The Blog Crash Details
Friday July 14, 2006
The site may not look the best and it certainly is lacking in basic structural elements at this time, however it is up and running. My apologies to those who have linked to articles that now render a Not found along with a side order of 403 Forbidden. The good news is that I have the text for a lot of my posts that can be used to reconstruct the lost content in the aforementioned "Crash of 2006". I have considered slapping up a fresh install of the latest WordPress release and posting like a fiend on a Red Bull bender. I think about the database crashing again and I fight the urge to take the easy road. Secondly, I enjoy the learning and creative process that comes from working with an html editor, writing my own mark up and experimenting with CSS styles. If my pages are stable, validate to web standards, and communicate the message, the goal has been accomplished. The level of technology is sufficient for the desired outcome. In time, what once was will be better than before.
Database overwritten, fatal error, blog crashes.
It is with much regret that I report an incident that shall be known as the "Infamous Crash of 2006". What started out as an upgrade of my photo albums resulted in the entire site spiraling out of control into a flaming mass of wreckage. The only remaining components of the once fabulous Jwrblog 2.0 are the sidebar and the header. The database has been corrupted beyond recovery. It was late. I was tired when errors at the controls caused the crash. An installation of Gallery over wrote my WordPress database. I should have seen it coming. Backups were of no use and the MyPHPadmin denied me access. To be sure, the entire episode has been a sorted, ugly affair.
Later that same night
At my desk I have the tools to do battle. Several computers with various operating systems and browsers sit at the ready for testing and design work. My books on css and design complement "Web Design in a Nutshell" by O'reilly. The CSS books by Eric Meyer pair nicely with "The Zen of CSS Design" by Dave Shea and Molly E Holzschlag. Add to the mix "Don't Make Me think" on web usability by Steve Krug and finally the "Gimp Pocket Reference" by Sven Neumann. I am well prepared for the task that lies ahead. The goal is simple. I plan to design a web site to replace the one that passed quietly into oblivion some 14 hours ago using lean, clean, validated Xhtml and CSS. The basic building blocks to be a header, a footer, a sidebar and the content. Where it leads from there remains to be seen.