Blog updates are keeping me busy!
Hi everyone! 
I'm so sorry for the lack of LJ presence.
I've been insanely busy.
I finally changed the theme / layout of my blog:
I loved my previous one.
As some of you might remember I hammered it into shape myself .... and without a lot of CSS, HTML, PHP or JavaScript knowledge back then ... it took me about 6 months to finalize it.
Obviously I couldn't spent that much time on it again.
Why change it at all you ask?
Well, the previous theme wasn't responsive at all. It didn't work well on mobile phones and tablets.
It wasn't so much of a thing when I created the theme 7 years ago ...............
It would have been too much of a hassle trying to keep my old theme while making it responsive.
Instead I just bought a premium theme and adjusted it a little.
It's sad that a premium theme that costs money and was coded by experts who're supposed to know the Wordpress codex well, is actually slower in terms of speed and performance than the theme I created for myself.
Can you believe it?
Well, I can do a few tweaks here and there but it will never be as fast again.
Those themes are made for people who don't want to bother or who don't know about coding at all.
If I want to change anything now, I have to look through several files, because it's not hidden in the standard files.
But oh well. I don't have time for that.
Changing themes didn't take that long.
What takes me that long is something I should have done years ago already ................ I needed to update every single page and every single blog post.
In many posts and pages I've used tables and other things the wrong way (read: not responsive), so they would look all messed up if someone on a smartphone is accessing the site.
I also noticed that about 30% of all outgoing links are broken and so I had to fix that, looking for new links and replace them (as well as update the tourist information in general as prices have changed etc...).
I'm still not done with that. It's over 250 posts, almost 30 pages.
This is driving me insane.
This is also the reason why I haven't written any new blog posts recently.
I just can't do it all at the same time.
And to be honest, I'm really thinking about ditching my blog.
Not throwing it away .......... but once it's all repaired and running ... just leave it be, more or less.
And just get back to writing something every now and then when I feel like it.
Because if you think about it ... the blog is taking up all of my free time.
ALL of it. (Well, that and all of my doc appointments ....)
And sometimes I just don't want to do it anymore.
Especially because the little bit of money or deals I get through the blog are not worth all the hassle. They're NOT!
It's not just about writing something, sharing your experience - like I do here on LJ.
There's so much maintenance work involved, so many (annoying) e-mails every single day, questions via social media ...................... the actual "sharing" experience part is way too minor in all of this work involved.
Honestly, I'm getting tired of it.
And the biggest problem is I keep using the blog as excuse to not do ANYTHING else in my life.
Some of you might remember that I was getting better at working out regularly in early 2011. I was at a really good point and was thinking about what to do next ............... and then I started my blog.................. and that was that.
If anybody asks me what I do after work or what I do on the weekends: it's the blog.
I'm clearly unable to do more than one thing.
I'm not sure why but I guess it has to do with my perfectionism.
I always wonder what I'd do if I forced myself not to touch the computer / internet for a week.
Ok, I would probably read manga and watch series instead, but if that's also forbidden?
Uhhh ................
See what I mean??
Maybe at least for a while, I should force myself to leave the blog be and ........... I don't know ... just change things.
Also in hopes that this could help my crappy health......
Ok, that's all for now. ^__^
Feel free to let me know how you like the new theme.
It's not as unique as my old one, I know.
And there's still so much I need to repair and improve....
P.S.: I'm really sorry that I haven't been around much.
I also came down with the flu, so yeah.... *sigh*
Bye~chuu!
I'm so sorry for the lack of LJ presence.
I've been insanely busy.
I finally changed the theme / layout of my blog:
I loved my previous one.
As some of you might remember I hammered it into shape myself .... and without a lot of CSS, HTML, PHP or JavaScript knowledge back then ... it took me about 6 months to finalize it.
Obviously I couldn't spent that much time on it again.
Why change it at all you ask?
Well, the previous theme wasn't responsive at all. It didn't work well on mobile phones and tablets.
It wasn't so much of a thing when I created the theme 7 years ago ...............
It would have been too much of a hassle trying to keep my old theme while making it responsive.
Instead I just bought a premium theme and adjusted it a little.
It's sad that a premium theme that costs money and was coded by experts who're supposed to know the Wordpress codex well, is actually slower in terms of speed and performance than the theme I created for myself.
Can you believe it?
Well, I can do a few tweaks here and there but it will never be as fast again.
Those themes are made for people who don't want to bother or who don't know about coding at all.
If I want to change anything now, I have to look through several files, because it's not hidden in the standard files.
But oh well. I don't have time for that.
Changing themes didn't take that long.
What takes me that long is something I should have done years ago already ................ I needed to update every single page and every single blog post.
In many posts and pages I've used tables and other things the wrong way (read: not responsive), so they would look all messed up if someone on a smartphone is accessing the site.
I also noticed that about 30% of all outgoing links are broken and so I had to fix that, looking for new links and replace them (as well as update the tourist information in general as prices have changed etc...).
I'm still not done with that. It's over 250 posts, almost 30 pages.
This is driving me insane.
This is also the reason why I haven't written any new blog posts recently.
I just can't do it all at the same time.
And to be honest, I'm really thinking about ditching my blog.
Not throwing it away .......... but once it's all repaired and running ... just leave it be, more or less.
And just get back to writing something every now and then when I feel like it.
Because if you think about it ... the blog is taking up all of my free time.
ALL of it. (Well, that and all of my doc appointments ....)
And sometimes I just don't want to do it anymore.
Especially because the little bit of money or deals I get through the blog are not worth all the hassle. They're NOT!
It's not just about writing something, sharing your experience - like I do here on LJ.
There's so much maintenance work involved, so many (annoying) e-mails every single day, questions via social media ...................... the actual "sharing" experience part is way too minor in all of this work involved.
Honestly, I'm getting tired of it.
And the biggest problem is I keep using the blog as excuse to not do ANYTHING else in my life.
Some of you might remember that I was getting better at working out regularly in early 2011. I was at a really good point and was thinking about what to do next ............... and then I started my blog.................. and that was that.
If anybody asks me what I do after work or what I do on the weekends: it's the blog.
I'm clearly unable to do more than one thing.
I'm not sure why but I guess it has to do with my perfectionism.
I always wonder what I'd do if I forced myself not to touch the computer / internet for a week.
Ok, I would probably read manga and watch series instead, but if that's also forbidden?
Uhhh ................
See what I mean??
Maybe at least for a while, I should force myself to leave the blog be and ........... I don't know ... just change things.
Also in hopes that this could help my crappy health......
Ok, that's all for now. ^__^
Feel free to let me know how you like the new theme.
It's not as unique as my old one, I know.
And there's still so much I need to repair and improve....
P.S.: I'm really sorry that I haven't been around much.
I also came down with the flu, so yeah.... *sigh*
Bye~chuu!