Apr

5

Maintenance

April 5, 2010 | 1 Comment

There’s no such thing as maintaining the status quo on the web!

The PCQ has been idle for some time. My energies have been focused on other kinds of creative outlets. But this all still works for me because there are loads of great articles and ideas here and all of it is still fresh for those who happen upon it. We get lots of hits everyday.

However, my attention was drawn recently to some problems. Links weren’t working. When I got that problem fixed, I noticed that the comments weren’t showing up. Then I realized that the right sidebar disappears when a post is loaded. These seemed like fixable issues but when I started investigating, I realized that the site has been hacked. And because this blog has been hacked my two other blogs using the same server were also hacked.

So far, the hacks are not interfering with viewing the sites. But they have loaded down the internal files with unbelievable nasty crap and so I have to figure out how to fix them. I feel disgusted and in over my head but have already gotten help on the Word Press forums. The first advice I got was not to panic. I’m doing my best.

But there’s more. I now find that the theme I’m using is no longer supported by the developer. I think the handwriting is on the wall and a few other cliches as well. I am going to have to find a new theme and redesign it. Upload the articles again. Reconfigure it all. In other words, start over.

This is not what I had planned for this month or any month any time soon.

There’s a lesson here. It’s about starting things. Building things. Even finishing them. It’s fine and wonderful to start, build and finish! But there’s another part that I tend to forget about: maintenance. ESPECIALLY on the internet, when we start things, we have to be sure we have the time and energy to maintain.

I know I’m not truly starting over. The PCQ is a substantial site with lots of wonderful art, writing and information from a lot of different contributors. None of this has been lost. I just have to renew it now.

If the site is down or looks funny or doesn’t work properly for a while, you’ll know why. Wish me luck and increased security!

also posted in: Uncategorized


Comments

1 Comment so far

  1. Nancy on April 12, 2010 7:38 am

    Update: Got most the hacked files out. I say “most” because I’m still looking. Got the tag and sidebar and comments thing fixed…except that I thought that once and a new problem crept up…so there maybe be more error messages as I keep looking.

    I think a theme update is inevitable but I also think I can put it off until I’m up for it…or until another problem crops up.

    Thanks for reading!

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