Blog relocating to Blogger

I've spent most of the month pondering my various blogging options, and I've settled, at least for the moment, on Blogger.

Blogger has a lot of advantages: it's highly customisable (and doesn't charge for access to the CSS), allows for scheduled posting so I can post blogs several days in advance and have them automatically go live when I want them to, and it's readily accessible to anyone with a Google account or an OpenID. Even if it should happen that you don't have either of those, you can post a comment and it will show up screened for me to approve of.

On OpenID: If you have an account with certain websites, you already have an OpenID. These sites include Google, LiveJournal, Yahoo, Blogger, MySpace, and Flickr. Check out this site for a complete list and instructions on how to log in with your OpenID.

I've played with some Blogger templates and I'm undecided as to whether I'll use/modify an existing template (like Clips or Paper Wall) or just hack up the Minima template I'm using (and have already modified in a few ways). There are a lot of beautiful templates out there, but I'm more inclined to stick to the clean and simple. Such pages will load faster and not be too visually distracting. I'm looking for a certain look and feel as well as elements that suggest writing and/or art. I also have ideas for some customisations to the current template.

Another advantage to Blogger is its access to advertising options. I have no plans to splash Flash or animated adverts across this blog, but I would like to get set up with Google AdSense or to become an Amazon affiliate. Being that this is a writing blog and I make frequent reference to books on writing, it makes sense for me to become an Amazon affiliate. Then I can display books and get potential ad revenue if someone makes a purchase. On VOX the only people who get paid if someone buys a book through a link on my blog are VOX.

I can also get wider exposure with Blogger, I think. My blog is automatically indexed on Google, and the community doesn't seem bogged down with spam like VOX. I think a lot of blogs have left VOX and just not mentioned it. The VOX Literature Liberation Front used to be somewhat active, but don't read too far through it now or you'll hit a huge swath of NSFW images as part of a Russian advert for dating sites. That no one has removed this post tells me the community isn't being maintained any longer.

So for the moment, Drops of Blood on My Forehead's home is at Blogger. RSS feeds are available for both posts and comments, so even if you don't remember to come round and have a look, you can have blog updates dropped in your e-mail box.

Good with the bad

I can't seem to get going today. My mind keeps wandering in vague circles of procrastination, edging around looking for something else to do other than write in here. Hung up on the details of phone conversations actually completed this morning, as opposed to the frustration of yesterday, of being unable to reach the invisible parties on the other end of the line, I'm pleased to have made the connection, but clouded as to how best to use the information so gleaned.

Yeah, I just listened to the poetry reading on Writer's Almanac. That's kind of a mess of a thing up there, but I'm going to leave it. Good with the bad.

I almost wrote a State of the Blog post today, as I'm still weighing my options for the future home of this blog. If you have time, please look at Drops of Blood on My Forehead on Wordpress and Blogger and give me any opinions you may have of them. I'm compiling some data on my experiences in composing entries in each and their look once they're finished, but it's not much. So far VOX is the clear winner, with Wordpress a near second. So I'm working with Blogger today, planning this week to play with the CSS, as it's most customisable here (and free to do so!), and I do have some experience in working with it. I just haven't been much in a CSS mood lately.

I tend to stick to one kind of work at a time - if I'm writing, I tend not to want to configure Linux (still have no wireless internet on it) or tweak HTML or CSS. Instead I want to draw or play with conlangs or work on role-playing game ideas. So I've mostly been composing in VOX, as I know exactly how to get the results I want there, and they export nicely to WordPress.

One thing I do need on this blog if I'm to move it is a header image. I could grab a picture off the internet and tweak it up in Gimp or Paint Shop, but I think it's far wiser to create my own. I'd love a picture of a finely-crafted fountain pen, perhaps a mug or a typewriter, some typed sheets of paper. I don't own a finely crafted fountain pen, but I do have the other things. I could take some photos and tinker this week.

So I'm flailing a bit so far this week. Kindly bear with me. This too shall pass. I will get back to my fiction writing. You may well see bits of it in here in weeks to come. I'll be rearranging my schedule to get me to sit down with my fiction-writing Muse and focus less on non-fiction things, though, you know, I have at least three articles for Associated Content I need to start/write/finish. Sigh. Somehow there's never enough time in the day. It's time to make some. More on that later.

Migration

It looks as if I can't import my WordPress .xml into this blog. That's disappointing. I'll look into it. In the meantime, Drops of Blood on My Forehead is available at its original location here on VOX and now here on WordPress as well.