Picking up the pieces
As many of you know, I’ve had a good bit of trouble in the last few days. Upgrading from WordPress version 2.5 and bbPress 0.9 has been a disaster for me.
My blog was down for about three days while I was trying to fix things. Another week of trying to get things pieced together would’ve probably made me crawl to some corner and curl up into the fetal position.
To top it all off, I’ve been “deathly ill” for the last week. My throat is so swollen at the moment that I can hardly talk without wincing, which doesn’t help when your day job is a job where you’re talking the entire time (I’m a teacher for those of you that don’t know).
A special thank you
I do want to point out a few users that’ve helped me out tremendously throughout this ordeal. Groovy and Web Lady, you’ve been more than helpful in the last few days, giving me updates on what’s happening on your end. It helped speed up the process quite a bit.
There are other users that have contributed too, especially on the blog. Unfortunately, I lost quite a few comments, especially on some recent test posts (also lost). I can’t remember who you are but thank you nonetheless.
There are still quite a few pieces stranded
Although I’ve got my blog and forums back up and running, some things are still out of place. I won’t bother with the whys and hows of this though. It just is, and it’ll take some time getting things back to normal.
This experience has taught me a very important lesson — don’t get complacent when it comes to upgrading WordPress.
I upgrade my local version at least once a week with the latest version from trunk and try to routinely keep my theme demo sites updated. In short, I was off my upgrade game when it came time to update this site. I wasn’t fully prepared for problems that might’ve arisen.
When upgrading JustinTadlock.com, I should be more than careful and will be from now on, even if I think I would’ve had the same upgrade results.
Losing a part of yourself
When a blog goes down, especially one that has had so much put into it over a long period of time, it feels like you’ve lost a part of yourself, an extension of your very being. For nearly five years, this blog has been a sort of second home for me. I felt like that second home had been taken away from me.
I’ve always felt passionate about blogging, which is why I develop themes and the occasional plugin to help other bloggers achieve their goals. It’s more than just a hobby to me; it’s who I am.
Just losing some comments hurts more than some may ever know. I consider many of you to be friends and have gotten to know a good number of you on a more personal level. I hate to think that some of your comments have been lost forever. On some days when I’m bored and have a lot of extra free time, I like to browse through old posts and read the comments. It helps put things into perspective, letting me see how far I have come in the last few years, how things have changed, the people I’ve interacted with.
A fresh start
I’ve been preparing for a redesign lately. It’s overdue. I suppose this is as good a time as any to put up a new theme for the site, which I hope to have done within a week.
I also got a chance to finally move the contents of my WordPress install to a subdirectory of my main site, which basically just clears up a bunch of room in my site root.
I’ve got a few plugins in the works too. Some of you noticed the Random Quotes plugin in an image I posted about a theme update.
The second of the plugins is a plugin that uses WordPress 2.5’s new gallery feature. Basically, it’s an extension of what the WP team put together. It’s also the reason I’ve upgraded the site — I wanted to show off the plugin and needed to upgrade. So, trust me, this plugin will be released soon and you will love it. I repeat, you will love it. It’s the sole reason my site has been down for three days.
The last thing on my priority list and certainly not least, is putting more emphasis on actually blogging. I’ve been too wrapped up in designing custom themes and developing free themes and plugins these last few months. Even though my subscriber count is continually rising, I’m posting much less than what I want to. I probably have at least 10 post ideas every day but don’t have the time to sit down and write.
With that said, I’m officially closing down my custom design services. Some of you may ask how I’ll be able to support free themes without making money through custom work. Don’t worry. I won’t discontinue free themes in any way.
I want to close down my custom work because I just don’t have the time for three or four designs at once and running things around here. Of course, I have to have a little bit of a life offline — just a little.
To close off this long post
I want to thank you all for being patient because I know that y’all are very patient people, right?
There’s a lot of stuff that needs to be fixed around here. It’s an unfortunate side effect of my site going down. If something’s not working, just drop a note in the comments or join the discussion on this forum post. I’ll put it on my list of things to update.
Now, I’m off to check my feedburner stats to see how many subscribers I’ve lost in the last few days.
live demo of themes on site don’t work
I know how you feel my blog upgrade to wordpress 2.5 wasnt fun and its still not the same i wish i backed up lol i still have it all but it just doesnt feel the same to me and one plugin i upgraded and im having tons of problems with but it works on a clean install lol so im left to ask what to do with my site should do i just restart fresh or what, i love your themes and im still a subscriber
hope things work out for you and the blog ttyl
Hi Justin,
Nice to see our beloved JustinTadlock.com back. I was about to comment on your posts, but unfortunately your filters caught me. I’m commenting on different IP now. Will you free me from your wrath?
Thanx,
welcome back!
i have made three NEW sites since WP2.5 came but dont intend to touch the old ones!!!
even changing from the original Options beta is not planned
‘if it aint broke dont try to fix it’ 
i had problems just upgrading my local installation from 2.5 RC1 to the full release
any unsubscribers over what was SO obviously a temporary problem are the losers!!
Glad to have you back up and running!!!!!
Welcome back Justin.
