Comments on: New here?

By: AJ

AJ — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:11:47 +0000

Kathleen you could duplicate posts and give them the new names. Then use the backdate option to mark them as old so they don’t show up on the front page or in anyone’s news reader. But of course you’d then have to forward old links but it might be worth it for some key entries that are named badly. You should be able to backup your database into a text file, then do a search and replace in Notepad and replace the urls to be correct — save a NEW file so that you still have the original, then import the new version of the database and it should all be fixed (unless wordpress has a search and replace feature I am unaware of, that is). It is not overly difficult and you can always re-import the original if it didn’t work.

By: AJ

AJ — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:07:36 +0000

I was thinking about this and I don’t know what you would title the section but something in relation to following the links to find more related content. It seems straight forward but for some people it may not be. What I have done for years with your site is I use it to supplement learning I am doing with other books. I have a question about something, who knows what…let’s say armholes. So I come and do a search and eventually I found a really great post you’ve written (let’s use the no ease in sleeves as an example). From there, it is not just one post, I follow all the links and read those too. Then I follow all those links and read them too. From one page I usually end up with 10-15 other pages to read just by following the links. Now that I have 4 hours on the train every Saturday I often open all these pages on my laptop and then read them on the train. Better than a book!

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:59:14 +0000

That particular entry (4 Day meal plan) was actually very popular and got a whole lot of comments, maybe over 30. Somehow, when I moved the site to WP, those comments went *poof*. Now it looks lonely and unloved. An artifact. It's a problem to rename entries after the fact because it changes the URL, meaning that any links going to the old title won't work anymore. I agree the situation isn't ideal but I'm at a loss as to what to do about it. I learn, modify and move on. There's a whole lot of things I'd do differently, not knowing at the time that certain topics would become a running theme or series. Live and learn I suppose.

By: Alison Cummins

Alison Cummins — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:46:36 +0000

Oh, I love the post of what women over 40 have for supper. I read it once, at the time, and I still remember it however many years later.

Knowing who Kathleen is, where she is, how she got here and where she thinks she might be going add so much to what we can get out of the site.

By: Donna S

Donna S — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:47:17 +0000

Or call it “How to Use This Site” Then new and old alike are covered and it describes what you are doing.

By: Donna S

Donna S — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 14:33:22 +0000

My suggestion while you are organizing is to delete some of the entries that are not really related to the site, such as the one about cereal or eating after age 40. Also titles need to be more related to topic. “Pattern Puzzle #1″ doesn’t tell me much. Maybe, “Pattern Puzzle #1 – wonky sleeves”. With so much information on the site every bit of organization will help. Instead of “New Here” why not just call it “Main Page” or “Table of Contents”. Since I am not new I might not think to go to a “new here” page, but main or Tof C makes sense. Yeah, I know you do this in your spare time!

By: AJ

AJ — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:43:15 +0000

“How to promote yourself on blogs with comments”

I have some real problems with this, just myself not others. On one hand when people have commented at sites and blogs I have run I have appreciated their comments because interaction is really good for a site and I am happy for them to put their URL in the comment because I think it is a small thank you for their interaction. But there are so many people who make comments that it is obvious they are making that comment only to get a link to their site out and I hate those people. Because of that I am always very concious about making comments with my url but on the other hand having your url with your comment identifies you and makes you not anonymous. Now that I have this new site this is something I am constantly aware of and I worry about looking like a traffic leacher!