all the content is there; it just isn’t big enough. At the end of the file it says “.sql”.
Neo:
I second The Other Gary about multiple back ups. There is a well known blogger who moved and updated with the assurance that his 15 years of files were saved. Not so. He lost everything. That is 15 years worth of files.
The Other Chuck:
Who did that happen to? Wow.
I have nearly 14 years of files, by the way.
Neo,
Your .sql file is a database file (“Structured Query Language”). I should have guessed that blog posts and comments would be stored in a database. This allows you to search based on topic, date and possibly other criteria.
I’ve done some searching (google) for: how to read sql file. Evidently you can open it with notepad or other text editor, though I suspect you’ll see posts and comments mixed in with a bunch of SQL gobbledigook.
Some people are saying you can open an SQL file with firefox. That seems too easy, but it’s worth a try, especially if you already have firefox. There’s also something called File Viewer Plus.
This site lists programs that can open SQL files:
http://extension.nirsoft.net/sql
This page seems to address your exact situation, though it is not encouraging:
https://www.quora.com/I-have-a-SQL-file-I-want-to-read-Is-there-an-online-service-that-will-do-that-for-me
(I got there by searching with google: .sql file viewer)
If you have to install a database program like MySQL (free, I think), it could become a technical nightmare. Or maybe it’s not all that terrible. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about SQL or database software/files.
If I find something that seems promising, I’ll post here. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help. Good luck.
The Other Gary:
Thanks!
If I ending up having to install the content from the backup file, I will definitely have to hire someone to do it.
Neo:
I just made a comment at the newneo, but it was caught in the blog’s spam filter, so I’m repeating it here.
I think the new blog would be a good place for you to write a general call for help and suggestions. All the comments and replies could then be collected in one place — except mine, of course.
My own suggestions are few: 1. Make several back-ups. Store them in different places. Can’t say this enough. 2. Hire a web developer. If you’re having trouble finding one, ask for recommendations. 3. Install mySQL. This is free software, and it’s easy to install. Many years ago, I used it for a small project, and I can’t remember much about it. Your goal wouldn’t be learning how to use it. You’d do nothing more than look at your files. They wouldn’t look anything like your blog, but it’d be reassuring to know that they’re still there, and that your back-ups were successful.
Good luck. Stay methodical. Don’t hurry anything. Open the check-book. Later, ask us for funding.
Cornflour:
Know any good web developers I could hire?
So far I’ve gotten nowhere with that. My theory is that they all want bigger jobs.
Sorry about that spam filter. Wish I knew why it’s happening. I have the same filter on the new blog as on this one, so it’s puzzling.
Neo:
I have a friend who works as a web developer, but she has no experience with blogs. I’ll contact her on Monday and get back to you via email. My first reaction is that she’s not the right candidate, but we’ll see.
Also, why not contact Joe Malchow, who manages all the technical issues for Powerline? He might be able to recommend someone who has lots of experience with blog software. His contact information is listed here http://malchow.com/contact/
As far as the issue of “this job’s too small,” why not offer them the current blog problem troubleshooting, as well as the migration to the new site? Together, that might be enough to tempt someone into helping you.
Neo:
OK, I admit that this might seem too desperate, but I just typed “wordpress troubleshooting service reviews” into Google. An example of what popped up is “NetCrafted WordPress troubleshooting” (https://netcrafted.com/fix/).
They charge a flat fee of just $69 per WordPress issue. If they can’t fix the problem, there’s no charge.
Maybe a last resort. Frankly, I don’t know what the the risk would be.
Neo,
You’re more than welcome for what little help I could provide. Unfortunately, I know almost nothing about SQL or database files.
Cornflour seems to be on the same page. Please, please be very careful and make sure you’ve got at least 3 WORKING back-ups. We want to make the probability of disaster as close to zero as possible.
Having a fourth back-up is not overkill and is easy to do. Just copy a working back-up to another device and check that the file sizes are the same. Even better: on a Mac or Linux/Unix machine you can run the diff command on the 2 files to ensure they are identical. Windows probably has a similar utility but I don’t know what it is.
Neo:
Longish article, not very encouraging:
“How to Find THE Top WordPress Developers for Hire: 7 Proven Ways”
https://www.collectiveray.com/wordpress/wordpress-tips-and-tricks/wordpress-developers-for-hire.html
Neo: This is small potatoes compared to all your other serious issues but – since you’re changing things around anyway, would it be possible for your new Blog to have a facility (widget) for sharing/e-mailing one of your posts – for those of us who don’t Tweet? Something simple?
Just thought I’d ask. Good luck with everything!
Cathy Barber:
At some point I will look into that. Remind me later if I forget.
Cornflour:
Thanks.
Yes, there are a number of groups that advertise online that say they will fix one problem (supposedly) for a flat fee. They make me nervous, I must say. I also am not at all sure that my situation is one they can fix. But I definitely might try one of those groups, if I can’t get a web developer to do it.
A couple of my regular blogs are WordPress sites, and the phrase “WordPress Delenda Est” shows up nearly every day.