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Link! The Mercer Museum

Sometimes I think I should grow a beard, wear suspenders and live in my own little world, using nothing but free software.  Then I remember that I want a powerbook, totally decked out with all the fixin’s (those last two words wont be links until I find a way to get 5.1 or 7.1 audio out of the thing).

.:Inspiration:.

I’m not sure I care about keeping all the old callblog posts.  I think I should, but for the most part all my posts are pointless rambling and not really worth the time and effort of keeping around.  I feel like it would be nice to start anew.  Even if I import them all into whatever I decide to install next (leaning heavily towards WordPress, as I said before), all the permalinks are going to be break, and when I switch the gallery out, all the images are going to break as well.

I suppose since I’ve already got WP running in stealth on the web root I can take all the time in the world to play around with import scripts that I’ll have to write myself.

I switched to EE becuase 1.) it was free at the time and 2.) my MT install’s database was totally trashed by something.  I had to install some sort of blog software, and I didn’t want to just put MT back on after it had porked me so badly.  EE was there, and seemed like a steal at $0. Now I’m basically back where I began.  I guess I got what I paid for.

UPDATE: Turns out that importing posts was easy using WP’s rss import feature (that’s not linked to anywhere in the control panel, you have to type the URL manually, as far as I can tell). Comments will have to be a done on the backend (if at all), and I’ll still have to dig through each entry to make sure everything is okay.

As much as it pains me to say it, I think I may have to go with WordPress.  I do enjoy fighting the status quo with my choice of software, but there doesn’t seem to be anything else that’s as good out of the box.  This chart [asymptomatic.net] has been very helpful (Thanks, guy who made that chart!). 

Hopefully I can get WordPress and EE to coexist peacefully, so I don’t have to take the whole site down while I do the conversion.

The best part about living alone is just as I suspected: walking around in nothing but my boxer-briefs.

Sometimes I wish that everyone I knew shared a single blog site.

Thinking: import data from rss feeds – make it persistant (?).  Have categories for each person I decide to steal from invite.  Have things like http ://www.example.com/name_of_person show only that category.

Wondering: If a person syndicates content does that give other permission to use repost the content.  Guessing: Not unless permission is expressly given to do so.

Imagining: Making a website into community… based around me.

I’ve put in two test installs of WordPress and Textpattern at callblog.net/wordpress and callblog.net/textpattern respectively.  I’ve only put a single post with some initial impressions up on each.  I did textpattern first, so wordpress gets compared back to that.  Feel free to poke around

Of course, if I’m going to use 3rd party software like Ecto and Gallery to get the functionality that I’m looking for, how much does is the CMS really going to matter?  If that’s the case, shouldn’t I just look for whatever is easiest to install and allows me to customize the templates most easily?  That would leave me leaning towards WordPress (out of the 2 I’ve looked at), if only because with Textpattern I’d have to install plugins for things like trackbacks and the ability sort entries by date.

I anticipate bringing old entries over is going to be problematic, because I have yet to see something that lets me import EE entries, and I’ll either have to do them all by hand or write a script to do it for me.  Last time I switched it was easy because the database was in a propriety flat file and was completely pooched, and I had no backup.  There were no entries to bring over. 

It turns out my free license for Expression Engine only lasts one year, a fact I would have known had I actually read the license.  So now, it will cost me $19.95 to get updates that would (hopefully) fix the messed up dates populating the [modified] fields in the Atom feed.  Considering the vast numbers of freely available software, I’m not sure that that’s a good deal. 

That leaves me (once again) querrying the masses for a good CMS, so that I can (once again) ignore all the suggestions and go with something completely different. 

Suggestions would be, none-the-less, greatly appreciated.

As Zach was kind enough to point out, an updated version of this list can be found by going to my Masterwish.

• Calendar
• White or Chalk or Cork board
• A Clock
• Thermometers
• 1 or 2 more trash cans
• TV
• Table + Chairs
• High Speed Internet
• Futon or Couch
• Living room chair(s)
• Shelving – Kitchen – flatware, dryware, and misc storage
• Shelving – Bathroom – for misc extra towels, face cloths and supplies.
• Shelving – Bedroom, might be able to just use one or two of my existing bookshelves…
• Shelving or organizational system for closet(s)
• TP
• PT
• Silverware Organizer
• Dish Drying Rack
• Key Rack
• Shoe rack and/or mat
• Coasters
• Utensil Hooks
• Wall Art
• File Cabinet
• Side Table for Bed
• End Tables
• Lamp(s) to go on the end tables
• Coffee Table
• Area Rug
• Vaccum
• Magnetic hook(s) for oven mitts
• A Welcome Mat