Have Blog Can Travel
Well it’s been a rollercoaster week for the blog.
Over the last couple of years or so there have been intermittent technical issues with rusty duck. Now I’m no techy. Nope, probably as far from technically competent as it’s possible to get. This means that I’m heavily dependent on support from the site host and there have been times lately when this has badly fallen down. The other issue that’s been frustrating me, and you as well I know, has been the speed of the site.
In an effort to improve all of these issues, this week rusty duck has moved to a new site host.
The migration itself went smoothly enough (too smoothly?). Enough for me to pour a glass of wine and wonder why I didn’t do it years ago. But then came propagation. And before you go hunting for a knife to seek out those basal shoots and root cuttings, no, not that sort of propagation. If only. The instruction at the end of the migration video made it almost a throw away line: “And now all you have to do is just update your DNS.” Note that word: just. Turns out this requires a PhD in itself and many many fraught telephone calls, emails and internet ‘chat’. Where did I leave that wine bottle? The theory is straightforward. Updating the DNS is basically just sending a change of address card to let the internet know that when a dearly cherished reader puts rustyduck.net into their browser they get directed to a new server. But Simples? No.
And when you’ve finally mastered all the ins and outs.. does it just happen then? No. It took over 24 hours. The message has to ‘propagate’ itself all over the world and in the meantime the location of your site is hopping back and forward between servers like a kangaroo on coke.
Never mind. We’re there now, I hope, and all is well. Unless you’re fond of a bit of Pinot Grigio in which case I must sadly inform you that national stocks are running low.
What you need to know:
Speed
It’s improved. By quite some margin. Maybe not the first time you load the site but for second and subsequent visits it should now be noticeably different.
Security Warnings
My apologies if you’ve received a message over the last couple of days suggesting that the site is insecure. It isn’t. I just (that word again) needed to get a new security certificate set up for the new site location. Now this is done it should all be working fine.
Subscriber Notifications
This is an entirely separate issue from site hosting but it’s also been a problem of late. The bit of software that does it has a bug and for the last few posts the notifications have not been sent out.
For those of you who subscribe by email it’s easy, I’ve downloaded a list of the addresses from WordPress and have been sending out manual notifications.
For those who subscribe via a WordPress account it’s less straightforward. There is no downloadable email list so I’ve now had to construct one, with addresses gleaned from comments, blogs, gravatars, wherever I could easily find them. Subscribers are precious to me and I don’t want you to miss any more posts. The first manual notification will go out later on today. For some of you I haven’t been able to find an email address. If you visit the blog and feel you have been missed please send me a message via the ‘Contact’ Tab above, including your email address. It’s a private message service and no information you send will be published on the blog but it will enable me to add your address to the distribution list.
If you would like to be notified when each new rusty duck post appears why not subscribe? It’s still the best way. I’ve been in contact with the software developer and know they’re working on a fix. Normal service will shortly be resumed.
As a result of the site migration the rusty duck email address has been lost, possibly permanently. If you were using it before it now won’t work but you can still get in touch via the ‘Contact’ tab above.
Phew. Any further issues do please let me know.
Is it wine time yet? Have a very lovely weekend.
Jessica
Hooray I’ve been missing you and yes of course it’s time to open a bottle.
Thanks. Bottle open.. 🙂
Well done for sorting all that out. Technical issues bring on a very particular kind of headache so I sympathise wholeheartedly. Salut!
They do indeed. It’s feeling your way in the dark much of the time. But when the lightbulb comes on it’s magic! I just hope I can now pootle along doing my thing and forget about the technical side for a while. Fingers crossed.
It’s always wineoclock! Oh….my shoulders were going up just reading this, I’m no techie and get a hot flush just thinking about techie issues!
Well, this post came through my email just fine so I take it I’m all sorted??? I hope so! Here’s to things running smoothly.xxx
It would appear notifications are sorted. Moving site hosts must have freed up a blockage in the system somewhere. For how long, who knows. But I’m ready with the back up plan if it fails again.
Congratulations Jessica for sorting things out, isn’t it great when things finally are falling into place?! Have a great and well deserved weekend 🙂
Thanks Helene. I do wish I had your superior knowledge of computery things. An essential skill in today’s world.
