paradise ali

Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.
- Dan Stanford

When I realized that I majorly screwed up by deleting an obviously vital file (you know, the one that actually forms a link to the database where all your stuff is stored?), I copied and saved the only thing I could access at the time, the RSS feed. I thought I could just repost the few entries that were made in between February 4th and now with a straight copy paste. Well, it worked like a charm with the first entry and I thought I was so clever. I patted myself on the back, curtsied, and went off to bed thinking that I’d finish the rest tomorrow.

It’s tomorrow and ha! I just had a “duh moment!” The feed only got the entries on the front page. If a reader wanted to continue reading anything after the <more> tag, the feed linked back to the site. The original first post didn’t include a <more> tag. Some of the longer posts did. (Those were the ones that contained certain words or subject matter that may not have been appropriate for all audiences.) Darn it!

Other things I learned from this experience:

1. Back up, back up, and back up!
2. Back up your links as well.
3. If you have random quotes, back up your quotes file, too!
4. If you are going to mess with the security settings, write the old ones down first so you can switch it back if it doesn’t work out as planned.
5. Explore the Wordpress docs and forums thoroughly before giving up and deleting anything.
6. Your feed will show the test post from Flickr even if you delete it right away.
7. <br> doesn’t work but <br /> does.
8. Firefox displays things differently than IE.
9. Online storage of important files may be something to consider “just in case.”
10. If you do need to re-do it all, think of it as an opportunity to update plugins and play with the template.

Oh! And I also wish I would have imported all my archives when I changed between the different blogging tools. Although my temperment has improved with age, my memory, sadly, has not.

So, all in all, the goof up turned out to be a good learning opportunity. I’ve channeled frustration into something positive. Now, I can pat myself on the back and curtsy.