Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You’re only a stranger once.

June 22, 2009

Read-Only Web 1.0 Blog: What I Learned Outside the Signal and the Noise

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 7:45 am

The Story

liz-at-blogpotomac3by-eastcoastblogging

It started with server downtime, a WP upgrade that rewrote the database, and something that went wonky. It was almost fixed; then it wasn’t. No one could find the problem that caused my home page to want to download a file or why the database decided to allow only one-way communication with my blog.

Everyone who worked on it — WordPress gurus and geniuses, Server sages and savants — said they had never seen anything like it. My husband kept repeating his mantra, “When someone says ‘one in a million’ they are talking about YOU!”

In this case they were talking about MY BLOG.

Perhaps the database had decided it was done with social media. It would talk, but it wouldn’t listen. My blog could fetch information from the database, but it could not send any to it.

I was the proud owner of the singular READ-ONLY WEB 1.0 blog.

Fired by My Blog

I’d been busy preparing for the Blog Potomac and 140conf trip. So much to do before I left … suddenly I couldn’t do anything about any of it.
What future posts I had done were scheduled to run. I wouldn’t be adding any more.

It was as if a snow day, an unexpected vacation was forced on me –except it was the snow day that wouldn’t end. My blog refused to recognize me for more than a week.

What that meant to you was that it looked like I took time off. What that meant to me was that my dashboard didn’t work. I could log in, but every attempt to change, post, edit, or write was returned with a white screen message that said “action unknown.”

I’d been fired by my blog.

A friend asked if I used the time to get on Twitter to push out content.
Is that what I should have done?

I’m an introvert. I actually went to Twitter less. I didn’t feel much like talking about what was going on. An endless stream of support tickets got written to explain the problem. Friends were helping. Hours were invested by so many. Nothing was working. I did client work — I could put that in order before I left town.

DAY FIVE the feeling of being fired by blog started to sink in.

Every morning I logged in and clicked “Edit Post” to see the same no response. I started thinking of the investment my blog represents, what it take be to recreate it — yeah we had a backup, but who trusts that? — I had started to relate to my blog the way I used to relate to my job.

The same friend said, “But did you post on your other blog?”

I didn’t want to start posting over there. It would have been like admitting that this blog wasn’t coming back.

Weird. Huh?

Outside the Signal and the Noise

I decided to ride it out. I wanted to see what would happen if I lived outside of the signal and the noise. It wasn’t a clean experiment because I had uploaded four future scheduled posts. Still I didn’t add any new content for two weeks … I lived that.

Eight thoughts about what I learned …

Though I was traveling and couldn’t comment, the future scheduled posts helped my blog keep moving. I soon snapped back to where it was tracking before it shut me out. Now I just have to show up again when folks stop by to comment.

It’s sort of like starting a new job … I’ve gotten used to like the habit of having time away, still I’m ready, so ready, to be back.

Weird huh?

What would happen if you had ten days locked out from your blog?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

Buy the ebook. Learn the art of online conversation.





Filed under Motivation/Inspiration, Successful Blog |




C'mon. Let's talk!

18 Comments to “Read-Only Web 1.0 Blog: What I Learned Outside the Signal and the Noise”

  1. June 22nd, 2009 at 8:35 am
    Karin H. said

    Hi Liz

    I could live being locked out of any of my blogs, but I always feel frustrated, impatience, out of touch with my prospects/clients when the server (website and email) is down for whatever reason.
    My ‘hosting-wizard’ knows me by now to get in touch with him one way or the other (we sometimes even use Facebook DM or wall-posts!) to get some kind of idea how long this ‘amputation’ will last.

    Huge relieve always when both website and email are coming back online and you discover (again) nothing is lost, prospects and clients are still always happy with any reply I send out as soon as I can.

    Weird, not, how we come to rely on the wibbely wobbely web ;-)

    Karin H (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)

  2. June 22nd, 2009 at 8:39 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Karin,
    I sure know what you mean by feeling out of touch. I felt like all of my friends were on another planet. It is a kind of amputation. heh heh

    Look who’s painting with words now. :)

  3. June 22nd, 2009 at 8:49 am
    Karin H. said

    ;-)

    I think we’re spoiled these days - having so many ways to stay in contact with so many all over the world. When one or more ‘tools’ aren’t working as they should we get edgy instead of realising only 6 - 10 years ago we wouldn’t know better.

