Blog Changes

I started using Blogger/Blogspot way back in 2005, so I'm very comfortable with the interface and services offered.  When I started my "author blog" last October, Blogger was a logical choice.  In March of this year, though, I decided I wanted a more robust website with my own domain.  I started working with the hosting services provided by Intuit.com.

I have been 80% satisfied with how my site is working.  Feel free to check it out at www.cassandradavis-author.com (You can also click on the "Home" link at the top of this page)

The part of the site I was never happy with, however, was the imbedded blog feature.  The Intuit Sitebuilder service lets you add a blog to your site.  Honestly, though, this is barely more than an automated script for a text box.  Their blog service does not offer an archiving or post labeling system, has the most obnoxious "Captcha" word verification for comments I've ever seen, and it is incredibly hard to add pictures to your posts.  Adding the ability for readers to add my blog to an RSS feed required almost an hour of tinkering and editing.  Furthermore, there's no built-in html editor for the site.  If you want to tweak your page's html code, you have to recreate the code in your own editor and reload the files.

As an author, my blog is my gateway to my fans and my fans are my customers.  I cannot have customers frustrated by their inability to comment on a post, easily read an entry (I often had an issue with competing scroll bars for long blog posts), or find posts on a similar topic. The "Archives" section you see on the old blog?  I had to create those links myself, and update them whenever I had the chance.  That's time out of my day I could have spent writing a new novel.

After months of trying to find a work-around for these myriad problems, I finally gave up.  This blogger.com site will once again be my blog.  Visitors to my website who click on the navigation bar link "Blog" will be directed here.  If you wish to go back to my site, simply use any of the page buttons above (Home, Reviews, Blog, Links, Old Blog). And, I really hope you do go back to the site, because I work hard to provide informational links, new reviews of "Dremiks", and updates on my writing.

All of my old content will remain live and accessible.  I left the old blog "up" because there are several link-backs to those posts on marketing materials and other authors' sites.  All new content, however, will be posted here.  There is a link to the old blog above (Old Blog) and also on my site's "Links" page.

Yes I'm taking a risk that I might lost a few customers through the confusion of a different domain name for my blog, and the movement to a new (old) site.  However, I felt this was a risk I had to take to preserve my sanity and grow my fan base.  I'll let you, my readers, decide which of those two is more important.