This is a good lesson for me. I’ve been thinking about moving my blog to WordPress but am worried about all the ‘just jobs’ that this will bring up and how much time and energy it will require. This is a good reminder why I shouldn’t do it just now! And now I know why Rusty Duck hasn’t been gracing my inbox for a while. Welcome back 🙂
Julieanne you’ll be fine. I opted for self hosted WordPress, for reasons which are totally beyond me now! wordpress.com is much like Blogger by all accounts. Thanks, it’s good to have you back too.
Hello from The Luddite Torrington Tina, I am so impressed. And the new site loaded so quickly despite our appalling rural broadband I am even more impressed. Well done, you deserve a glass or two of wine after all that! I look forward to getting the next garden instalment.
We are Luddites together then. I should make mention of the fact that Himself did much of the work, being more interested in techy stuff than me. Although of course he pleads total ignorance when things start to get really complicated..
I’ve been missing your posts. So glad it’s all ironed out now (or is that like saying that ‘Genevieve’ is running well?) and I have subscribed, too, just in case (because frankly I can’t remember how I was following before – rolls eyes to ceiling).
I am touching a lot of wood and hoping it is all ironed out. But my experience of these things suggests that no sooner have you solved one problem than another appears just over the horizon..
Oh, you’re so clever! It must be a bit like pressing an ejector seat button, who knows where you’ll land. There’s such a lot of useful information here, I’m sure folk who are thinking of doing it will benefit no end. Enjoy the well earned glass of something nice.
Mike is the clever one really. But it is stressful for us both because neither of us really knows what we are doing. The ejector seat button is a very good analogy. I am looking forward to watching Gardeners’ World with my feet up this evening!
p.s. planted out a mature Molinia ‘Transparent’ yesterday having seen it on your blog. It looks smashing!
This one has come through my email Jessica. There is nothing ‘just’ easy with technology! Does this mean I will now be able to read my comments in my WordPress reader?
I don’t know about the comments, possibly not. It maybe my being on a self hosted site has more to do with it. But moving the blog to the new host does seem to have unlocked a few things, so who knows?
I find that for me during trying times like this that a bit of time on the porch swing with a cup of tea from herbs I’ve grown makes these stressful issues smaller, certainly doesn’t make them go away, but does for me make them smaller…I really enjoy your blog, so the efforts you have have put into this has been greatly appreciated.
I wish we had porch swings. Or even porches big enough! It seems to be a very American thing and sounds idyllic. I could happily spend a good few hours like that. Thanks Charlie.
You have my sympathies, Jessica. Some of these people speak a different language and I live in terror of things going awry with ‘ABAB’! Whenever I get a glitch, I keep telling myself that it can’t be a black art because I know people who work in IT and really, some of them aren’t terribly bright. Keep going, you’re doing brilliantly – everyone loves your fabulous blog. Now I’m going for a beer, just in case I need one…
Believe it or not I used to work in IT for a while, albeit on the ‘business facing’ side of it. I know for a fact that the language is a cunning ploy to bamboozle the poor layman into thinking they are an awful lot smarter than they are. Thanks Mike.
What a palaver! No issues here (I follow through Feedly and it’s still there) – I hope that’s the end of your technical woes!
Yep, Feedly has been working fine. Thank goodness!! Otherwise I’d have had no followers at all for the past few weeks. Thanks Archie.
another happy Feedly here
Thanks Diana.
Hi Jessica, kudos to you for moving you blog to a new side host, because you were unhappy with the old!
I am thinking of moving my blog from Blogspot to WordPress for quite a while now, but didn’t dare to do it yet, because of the technical issues that I am expecting to go along with it. Your experience is just confirming that these thing will come, if you choose to switch the host, but I am so happy for you that you sorted yours out. When I have a bit more time at hand (whenever that will be the case…) I will try to make my blog move, too.
Warm regards,
Christina
Christina, I would strongly advise moving to wordpress.com if a blog is all you need. It’s much like Blogger in the way it works. For reasons I can’t fathom now I chose to have a self hosted site, so I use WordPress software but the blog doesn’t actually sit on their server. This is where all the problems lie. But if you do decide to go down the self hosted route I would be more than happy to help out if you want to get in touch. I think I’ve experienced most of the likely trauma 🙁
What a harried journey you’ve made! Congratulations upon having survived the trip! I’ve considered moving my blog as well but I fear I’d end up having a seizure and losing everything. I’m not a techie either and usually rely on my husband if I go off the rails in that area but I also hate to hear him cursing and see him kicking things until whatever went wrong is set right. So, for now at least, I shall continue making do.
