Tag: blogging

I’m modifying the template to make TSM look more like it used to. However, the overall width of the damned thing seems to be fixed. Gotta look into that…

UPDATED: Ok, how’s THIS?

UPDATE II, 10:08PM MST 11/21/10: I’m leaving it like this for a while. Comments seem to be functional, but I still have had no success in importing the archives. Dammit. I may contract out for Robb Allen or someone to rewrite the blog template, but I REALLY WANT MY COMMENTS BACK!

UPDATE III, 11/22: Comment importation has begun. We’ll see how it works out. Chris Byrne said it can take well over a day for the import to complete. I can believe that, but I’m seeing comments from as far back as 2003 now, and that gives me hope.

If you want to comment, you may have to click on the post title to bring up that post alone.  The ‘comment’ function seems to be a bit hit-or-miss.  Still no joy on importing the comment archives.  I am NOT HAPPY about this, but the updated template has a lot more features (and a lot less real-estate for blog posts.  480 pixel maximum width for pictures?  That sucks.)  The archive feature is a lot better, IMHO.  I still need to add the “Best Posts” to the sidebar, but that promises to be tedious as hell, and I will save it for another day.

It’s time to dump Echo. This means “upgrading” the blog to a new template, then exporting Echo comments to Blogsnot, and then exporting them from Blogsnot to Disqus, I think. This may take a while. Hopefully you don’t get a 404 Error while I’m attempting this.

UPDATE:  What a PITA.  This is going to take a while.  Bear with me.

UPDATE II: Echo comments do not appear to be even trying to migrate. HEEEELLLPPP!!!!

Dammit. It looks like I’m going to have to change the template here at TSM. Chris Byrne has found a way to migrate comments off of Echo, but it requires a template change. I’ve also noticed that my archives in this current template are, shall we say, not complete. All the posts still exist, just you can’t get to some of them through the archive function. Hopefully a template change will fix that, too. Maybe.

Anyway, I’m going to hold off until this weekend to attempt the change. Don’t be surprised if there’s nothing but a black hole here on Monday.

There’s a business opportunity out there for some bright coder as of right now.

Many of you (yes, you, U-J, among others) have been complaining about my comment system. I started off with JS-Kit’s HaloScan free service back in 2003, and last December JS-Kit transitioned to Echo. Shortly after I started with HaloScan, I started paying JS-Kit a bit of money annually to allow looooong comments, which my readers over the years have often taken advantage of. When the switch to Echo occurred, paying was no longer an option, it was mandatory, but it cost only $9.95 for the “upgrade,” which included comment threading, and. . . and. . . I’m not sure what else.

But now, via Anarchangel, I discover that beginning December 18 my renewal isn’t $9.95 a year, it’s $10 a month.

Sorry, Echo, but NFW. I’m not paying $120 a year for what you’re providing.

I’ve gotten well over 40,000 comments in the last seven-plus years. I don’t know exactly because I can’t seem to find anywhere on Echo that will tell me. I can export my comments, but not into any format that will handily import into any other system that I’m aware of. Chris puts it this way:

So, I start investigating how to get rid of Echo comments… not so good… Apparently, nobodies comment service will import the XML file Echo exports to. The only way to migrate to another system without losing comments, is to resync back to blogger comments, then migrate from blogger.

In theory, Echo comments should be automatically synced to blogger comments… except they aren’t.

In theory, this is because I’m using a legacy .css template for my blog, rather than the “new” blogger “advanced layout” templates (well… not “new” four years old now).

In theory, “upgrading” my template to a blogger advanced layout template will allow Echo to resync comments with blogger. Once that happens, then I should be able to add Disqus, or Intense Debate… or for that matter just migrate the whole damn blog (which I may do, to wordpress).

I’ll be honest: I have no desire to relocate TSM to another format. I’m actually pretty happy with Blogsnot, though I, too, am running a legacy template.

I’ve exported my comments to this date at this time. Right now the download tells me that I’ve received, let’s see, 46.2Mb of a 13.2Mb file. And it’s still counting.

It should be interesting to see what I end up with.

56.2Mb, and it’s done. The oldest date in the file that I can find is June 1, 2010. Somehow I don’t think I got everything.

This is my surprised face.

Here’s the opportunity: Some bright-eyed, bushy-tailed programmer could get paid some good dough if he/she/it can write some code that will take my comments from Echo and convert them into a format that is importable to some other commenting system, carrying along with them the links to the appropriate posts. (Are you listening, Robb Allen?) I’d be willing to pay money for this service – on a one-time basis. I don’t want to lose seven years and 40,000+ comments, but I WILL NOT pay Echo $120 a year. Period.

HEEEEELLLLLPPPP!