The Unwasted Life

I am trying to move this WordPress-powered site to a new server and I am running into a huge problem.

First, I made sure this site is working correctly. 2.3.2 in place, internal WordPress tags are working like a champ!

Second, I exported this site using the Wordpress export tool and save a WordPress eXtended RSS (WXR) file to my desktop.

Next, I went to the new server (again 2.3.2) and selected to import newly created the WXR file. It seems to run OK. WordPress asks me to map the authors. Still OK. Then I got a 500 server error. Reload page, WordPress shows that everything has been imported.

However, when I jump over the manage my posts I find that my tags have not imported correctly. Instead of showing the tags, Wordpress is displaying the tags ID!

I really need some help. So far, I have not been able to find anything. I tried dumping the database on the new server, but I wound up right back in the same place. The wp_terms table is populated with all my tags so I know that the process is working at least somewhat. Any ideas?

Here is a very interesting thread started today in the TextDrive Forums: Who’s Biggest Shared Hosting Resource Hog: WP or MT?

Doubtless due to having too much time on my hands, I’ve built two visually identical versions of a new blog that will be eventually hosted here. One version is in WordPress, the other is in Movable Type.

Personally, I don’t have any real preference for either WP or MT. But, I do have a bias for static pages, because I think (imagine?) that they’re delivered faster from a reader’s point of view. Subjectively speaking, static sites feel snappier to me than a lot of WP sites.

Hence, I’ve got two questions:

1) Side by side, on the same machine with the same browser, would Jill Reader really see a static page produced by MT before she’d see the identical page delivered by WP?

2) Which of the two platforms is most likely to run afoul of CPU/memory/etc. limits imposed by shared hosting? I know this really isn’t an issue for the typical blog with minimal readership, but let’s dream. Suppose a site does become popular. WP is going to be busy generating a lot of database queries. MT is going to be busy rebuilding some number of pages pages every time someone posts a comment. (MT won’t rebuild the entire site on its own.) I’m assuming the sites have identical content, the same posting rate, same comments, etc.

(There are plenty of complaints on the web from MT users who’ve run into problems obviously caused by excessive resource use on a shared host. But, if you look, there are also complaints from WP users who’ve run into problems.)

I’ve left comment spam out of the equation because I suspect both platforms are equally vulnerable. Akismet and other equivalent spam countermeasures are avaiable [sic] for both.

I’m shooting in the dark here, but I’m guessing that the key variable might be the comments. I.e., with few comments the edge might go to MT, but as comments increase, the rebuilds will suck more resources than the corresponding database activity will with WP.

Has anyone ever run some numbers on this?

I would love to see some great discussion around this. Will Jason weigh in? My gut tells me the Perl/CGI structure of Movable Type is the bigger resource drain, but I could be wrong.

I am trying to clean up my duplicate WordPress content here at ecrosstexas.com.

Today I updated my .htacess file to redirect www.ecrosstexas.com to ecrosstexas.com as WWW is deprectiated. I have been using just ecrosstexas.com for some time now as my preferred URL. Of course, I could have used this plugin instead of hacking my .htacess file. A word of caution Cool URIs don’t change.

In order to answer this question, we must first recall the definition of WWW:

World Wide Web:
n. Abbr. WWW
1) The complete set of documents residing on all Internet servers that use the HTTP protocol, accessible to users via a simple point-and-click system.
2) n : a collection of internet sites that offer text and graphics and sound and animation resources through the hypertext transfer protocol.

Last week I updated my template’s header.php robots meta tag. Now <meta name="robots" content="index,follow" /> is only in the <head> of my main blog page, individual entries, and pages. My archives (monthly, categories, etc) all get <meta name="robots" content="noindex,follow" />. Details can be found in How to Make a WordPress Blog Duplicate Content Safe.

Rats, I spoke too soon. Upon closer inspection it appears that my technorati troubles are still not solved.

Hooray! It looks like the upgrade to WordPress 2.1 and use of the static front page has solved my technorati problems.

Seeing WordPress 2.1 is nearing beta, I decided to upgrade ecrosstexas today. I figured why continue to tweak the site with an outdated version.

Static Front Page

My favorite feature allows you to control the “front page” of your site. Glad to see this is finally baked into the core. I am using this to serve the Howdy Y’all notice at http://ecrosstexas.com and the texas blog at http://ecrosstexas.com/blog.

I wonder if this will help at all with my technorati issue?

• IAC to tie together local info services
• GigaOm: Walled Garden, Not Going Away
• Scoble on “no means of redress”
  

  Oh, that’s poppycock. If someone throws you under the bus on the Internet YOU CAN RESPOND ON YOUR OWN BLOG! And then the readers can decide the truth for themselves. That’s what I just did.

• Free Agent Salaries and MLB Revenue Growth
  
• How to fight with other bloggers
• Judge: Make Bills Recognizable to Blind
• Trouble in the UK Sharia law is spreading as authority wanes
• China executes 15 members of underground church
• Reports: the Wiggles’ Lead Singer May Quit
• whump.com | HOWTO: Asides in Sandbox
• More Bill Humphries…better iTunes Playlists
• Texas A&M to play Cal in Holiday Bowl
• 11-Year-Old Heroin Addicts: A Shocking Texas Phenomenon

I just discovered and installed Rob Miller’s Now Reading plugin for WordPress. This looks like a useful addition to ecrosstexas.com. Now, just like everything else around here, I need to find time to customize it!

Check out the ecrosstexas library.

Thanks to Andy Skelton for pointing out Buddy Cards from 30 Boxes. Buddy Cards looks to be big improvement over Gravatars (with plenty of AJAX goodness)

Installation was a snap and now I am rolling with Buddy Cards too! Now, I just need some traffic.

Welcome to WordPress 2.1 alpha 1. Things are really crazy around here today, so please be patient with me. All archives are offline at the moment.

Last night I decided to take a look at K2 after upgrading WP to 1.5.2. It looks to be a really powerful WordPress theme. What do you think?

Now if I could only figure out to get my site structure like I want it:

• site home page –> ecrosstexas.com/home/
• site page –> ecrosstexas.com/slug/
• blog home page –> ecrosstexas.com/blog/
• blog posts –> ecrosstexas.com/blog/YYYY/MM/DD/slug/

Any ideas?

After moving to WordPress and TextDrive, the texas blog is back! There may be major gaps in the archives, broken links, missing images, and more for a few days as I get up to speed here in my new home.

Kubrick will provide a nice temporary look until I can complete a my own theme for WP.

Last night I registered a domain name for my nephew, WyattEdwardWallace.com. Getting WordPress installed was a snap!

As I wait anxiously for any news about Wyatt, I prepare for the Lord to take him home. Wyatt has been through so much in such a short period of time. I only hope doctors can give Matt and Brenna some definitive answers.