Better the devil you know sometimes. But a particularly bad ‘support’ experience pushed me over the edge. It was either move the blog or give up on it entirely and it came very close to that.
Well, I am impressed. I just wouldn’ t know how to go about this. I have to stick with wordpress because I don’ t know how to change. And because it is free there are adverts sometimes which I don’ t like.
You don’ t appear in my wordpress reader anymore, but never mind, I don’ t forget you and keep popping over to see what is new.
I don’t appear in my own wordpress reader either which is strange! I will investigate. Thanks Chloris.
I have re-subscribed so I hope it’s ok now! What a bore, but let’s hope it’s sorted. ? Marin
So far, so good. Fingers crossed. Thanks Marina.
Nicely done Jessica, well done you. I have a fear of all of this kind of thing, can’t manage it at all. We were without internet for 24 hours this week and had to ring our computer guru to get it sorted. Turned out the other half had inadvertently pressed the “Off” button on the hub… We didn’t even know the hub had an Off button. Our computer guy loves us so much. It took him ages to work out what was wrong. I suspect he has a Post-It note in front of him know reminding him to start with the Really Stupid stuff next time we ring. Have a good weekend. CJ xx
Having a computer guru to call on is a level of sophistication way above us.. we just press buttons and hope! The main problem is still our incredibly slow broadband. I only know there is an off button on the hub because it is next to the reset button. The reset button is used very frequently.
Congratulations on your migration and propagation. I hope everything continues to go well and all issues are now solved. So frustrating when that occurs.
Very frustrating. It wouldn’t be so bad if I knew something about it and could fix it. It’s being reliant on others that causes most of the frustration sometimes.
Congratulations on your move! Fingers crossed the world supply of Pino recovers soon. X
Last glass with Poldark tonight 🙂
You came through as an e.mail as usual so I’m glad I can still get you! Well done with your change, it can be a very trying time!
That’s good to know Pauline, thanks. I just hope it keeps on working!
Yes, email to me too. You mentioned the wine but not whether you had any hair left… Well done for seeing the process through – I am like a dog with a bone on something like this! Although my WordPress is ‘free’ I have now had to pay for more space and wondered if it was worth going self-hosted, but don’t really want to rock the proverbial boat…
You would probably end up paying the same, most likely even more for hosting. There are companies which offer very cheap packages but as with most things in this world you get what you pay for.
I’m in awe. I haven’t yet plucked up the courage to change my blogspot address to my own domain. It looks simple but a Google search tells a different story. Funny how we all feel so protective of our blogs and yet I sometimes dream of the spare time I’d have if I didn’t write! I have belt and braces with your blog, Jessica – a feedly feed and email. Lol!
It would be a massive amount of extra spare time wouldn’t it. The same thought crossed my mind when I was wondering whether moving the blog would be worth it. The trouble is it’s become part of my life and I’d miss it!
Confessions… I would have checked your site from my new blog site in any case but happened on it from my old Blogspot Dashboard first — where it comes up perfectly normally, I’m happy to say! It seems we most of us have issues here and there with hosting, even if it’s on the major platforms, and sometimes it does pass the breaking point!! Good for you getting it sorted this far! And it did have a faster load time 🙂 I’m going to go ahead and subscribe by email though I’ve never had much trouble keeping track of you: my computer already knows that if I type “R” into the box, I’m heading either to Rusty Duck or Rambling in the Garden… 😉 😉
I’m glad the site is loading faster for you. It’s actually moved from a US server to a UK one so that just goes to show how much extra speed has been added.
This time it looks like I can comment so maybe the problem was my end
Thanks for letting me know Christina. I hope the problem is now solved.
I haven’t a clue what you are talking about Jessica but I hope it all works out all right.
That makes two of us.
Hoping things continue to work smoothly for you.
Thanks Sue.
Oh, good heavens. This makes my head hurt, and I’m sorry you had to go through it all. But I’m so happy it worked out well in the end for you! It scares me to think of having to do this. I think i would have to hire someone. A glass of Pinot sounds good right about now.
Having to hire someone may be the way forward here too, I’m seeing how it goes. Increasingly I’m discovering there’s a gap between what I can do and what I can get technical support for.
Hoping I can still follow with Bloglovin!
