A Time Consuming Lesson in Blog Maintenance!

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I don’t fix my car so why would I think I could fix my blog and hope all would be perfect within 24 hours?

When I discovered my blog was broken and beyond repair, I surprised myself that I stayed quite calm. I did ask myself what I had done to attract this. A bad case of low vibes!

I went over to Hostgator and started an online chat.

The online chat service was great and after they were unable to fix the challenge, they issued a ticket, which was emailed to me. I was told someone from Tech support would contact me in the next 3-4 hours.

As it was 11pm I went to bed. I pictured opening my computer on Saturday morning and all would be hunky dory. On Hostgator’s instructions I switched the theme to the default so my posts would show.

I got up about 5 am, opened my email and found a message from Joe at technical support:(it was timed at 2.30am- 3-4hrs, true to their word:))

Good morning,

Your blog had a index.html that it was trying to edit. The index.php is what is needed. I’ve fixed this by moving index.html to index.html.bak. You should be able to login now and change the theme.

If you need anything further please let us know
Thanks,

Wow how’s that for great Customer service?

Hostgator gets gold stars.

Yes it all worked. I was able to change themes. One thing I found was that all the widgets had been deactivated by Hostgator. Presumably they did this to find out what was wrong.

I now have the challenge a new theme and getting all the components to work. It is time now to find to find someone to set this up properly and do some routine maintenance.

Time now for attracting someone who can help me help my blog.

Anyone got a great blog mechanic?

6 Comments

Evelyn Lim on July 30, 2008 at

I’m not that much of a techie. So I used to panic if something goes wrong with my blog. I’m no longer so stressed up in similar situations now. It’s nice to know that you managed to stay calm too! It’s a good thing that your host attended to your problem quickly.

Evelyn Lims last blog post..Confess Your Secrets

Suzie Cheel on July 31, 2008 at

Hi Evelyn,

Thanks for the reassurance and it is good to know that one has grown by staying calm under pressure:)

I have decided I need to know become more atuned technically until I attract the ideal person to sort things out. Sometimes the advantage of having a hosted service.

Glen Allsopp on July 31, 2008 at

Good to hear they helped you out. I’ve been coding & designing for 3 years so can usually fix my own issues but I know what it’s like when you start learning, it can be a real pain.

Cheers,
Glen

Glen Allsopps last blog post..5 Ways to Plugin to Your Identity

Suzie Cheel on July 31, 2008 at

Hi Glen,

Yes have been very pleased with Hostgator. We had a challenge with losing a database on another blog and for $ 15 they restored the whole thing
I would welcome any coding tips.

thanks

Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. on August 1, 2008 at

Hi Suzie,

I guess it’s a sign of cyber maturity when you no longer freak out when things go wrong with our blogs, websites and other Internet real estate.

The last time I had a problem I couldn’t untangle, I went over to http://www.Elance.com and posted a project. I soon had responses, chose a bidder and soon had my problem solved. I always recommend trying to get the host to fix it first, but when that doesn’t work I say don’t stress for another minute. Hire a tech who knows what he/she’s doing.

Suzie Cheel on August 2, 2008 at

Hi Flora,

great to see you here. I do like cyber maturity. Good suggestion, I was about to do that.

Evelyn Lim on July 30, 2008 at

I’m not that much of a techie. So I used to panic if something goes wrong with my blog. I’m no longer so stressed up in similar situations now. It’s nice to know that you managed to stay calm too! It’s a good thing that your host attended to your problem quickly.

Evelyn Lims last blog post..Confess Your Secrets
- Suzie Cheel on July 31, 2008 at
  
  Hi Evelyn,
  
  Thanks for the reassurance and it is good to know that one has grown by staying calm under pressure:)
  
  I have decided I need to know become more atuned technically until I attract the ideal person to sort things out. Sometimes the advantage of having a hosted service.
Glen Allsopp on July 31, 2008 at

Good to hear they helped you out. I’ve been coding & designing for 3 years so can usually fix my own issues but I know what it’s like when you start learning, it can be a real pain.

Cheers,
Glen

Glen Allsopps last blog post..5 Ways to Plugin to Your Identity
- Suzie Cheel on July 31, 2008 at
  
  Hi Glen,
  
  Yes have been very pleased with Hostgator. We had a challenge with losing a database on another blog and for $ 15 they restored the whole thing
  I would welcome any coding tips.
  
  thanks
Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. on August 1, 2008 at

Hi Suzie,

I guess it’s a sign of cyber maturity when you no longer freak out when things go wrong with our blogs, websites and other Internet real estate.

The last time I had a problem I couldn’t untangle, I went over to http://www.Elance.com and posted a project. I soon had responses, chose a bidder and soon had my problem solved. I always recommend trying to get the host to fix it first, but when that doesn’t work I say don’t stress for another minute. Hire a tech who knows what he/she’s doing.
Suzie Cheel on August 2, 2008 at

Hi Flora,

great to see you here. I do like cyber maturity. Good suggestion, I was about to do that.