My sixth sense was stopping me from jumping onto Wordpress 2.5 right away … I was more anxious about Options 1.1 …
Will be getting back with some questions … but for now … hope your are in good health
Hey Justin, thanks for the candid comments in your post here. The way you handled the upgrade recovery is a clear indicator that you’re made of ’stern stuff’ It has not gone unnoticed that your support and individual responses to so many people here has been exceptional, even with in the strain and frustration of your own upgrade issues. Such times are a real shake-up and we get to see where loyalties really lie. I think it’s fair to speculate that many users here would have offered the hand of help, if it had been possible, but even that would have been a small recompense for the notable contribution you have made to the WordPress theme development community. Let’s hope it’s all plain sailing from now on. Our continued support goes with you.
YAY my blog is all better now
welcome back! hope you’re feeling better as well!
Thanks for the shout-out, Justin. I’m honoured!
Let me echo all that groovy has said … about your contributions and about your character.
And remember that you don’t need to accomplish EVERYTHING that is on your list: “Some Important Things are More Important Than Other Important Things.”
Cheers,
Sheila
Glad you’re back and hope you get to feeling better soon!
I appreciate that you’ve posted about your problems and I better remember to stay upgraded, too!
I look forward to seeing how your new design develops and hope you’re enjoying your little bit of life offline!
Glad to see that both your biological self and your electronic self are on the mend, Justin. I hope your students are taking care of you as much as your fans out here in cyberspace.
I’ll be looking forward to that gallery plugin, and possibly a post on Everything Except Enormous Elephants: Rules & Exceptions in English….
brainsolid
Thanks for the feedback. It might be a bit before I can get the demos for themes before Options back up. It’s definitely on my list though. My crappy webhost (GoDaddy) doesn’t seem to think the database is down when we can clearly see that it is.
Dade Williams
I’m glad you got things working.
J Mehmett
I don’t know why you get caught up in Akismet. I’m constantly trying to make sure you and one other reader’s comments aren’t marked as spam. I’m not sure if you have this problem on other blogs, but it might help to send Akismet an email. I had to do it once a couple of years ago. They put me back on the safe list fairly quickly.
Roger
I’m a sucker for new updates and fancy features. That’s why I’m always working with the latest version from the WordPress trunk.
Shane
It feels like I’m up and jogging at a very slow pace.
Amir
I typically wait to update the main site for the inevitable .1 version because we all know it’s coming. Next time, I’ll stick with what’s worked before.
I honestly hope you were “eager” as opposed to “anxious” for the Options update (English teachers should not be allowed access to the Internet).
groovy
Thanks for the kind words. It’s going to take more than a WordPress upgrade crashing the site to keep me down for too long. I’m also sure most would’ve helped if they could.
Some Girl
I’m still a little under the weather. For the most part, I feel fine. My throat is the problem at this point. A week of teaching doesn’t help when you already have a sore throat. It’s this weather, dust, and pollution in Korea.
Web Lady
I’ll keep that quote in mind.
This mess has actually gotten me pretty excited about updating this site. I’m really looking forward to implementing some of the changes I have in mind.
RebeccaJ
Maybe this will be a reminder to everyone to take every precaution and prepare for any situation that might arise.
With WordPress 2.5’s new gallery feature, I hope to start uploading some pictures of my offline life, maybe show y’all around Korea a bit.
CircleReader
I just got the title for my next post in the series — “Everything Except Enormous Elephants.” This is one of the reasons I want to return to blogging. I’ve spent too much time working on other projects when I could’ve been sharing and learning things about English.
Some of students are taking care of me. Others, well…
Dude, I sent you a message several days ago through the site’s contact form. Must have gotten lost during the downtime. Let me know where you’re staying so I can plan the Korea trip.
Hi Justin,
Otsukaresama!
Japanese word “Otsukaresama” is used to acknowledge someone’s efforts or show your appreciation for the trouble that they have gone through. It may come in handy whenever you’re in Japan.
BTW, I sent you the Japanese translation for Options 1.1.1-a about a week ago. With all the hassles you’ve been going through, it may well be buried in your emails.
One more thing. Somebody may have pointed out this already but the Options Documentation links are currently all pointing to the same url.
I just found this out because I was having trouble getting the sidebar to appear and wante to go through the documentation.
Cheeers.
Small Potato
Thanks for getting back to me about this. I lost several emails because they’re saved in my database. I didn’t have your new email address saved. Anyway, I sent you an email. I look forward to seeing you out here across the globe.
Yoichi
“Otsukaresama.” I’ll have to write that down. It’s a mouthful.
By the way, I plan on taking a short trip to Japan sometime later this year. We have a holiday in August, which is just before I leave Korea, so I might take that trip then.
Thanks for the translation too. I’ll put it up as soon as I get most of the stuff straightened out around here. The Options documentation is now fixed.
PHEW!!! I’m glad the main part of your stress is over…. I am relatively new to your blog, came across it a few months ago, but I must say that I love it and am really glad to see it back up.
Your hard work behind the scenes is extremely appreciated, and I have to say that the options theme has filled a gap which took me from being able to dabble in customising a theme and having an “ok” looking site, to having to tweak just a little and having a great looking site.
You are an asset to the WP community, hope you are feeling better soon
Inspired
I think I’ve slept off most the sickness this weekend. It seems like I’ve been awake for about a total of 12 hours in the last two days. I haven’t even left my apartment. I’ve just been popping in and out between naps, checking on the forums, and putting old pages back in the right place.
http://www.wpdesigner.com/2008/03/28/hi-im-the-new-owner/
take a look at the comments looks like some people would like you to take over at wpdesigner