No problem with Bloglovin’ as far as I know 🙂
Well, hurrah! I have to say I was a tad startled that Rusty Duck appeared so quickly. Usually, I have time to vacuum, make a Victoria sponge cake and catch up with the Archers whilst I am waiting for posts to upload. But today? Quicker than Quicky McQuick making a glass of Nesquick quickly! Whoosh!! Long make it continue. ?
Excellent! I’m so glad it’s worked. I’m not moving it again. My liver couldn’t stand it.
Well done Jessica. I get very stressed when technical things go wrong.
It’s the lack of control I feel I have. Especially when everyone who is trying to help seems to speak a different language!
Oh my…well done for unravelling all the technical stuff. I am impressed. It would take me ages to be familiar with the techie terms, let alone know what to do. So pleased it’s all getting sorted now – whatever you did.
There are a few loose ends to sort out and then I’m leaving well alone. I think my capacity to cope with things technical is now all used up.
Well I managed to find your blog and I am so glad I did, I am passionate about our garden here in SW France, I even wrote about it on the blog today! Now I shall spend a lovely evening reading through your posts. Hope you have had a lovely Sunday
Hello and welcome.
Yes, a garden is a wonderful thing to have. I envy your climate!
Oh loaded faster than the speed of light Jessica! Will report back on commenting in a moment.
That’s good to hear Anna 🙂
Oh that seemed quicker too 🙂 I use ‘Bloglovin’ to keep track of new blog posts so have been able to see when you’ve posted. I only wish that I could take the bull by the proverbial horns as Blogger continues to misbehave big time. Perhaps not the right time for me to do anything drastic or time consuming at the moment but a blog move is definitely on the horizon.
Yes, I’ve heard about some of the Blogger problems. WordPress seems more stable but I think I probably have more grief than most being self hosted. Timing is everything. You have enough on your plate at the moment. Take care.
I am still having problems with my blog after I recently was forced to move it after the closure of the server it was hosted on. Email notifications do not work any more, I cannot upload a new header. I found that I could not schedule posts, I had to add a widget to make that happen. The problem is with the server where my blog is hosted, it needs to change its settings. But…. the customer is always wrong 🙁
I noticed this evening that my website page does not load. It just displays a white page with words top left that say ‘welcome to your site’.
The trouble with techie things, for me anyway, is that I don’t know whether the customer is wrong or not! It does seem to take a lot of time to get simple things sorted out.
I always feel panicky about technical changes on my blog…so well done for sorting things out, I’ve re-subscribed but will keep a check on it.
There are still some niggling things, I’ll keep going! Thanks Gerrie.
The mysterious world of hosting, website design, technical things … all left to daughter and SIL, who run their own business doing such things. I’m so lucky to have my own two gurus to turn to when things go wrong. Things are looking great for your site, fingers crossed it continues.
Oh Linda, you are blessed! How wonderful to have technical expertise in the family.
[D] Life Experience? Knowing what Just means in any given situation!
Exactly! I hope you are making a good recovery Denise. Take care.
For what it’s worth your posts have been showing up in my reader (Netvibes) as though nothing has changed. So I think that’s good….
That’s very good 🙂
Sorry you’ve been having so many problems, Jessica. I hadn’t been aware of any problems with the site loading slowly, even though we’re in a rural area and our broadband is pitifully slow. Anyway, it’s usually posts with tons of huge photos that slow things down, regardless of the blog’s host.
I had thought of going the self-hosting route myself with a previous blog but my health is such that I can’t concentrate on anything for very long periods and I knew that I wouldn’t cope with it. This time round, I don’t actually want a domain nor do I want (or have) any of my posts open to search engines, so I stuck with WordPress.com. Thank for the email notifications you’ve been sending. I only visit that particular email address (the one I use for comments) occasionally, to ensure I’ve not missed something but generally I visit most blogs, now, via a bloglist I have. I don’t use my personal email for blogging. I don’t get notifications in wp.com of replies to comments from any hosted sites (don’t know why) so I just bookmark those I’ve commented on and visit them from time to time.
Thanks Val. Self hosting (as I now discover) does need more time and commitment and a bit of technical nous. So far (touch wood) it’s been much better with the new host but I’m not counting any chickens yet. One of the best features is that they give me a testing environment.. a copy of the blog that I can play with which isn’t live. I’m now making any changes, upgrades etc., on there first. If it doesn’t crash everything then it’s more likely to be safe on the live blog!