I wanted to pop in and say Hi. But really I just need to vent and update you guys on what’s been going on behind the scenes. Things might get a bit technical, but I think my rant is worth reading if you’ve ever wondered which hosting company NOT to hire…and just want to know what’s up over here. So proceed if you will….

image credit: Vogue Italia September 2011; photographed by Miles Aldridge

There are many exciting benefits and rewards to having your own blog. This is a fact. I could write a book on all the things I love about blogging, actually. But one thing is for sure: struggling to deal with the technical and over-my-head complications–that comes with deciding to launch and manage a self hosted website–would definitely NOT make the cut.  In fact, it’s horrendous. Meaning, it’s one of the downsides of being an individual publisher, without a development and tech team at your beck and call (yep, it’s just me). Because, unlike most other aspects of my blog, I have absolutely NO control over the host server, which is an essential building block integral to the health and livelihood of BrightonTheDay. What’s a site host? In short, it’s the company that deals with “housing” (via servers and data centers) your online content for the world wide web to access. Make sense? ok good.

Yesterday, as some of you might have noticed, BrightonTheDay was “offline” from about 4pm CST until gosh-knows-when-this-morning. And the worst part was…..my hands were tied; there was nothing I could do about it. In other words my site was essentially held hostage by my hosting company, dreamhost. Yesterday’s debacle (more like TRAGEDY….or so it seemed!) with my hosting company had pushed me over my limit. Needless to say, this is not the first time something like this has happened. So I’m finally going to bite the bullet (and fork over the pretty pennies required) and migrate my site to another hosting platform to avoid anything like this ever happening again. Well, that is assuming I don’t (willingly – in the driver seat!) royally screw something up. But I will not let some company (who loses power? how lame. can you say back up! puhhleez guys, come on!) handcuff me from staying on track with BTD and delivering “brightoning” content to all you lovely readers. What does this mean for you? Nothing, really. The migration should be completed by Monday, but if all goes as planned, the site shouldn’t have ANY downtime and I doubt you’ll even notice.

Anyway…whew, that was a lot of technical jargon ranting – sorry. Yesterday’s event has inspired me to consider writing a post about the X (some not yet determined number) of things I’ve learned from starting my own blog. And I’m guessing this potential post would be geared towards other bloggers and people interested in starting a blog of their own. Would any of  you like to see this on BTD? Because I have LOTS to share – both positive and negative. I’ll let you guys weigh in with comments below….

continue reading after the jump if you want to know what else I’m considering for BTD. The list is forever evolving and growing – so it’s subject to change in, say, 10 minutes. But for now…

and while on the topic, here are a few other things I’m considering changing with BTD:
1. How do you guys feel about disqus? love it or hate it? I’m thinking about disabling it because I’m wondering if it’s holding some people back from commenting
2. When I find the time, I want to makeover my sidebar…and incorporate some of my branding so it looks neater and more cohesive
3. I’m thinking about offering sidebar adds at a monthly rate – for the first time ever! I’ve had ads before, but they were just affiliate-based ads
4. ahhh I need to create a Terms + Policies page. ASAP. But I’ve been procrastinating. In other words, I need to disclose to you all how I make money and that some links are “affiliated” and explain that some products are gifted (c/o – courtesy of)
5. oh, and speaking of pages, I need to add a PRESS page.
6. Did you notice the contact form on the contact page? You can use this to complain about things you don’t like or suggest ideas or improvements! Or just say hello
7. How’s the load speed?
8. Does BTD show up well on your iPhone? I haven’t looked at my “mobile” code in quite some time now….maybe I should consider giving that a gander

just some thoughts….feel free to discuss or comment!