February 7, 2012

Bye Bye Blog

Last week, I decided to shut my blog down.

Okay, I lie. I didn't decide to shut it down. It was decided for me. My blog disappeared. And I nearly passed out with horror.

It started off simply. Just over a year ago, I purchased the domain name 'kerrisackville.com' on Go Daddy, a) in case I ever wanted to use it, and b) to stop some ruthless entrepeneur from buying my name and linking it to internet porn. Or worse, a Home Shopping site.

A couple of weeks ago I had to renew my ownership of 'kerrisackville.com', and decided I may as well link my blog to that domain name; after all, it's much easier to tell people I blog at 'kerrisackville.com' than it is to say 'lifeandothercrises'. No-one can spell 'crises'. I should have thought of that at the time.

Anyway, I had not the faintest idea how to link my blog to the domain name. After several fruitless enquiries, I asked the most tech-savvy blogger I know, the magnificent Eden of Edenland. She got back to me back quickly, explained that it was dead easy to do - that I could do it myself via my blog's dashboard - but that she would email me detailed instructions shortly.

I should have waited for the instructions. I really should have waited.

Instead, I launched straight in. I logged into my blog, typed 'kerrisackville.com' into 'divert to', and voila! My settings were saved. I logged out of my blog, and typed 'kerrisackville.com' into the keyboard.

"Welcome to Kerrisackville.com" the page announced, in big, bold type. Ads for Go Daddy lined the page. There was no Life And Other Crises. There was just chaos.

SHIT, I thought. I quickly typed in 'lifeandothercrises'.

Nothing. There was NOTHING. I nearly vomited on my computer.

For the next fifteen minutes I typed 'kerrisackville.com' and 'lifeandothercrises' into my keyboard a thousand times. The result was always the same. MY BLOG HAD GONE. I broke out in a cold sweat and my heart started to thump sickly in my chest.

Oh my dear god. What have I done???

Suddenly, I had a revelation. I'll call Go Daddy, I thought. They'll fix it.

I called the helpline, and to my enormous relief, a real life person answered.

"Hello, this is Eric, how can I help you?" he asked (or something like that, I was hyperventilating at the time which made it hard to concentrate).

"My blog's gone!" I cried (or something deeply distressed like that).

"I can fix it," he said reassuringly, and I felt immediately better. Helpful Eric asked some questions and typed some things into his computer (I could hear the clicking through my tears). And then he said the words I'd been longing to hear.

"I'm sorry Kerri. I've got some bad news."

WHAT? Those weren't the words I'd been longing to hear. Not even close!!!

"Sometimes," said Eric kindly, "we have to let things go. How long have you had the blog? Because I think you need to accept that it's gone forever."

I am not even slightly kidding. Eric really did say that. And I started to shake.

"You are not saying that to me!" I yelled at him. "I do not want to hear that!"

"I'm sorry," he said again. "I've never seen this before and I don't know how it happened but somehow 'kerrisackville.com' has been diverted to 'lifeandothercrises' and 'lifeandothercrises' has been diverted to 'kerrisackville.com' and I can't do anything about it."

I collapsed in my seat. My blog. My precious blog. And I hadn't backed it up!

"But... but...." I whimpered.
"Maybe you can ring Blogspot?" Nice Eric suggested. "But I really don't think they'll be able to help you either. I'm so sorry."

"I'm not hearing that!" I screamed. But still, I pulled over my iPad to check for the Blogspot contact details.

And then I saw it. My iPad was still logged into my blog site. With Empathic Eric consoling me on the line, I navigated to the dashboard, removed the diversion and restored my blog to normal.

I restored my blog to normal!

I sobbed with relief down the phone to Pleasant Eric, who then installed the link to my domain name, as I praised the gods of iPads and dashboards.

So now, if you type in kerrisackville.com, you will get to this blog. And I am deeply grateful to have my Crises back. For one thing, I am very proud of my work.

For another thing, I don't know the first thing about Home Shopping.

25 comments:

  1. Oh my I was getting a panic attack while reading your post.Could feel your anxiety through every word.Sooooo relieved for you.Now I need to go have a drink :)

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  2. Hahahahahaha, oh Kerri - I feel your pain. I have embroiled myself in so many similar problems with Wordpress - trying to "fix it myself".

