Things have been quiet here, as I’ve been on the road … and thinking about options for this site.
I’m really tired of plowing through endless lines of code in an attempt to tweak my Movable Type templates. (Movable Type is the engine that drives this entire site.) I’ve been looking for a fast, simple means of creating an attractive, easily-updated blog. In the process, I’ve looked at everything from TypePad (again) to SquareSpace (a solution that almost got my business).
What I hoped to find was a strictly modular solution: something that would let me quickly and easily say, “I want this kind of content to appear in these spaces on a page.” With my page archetecture in place, I’d like to be able to say, “I want use this template to make my site include these colors and images on every page.” I’d like all that to be done through a simple drag-and-drop interface.
In addition, I’d like a good solution for managing comment spam. I’ve shut down comments on MadeByMark.com for months because I grew weary of getting 100 emails a night from people leaving “comments” about porn, Viagra, and Texas Hold’em.
I love TypePad‘s drag-and-drop page design, and their templates aren’t bad. (They’re also based on Movable Type tags, and I’m already familiar with them.) Unfortunately, every TypePad user I spoke with said that, despite the latest updates, he’s being innundated with comment spam. Until that’s fixed, I can’t see switching over to TypePad.
I love the idea of SquareSpace: a simple, modular approach to building entire sites by snapping modules into a pageframe. The system struck me as more than a little complex, though … and I’m trying to get away from complexity. Worse, when I tried to import MadeByMark.com into SquareSpace, I got a “too many entries” error. Twelve hours later, tech support hasn’t touched base with me with promised insights … so SquareSpace just won’t do.
This version of the site has been quickly created with my final choice: WordPress. WordPress is supported by my webhost (they hate Movable Type). It’s powerful. It’s easy to set up (I launched it with a single click). It’s widely used. It’s a program my friends are already depending on, so I’ll have a lot of people to send my questions to. And best of all, it’s free.
It’s not a perfect solution — like Movable Type, to make real changes in how the site looks or what goes on a page, I have to muck around in line after line of code — but it’s worth a shot. So: for the next few weeks, at least, WordPress it is.
We now return you to our regular programming.
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