Hello readers; I need your help. You may have noticed that I was having trouble with my blog feed, and it was driving me nutso. I was posting posts but they were not showing up on Feedly for three days. The last one I posted (Minneapolis) actually did not show up in my feed at all, and that is when I knew that I really had a problem. I tried all kinds of things and posted a bunch of test posts (sorry if you got these) but I couldn't seem to figure it out.
I removed all of my widgets, messed with my HTML code a lot, searched for errors and tried to fix them, removed code, added code, etc. If you know me at all you know that I do not like to leave things undone, so I spent several days patiently (??) trying to fix this issue. Then I kind of gave up, and decided to transition to WordPress.
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| I spent several days staring at this |
I downloaded everything in Blogger, uploaded it to WordPress and was still in the process of fiddling with the settings when my Minneapolis post showed up in my feed finally (about a week after my original post date). Clearly something I had messed with had worked! I then posted a test, which worked, and then I scheduled the gadgets post, which worked.
Now my conundrum is, should I stay or should I go now? From the few hours I spent working on the WP blog, it seems like there are definitely some features I like more (the commenting seems better for example) but some things that kind of confuse me (the set up of the template - I cannot seem to get my header font smaller without also decreasing my post header font and vice versa, also my side menu options seem more limited, but maybe I just need to fiddle some more).
I need your help!
WordPress people: What do you like/dislike about WordPress? What is the commenting like? If the person commenting is not on WP, does it make it difficult? Do you get an email if someone comments back (that is something I wish I had now. When I comment on a WP blog, I have to go back and check to see if they replied sometimes), can you comment back via email (you can do this on Blogger if the person is on Blogger too, but I can only do this with some WP people).
Blogger people turned WordPress: Why did you convert? What things were hard during the conversion? (I noticed all of my comments came over but they are all "anonymous" now) What things do you like better or dislike more?
Blogger people: Why do you stay with Blogger? Have you ever considered converting?
Additional questions for all: What feed reader do you use? How do WP vs Blogger posts show up on your reader? Do you have a preference for the aesthetics of one over the other? What day did you get this post? (FYI, I am posting it on February 18th) Alternatively, if you subscribe by email, when did you get this post? Also, if you have had this problem, how did you fix it?
If you are shy, you can email me at travelspot06 at gmail rather than commenting.
If you don't feel like answering any of the above questions, at least tell me...what are you up to this weekend?
Thank you for your help!
Lisa here - stupid google won’t let me log into my google account on my phone! This showed up on 2/18! I’m on blogger as you know. I don’t like it but am not tech savvy so don’t know that it’s worth the effort. I much prefer Wordpress blogs because commenting is better there, like being able to notify people when you respond to a comment! Chances are I will just stay out and put up with blogger!
ReplyDeleteOoh, I'll be interested to hear the pros of WP. I started and stayed with Blogger because...well that's what I started with and I've never had the time/interest to move to something better. I don't follow myself in Feedly so I have no idea how long it takes my posts to show up, but I've been noticing a lag with some blogs that I follow showing up there - and some of the lags are with Big Deal Blogs.
ReplyDeleteI wonder, are the feeds that are lagging for you Blogger blogs? Because I was using feedburner for email subscriptions and feeds and about a year ago they got rid of the email subscription feature and are only doing feeds, but I did notice that after that may be when I started to have latency issues. But if they are not Blogger, than I wonder what is going on with them!
DeleteYes! I saw this on my feed on 2/18. I basically echo what Lisa said. I am on Blogger and it basically does what I want it to do. I sometimes see features on Wordpress I like, but I have no idea how to even switch to WP and I don't want to spend money, time, or energy on it.
ReplyDeleteI use Feedly for my reader and there's no difference in WP or Blogger on it. I find WP super annoying to comment on, but it's doable. The only comment system I just can't use is Disqus.
I got it on 2/18. I use Feedly.
