If I Had to Start My Blog All Over Again

Darren Rowse is taking responses from respectable blogs as to what they would do differently if they were to start their blogs all over again. While I’m not a respectable blog, here’s my responses:

1) I would have taken the time to understand the technology:

When I first heard of blogging in 2000, I’m embarrassed to say that I thought it was some sort of illicit sex act.

In 2002 when I started my first blog, I thought, “What a lovely place to post a note saying, ‘I’ve updated my website.’” I also thought it would be something I could use to send messages to my wife.

Thus, while Wonkette and Instapundit were busy building mass political blogging empires, I was sending messages to my wife that I’d gotten some candy and was saving some for her.

If I’d understood the power of RSS, and what I actually had on a little Blogspot blog where I posted inanities and website updates, I might be in a better position rather than trying to catch up.

2) I’d Have Used a Different Platform

I’m always a bit of a contrarian. I tend to believe the best path is the past least taken. My former boss, Lance Brown was helping me get set up with the blog, I was met with a challenge from my old cheap blog host. They offered b2, a blogging format that was utterly obselete. When he saw it, Lance told me to upgrade.

But what could I upgrade to? I could do b2evolution or wordpress. Word Press, he told me was more popular, so I went with b2evolution.

As the knight in Indiana Jones said when the businessman’s head exploded, “He chose poorly.” How many blog tools make plug in for b2evolution? Try zero.

Generally the best you can do is paste in HTML or Word Press code and just hope nothing blows up. However, everything is in b2evolution now. I’ve gone more than 2000 posts down the B2evolution road. I’ve gone too far to return.

3) Watching Other Bloggers

Along with understanding the technology, I wish I’d watched other bloggers in action more before starting this. I began blogging more seriously because I thought it would give me a greater outlet for my writing, but it took me months and in some cases years to pick up on little clues I’d have learned had I watched an Instapundit or a Michelle Malkin and saw how they did it.

Instead, its all been learning by the seat of my pants-er-kilt. If I’d gotten known as a commenter on Michelle Malkin (back when Michelle had comments) or had cozied up to some other noted blogger, things could have been smoother.

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