Newton Poetry

Well, what do you think?

On Friday, after playing around with my WordPress.org download and messing with the theme, I figured, “shit, why not?” I bought hosting space, uploaded my files, and began a weekend-long project to bring the new Newton Poetry live.

Was it easy? In a word: heck no.

Finding my way around FTP (I’m using Fetch), uploading WordPress files, and having to do a reinstall of everything I worked on – including a lengthy XML file upload – all came to a head at about 6 p.m. today, when newtonpoetry.com switched from WordPress.com to a self-hosted site.

I miss some things from WordPress.com already. Most of all, I miss the handy Blog Stats page, with its graph and referrer list. All the YouTube videos I posted had to be re-posted with the embed code. And, you know, free hosting was nice.

But the original Newton Poetry never looked like I wanted it to look. For one, there was too much blue. Two, I dig simplicity. I took notes from the other blogs I visit and built my theme, based on the Infimum theme, around what I like.

Let me know what you think. I know there are a few dedicated readers out there, and I appreciate your thoughtful feedback and support. Is something missing? Is there something you’d like to see me cover (I know, I know – the wifi stuff is on the list)? Drop me a comment and let me know.

A side note: the focus of Newton Poetry will broaden a little bit to include some other Mac- and tech-based stuff I find interesting and want to share. But fear not. The Newton MessagePad will always be the mainstay.

Thanks again, everyone, for all your support. Make yourself at home.

Finally getting a chance to grasp what a fun and delicate beast WordPress.org-based blogs can be.

Here’s a little hint at what Newton Poetry might become, someday:

You can click for a larger image.

I’m finding that little things, like inserting Newton graphics next to the sidebar headers, is more difficult than I thought. Already I’ve noticed how different it is compared with my original concept. Part of it is the theme I chose to mess around with, but it also highlights my general noobishness when it comes to CSS. PHP? Don’t get me started.

Mark your calendar: 2009 is when it will happen. I’m close enough to my 500-a-day goal that I can justify making the switch to a full-on, self-hosted blog.

So – what do you think so far?