    Progress?

    Karin H

  4. June 22nd, 2009 at 9:43 am
    Andi said

    Welcome back!

    Certain days I would welcome a 10-day break, the days I know I should be doing other tasks, but would rather blog, if I could not blog, I might get those tasks done! Othertimes when I am sick and can’t blog, I really miss it and the interaction with readers/commenters.

    Twitter I could give or take, I am an introvert also, but life without my blog would leave me a bit lost.

  5. June 22nd, 2009 at 9:53 am
    John Soares said

    This is a good cautionary tale about upgrades. I have two Wordpress blogs, and both are wiggy in several ways.

    One no longer allows me to upload photos; I can only link to photos on another web page.

    The other makes my entire homepage bold, but not individual posts.

    Frankly, I’m scared to update to Wordpress 2.8.

  6. June 22nd, 2009 at 11:05 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    I love the saying “just because you can doesn’t mean you have to.” heh heh

  7. June 22nd, 2009 at 11:07 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Andi!
    The way you describe it is pretty much how I felt when this all happened. I leave so much of me on this blog and find so much of everyone here. It’s like a home.

  8. June 22nd, 2009 at 11:08 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    You can imagine how I felt when it finally got straightened out and I logged in only to find that message “WordPress 2.8 is available! Please update now.” It’s still there. heh heh

  9. June 22nd, 2009 at 4:49 pm
    Shirley @ Solo Business Marketing said

    How terrible, Liz.

    This recently happened to me, but I caught the problem before it escalated past two days.

    I switched the primary and secondary designations for my blog’s name, which disallowed me from entering the dashboard. What a panic.

    I immediately posted the job on Elance and hired a technician the next day. Problem solved within 30 minutes.

    This situation can definitely stop your heart, but thankfully someone, somewhere has a solution. That’s why we all try our best to focus on the fix, not the problem, when this occurs.

  10. June 22nd, 2009 at 5:44 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Shirley,
    I hear you. Wish my problem had me that easy to figure out. As it happened we went to the highest levels of WordPress before we solved the problem. It was quite unique.

    Once again the powerful of community came through.

  11. June 22nd, 2009 at 8:08 pm
    DaveMurr said

    Hi Liz,

    I don’t blog a regularly as you do, so 10 days probably wouldn’t hit me that hard (not sure that’s a good thing). However, reading your post, I immediately felt the “ugh” you must have been experiencing.

    “I am not my blog”

    That is it right there. I don’t know if you consider your blog a work of art, but for me all forms of expression can not be contained within oneself. And the pure beauty of that expression isn’t necessarily what we do, but how others embrace and share it.

    Like you, I would miss that.

  12. June 22nd, 2009 at 9:33 pm
    Mike McEvoy said

    Liz,
    Sorry about the downtime, but this post is a great example of “using lemons to make lemonade.” I loved the description of “being fired.”

    Good insights on how we don’t always realize how ingrained in our lives these various techologies become until one or more of the technologies goes sideways. And stays sideways for 10 days. Ugh.

  13. June 22nd, 2009 at 10:51 pm
    rocky said

    this is a nice post

  14. June 22nd, 2009 at 11:07 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Dave,
    You say that so beautifully.
    I don’t consider anything I do a work of art. But I consider everything a work of the heart.

    What I would miss is the words in the comment box like those you just wrote here.

  15. June 22nd, 2009 at 11:12 pm
    Tim Bursch said

    Liz,
    Welcome back. I enjoy your conversation in the comments and that was missed. What a great reminder that these are just tools and it’s still all about people. Look forward to connecting more.

  16. June 22nd, 2009 at 11:41 pm
    Gavin Heaton said

    If I was without the ability to write easily for that long I would have started a new blog. If this happens again, you are more than welcome to write on my blog ;)

  17. June 23rd, 2009 at 7:25 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Tim,
    I missed you too! The visits by the folks who stop here are what keep the ideas and thoughts worth writing about going. :)

  18. June 23rd, 2009 at 7:26 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Ah Gavin,
    That’s quite an invitation to the “evil” Liz. Thank you!!! :)

Name (required)

Email (required)

Website

C'mon Let's Talk!