    The scary thing is? I'm a web designer. LOL

    ('k, in all fairness, self-hosted blogging software is new to me so there's my excuse and I'm sticking to it).

    I'm super glad you managed to figure it out though. :)

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  3. Oh, GOD, I just felt my stomach turn over for you. And for us. For HUMAN DECENCY's SAKE!!!
    Phew. There is no other word.
    xx

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  4. I saw the heading Bye Bye Blog and nearly died - my first thought was, "NOOOOO, you can't shut down your blog!" I'm so glad you're not and that I don't have to boycott your next book in protest. ;p

    And please don't ever break your blog again. I read it whilst hugging my bucket in the throes of "morning" sickness! It's the only thing that makes me smile between the hours of 9pm and 2am.

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  5. Egad! I just transferred both of my blogs over to my own domain names on the weekend. It wasn't as scary as I thought it might be, but scary enough.

    My next step is to go from Wordpress.com to Wordpress.org... though I may need a few stiff drinks to do that - or pay someone to do it for me.

    Thank god you're still here!

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  6. OMG - that just made me feel ill. I need to do the same thing and your post is the EXACT reason I haven't. So so glad we didn't lose you. Kx

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  7. Kerri, you should write a book about anxiety. I just had an attack reading this. Oh wait ...

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  8. Faaaaaaar Out!
    And phew!!
    That is all I have to say about that.

    Oh, and I'm never touching my blog settings ever again!

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  9. Oh. My. God. #thatisall

    Actually, it's not all. I assume you have now backed up your blog?

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  10. I deep breathed all the way through this and I know how it ended because I was reading it on your blog BUT STILL.

    I feel partly responsible, telling you oh-so-airily that it was easy. I AM SO SORRY.

    Thank god you dragged it back from the fiery pits of damnation.

    XX

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  11. Cripes ..I was hyperventilating reading this...It didn't even click that IF I was reading it..then it must have worked out in the end!! Doh!
    But I felt your pain there in the moment ..yes I did...


    **PHEW***

    xx

    Oh and ..have you backed up now?

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  12. Oh NO!! That's outdoing yourself right there, even by your own standards. How would you rate this latest turn- above or below filling a diesel car with petrol? SO glad it worked out! May I suggest you PAY A PROFESSIONAL to back you up now? xxxxx

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  13. Holy cow. We nearly lost you.
    Thanks for fighting the good fight and hanging on.
    :-)

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  14. now there is a crisis that we never anticipated 20 years ago.....whoo! I felt your pain sister....we love our blogs! welcome back!

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  15. OMG!! I thought you were leaving the blogosphere forever when I read 'Bye bye blog'!!
    Thank God you're not!!
    Only been following you for a little while (only started my own blog last March after being diagnosed with breast cancer) & I just love your posts!
    So glad you're still here!!
    Love Chez. xx

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  16. Salutatory and timely lessons. I'm launching my own blog shortly. I'm learning new things all the time. Thanks for conveying the horror from start to finish...

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  17. You need to back up a blog? How do you do it? How?How? How!!!????

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  18. so glad - I don't like writing obits! would have really missed you !.- and I was so smug ystdy that i managed to change my profile photo! and got rid of that awful Babylon, but also lost my toolbar in process and don't know how to recover it - minor in the scheme of things.xx

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  19. I burned calories reading that. Far out...

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  20. My complete lack of a backup of my blog is now haunting me. What a thought. But yay for iPads and yay for the ability to laugh about stress when it is all over and done with. So glad you got your blog back.

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  21. That's scary stuff. I wouldn't even know how to back up my blog!

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  22. OH MY GOODNESS! Bless you for holding it half way together! And bless us for still being able to read your blog!! xoxo!

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  23. I, like many others thought you were leaving your blog. So glad your not. Keep up the great work. I love reading your blogs : )

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  24. So happy everything is back to normal! I simply can't imagine not reading your funny posts!

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  25. Fiona @ My Mummy DazeJanuary 13, 2013 at 11:25 AM

    OMG! I would have had a nervous breakdown!

    Glad you worked it out. Goes to show that some DIY bloggy maintenance should be left to the pros... or Eden!

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