All the blog wisdom has been to remove this blog from Blogger and put it under my own domain, or to move it to another platform altogether (like WordPress, which I do use for Ilona’s Garden). I could still do that, but what I have appreciated about Blogger is their consistency and innovation. Blogger makes it easy to try new things, or imports things working well on other platforms into their system.
An old idea for creating an organized system to access the best posts on the “IGJ” here was to open a new blog and fill it with links to the original blog. I did that with Garden File, but then Blogger in Draft opened the avenue to “Pages” which work so well in WordPress. I’ve used WP for a number of years, and it is the platform for the website, Ilona’s Garden. If all this seems sort of hodgepodge to you, remember that I have been making a garden website since 1998 and journeyed through the evolution of blogs growing more popular and going mainstream. Plus I like to experiment. I’ve used Blogger, Movable Type, WordPress, and Joomla quite a bit, started playing with WPmu and Buddypress. So you can see how some things go by the wayside and others things change … and here we are!
So far, Blogger only allows a few pages, but that is fine for my needs. I have moved the best of to “Seasons” which lists posts by season. It needs updating, additions to list. That will be easier to do, now. So what happens to Garden File? That will remain public, but be my own personal little page for writing down wishes and plans and to-do lists for the coming garden year. I also started a new project for book reviews -but that comes later. All revolve around gardening.
I wish it would produce a little income, but as Doug Green often points out, Garden writing as I do it doesn’t make money. I’ve never been good at converting what I do into an economic venue anyway. I’m the kind that gives things away, and that shows. I use monetization on the blogs, but I seem to have little idea with how that works.
updated: as long as I am explaining things around here…
As I change templates (the “skin” you see for the site), one problem has arisen. This is not limited to blogger.com, but common for other platforms, too. There is a vast difference between the coding in the background of one creator to another. This only is revealed when something doesn’t work quite right, or a knowledgeable techie discusses it ( and you happen to read about it). Many free templates have things that need fixing but no support from their creator. Take my present theme (which may change later), it leaves out the code for the static pages. If you are new to a platform, try out the basic themes or get something that is known for its stability and support.
The Search button will take you to the Green Search I started a few years ago. It is a custom search that include resources that I personally found most reliable and seeks to detour the frustration in searches that keep bringing up unrelated or business sites for garden information search.
Included were educational sites, the most informative of the bloggers, and the best garden websites. I keep adding to it regularly.You can add it to your site if you like it- just use the links on the page the Search button takes you to.
Well, there is a little insight into what is happening in the background here.