ReplyDeleteI'm on Wordpress, but used a default template and don't know how to do anything with it. The pictures from my blog don't show up in feed readers and I suppose I could hire someone to sort out all sorts of issues like this (I tried to add a widget so people would get e-mails when I responded to comments, but that failed miserably and I don't know if I'll bother trying again *shrugs*)...but I haven't (and probably won't). I'm useless in terms of helping you make the choice (and the fact you're fiddling with settings suggests you know way more about it than I do), but I find the Wordpress platform easy to use. But I know people have a hard time commenting sometimes...and I just don't know how to fix things properly?!
Thanks for your input! Do you have WP.com or WP.org? I noticed the .com version has a lot less options for plugins and stuff like that, and I am not sure that I want to pay for a blog right now... I am still doing some beta testing to find out what the WP (.com) platform is like. Also I found some info about WP for getting comment replies and getting your photos to show up in feeds.. I think all that you need is another plugin!
DeleteI've always used Blogger since forever because it seems to generally work. I don't like my template much and I feel like it looks very "blogger-y". I think wordpress blogs look so much nicer. However, I don't like the commenting because it makes me sign in. Actually my husband once migrated my blog to Wordpress and then when my domain expired it was blogger again... I'm not sure how it all works. I guess I stick with blogger because it's what I know, but I feel like "real bloggers" use Wordpress.
ReplyDeleteThat is interesting that it makes you sign into Blogger, as mine usually remembers me and it is the WP ones that I have to type all of my information in each time. I think you can also have WP without a domain but maybe the options are more limited? I am not entirely sure. I do agree that Blogger seems more elementary though!
DeleteI have been on Wordpress for... fourteen years now? I have never had an issue. I get emails when people comment and can email them back. I don't get a huge amount of spam. I use Feedly and don't have any issue with that. I think it's fairly user friendly, although I have had trouble occasionally trying to figure out how to alter the html (although that may be in large part because I don't know what I'm doing). I use a free template. The only complaint I have ever received is about the ads that WordPress serves to my site, which I totally understand can be annoying and irrelevant, but which I have no control over. As a user, I find both Blogger and WordPress blogs have commenting issues. Sometimes I can only comment from a certain browser. Some WordPress blogs think I am not signed into my account even though I am, which is annoying and prevents me from commenting. Hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteThat is very helpful! I do think that Blogger is not as fancy, although I am surprised, since it is a Google product. It seems that it is the outcast, or that they have moved on to bigger and better things! Do you have to have ads? Because on Blogger, you can add them but I do not think that they are a requirement.
DeleteI think you have to allow ads, unfortunately. Part of the "price" of the free service. But it is also highly possible that I have just never looked into it!
DeleteI switched to WP from blogger in 2014 and have not looked back. I do not have problems with it, I get notification when people comment, and it's a pretty easy platform to use. I use "the old reader" dot com for my blog reading but yours hasn't been going into it! So I'm getting it emailed to me via the subscribe function. I don't know why yours doesn't work!
ReplyDeleteWow, the old Reader! I used to use that but it has been a while. I was pretty sad when it went away, but are you telling me that it didn't actually? I don't know why mine would not show up on the Reader as again, they are both Google products (unless Reader is not anymore?) At least the email feature works, although I don't love how it looks, but it's what I have for now.
DeleteUgh, I hate feed issues! I subscribed to my own blog on Feedly so I can make sure the post is showing up when I want it to. Sometimes there's a lag so that's when I go to Feedburner.com and refresh my feed, and it shows up!
ReplyDeleteI am on self-hosted WP and it is so worth it for me. I think it's such an easier platform to use than Blogger and you can add a plugin for email comment replies, which is nice! I switched to self-hosted WP in 2012 and hired someone to do it for me because I'm not very tech-savvy when it comes to websites and didn't want to screw up my blog by doing it myself.
Your blog post show up in Feedly for me just fine (I think). I haven't noticed a delay. I have always been with WP and love the flexibility to "fiddle" with the themes. I can help you a bit, if you want to change certain aspects of your blog (are you on the free WP platform or self- hosted, because that can make a difference in how much you can do. )
ReplyDelete