Freshening Up the Joint

Posted on by Midwest Mark

Every December 1 the snow fell like clockwork, bright and festive, an accumulation of cheer to usher in the holiday season. That this magical gift was delivered not by Mother Nature, but rather, some web programmer toiling away in anonymity was immaterial. Contrary to its very nature, this snowfall thawed chilly hearts and warmed spirits. Until it melted away forever.

If you’ve been blogging as long as I have, you may remember the falling snow feature on WordPress. Each year, the Happiness Engineers rolled it out after Thanksgiving; to enable it, you simply had to check a box. The result? Small white flakes of snow falling on your blog that would change direction with your cursor. It was a fun little extra that readers always seemed to enjoy — and unlike other holiday visitors, it never overstayed its welcome, disappearing on January 2 and lying dormant until the holidays rolled around again 11 months later.

Sadly, WordPress discontinued this feature in 2018. It’s still available as a plugin, but you need to have a Business or Premium plan. I haven’t seen it in years, and I miss it.

I’ve long embraced change in my personal life, and the same extends to my blog. Adding holiday snow was one way to freshen things up, but switching themes does the trick, too. I’ve been at this blogging thing a long time now — Dec. 9 marks my 15-year anniversary on WordPress — and change has been the one constant. (Well, that and sharing stories about the absurdity of everyday life, which is kind of my jam.) Over the course of that decade and a half, I have cycled through countless themes, changing the look and feel of my blog every couple of years on average to suit my many moods. Whether it was a no-frills theme when my sole focus was easy navigation, a magazine theme when I wanted to highlight my writing on a variety of topics, or a portfolio theme to showcase my professional experience once I found myself in the unemployment line*, my blog has been forever evolving.

*Not sure why they call it this. I’ve been laid off twice in my career, but never stood in a line with other unemployed people to collect money. I just pulled up a website, checked a few boxes, and money magically appeared in my bank account every week. It was all very efficient, and I never even had to put on a pair of shoes (or pants, for that matter). Don’t even get me started on this mysterious pink slip of paper you’re supposed to be given. All I ever got was a firm shove out the door…but I digress.

Sometimes, I’ll swap out a new theme because I’m feeling bored or uninspired or just want to freshen things up, much as you might throw a new coat of paint on your living room wall or move the furniture around. You’d be amazed how a new layout can provide a sorely needed boost of creativity.  

I’ve also changed URLs a bunch of times, and even merged two different websites into a single domain once when I was feeling especially masochistic. Was I scared to pull the trigger on that one? Terrified, guys. I envisioned 10+ years’ worth of blog posts all going poof! and disappearing into the ether. But a little exporting here, some importing there, a dash of confidence that it would all work out fine, because it just had to, and voila! I pulled it off without losing a single byte of data. If this all seems overwhelming, take solace in the fact that I’m not a particularly technical guy, so if I can figure this stuff out, you bet your sweet patootie you can, too.

Lawd have mercy, I have no idea why I suddenly sound like a Southern grandma.

If I had a time machine, the one thing I’d do differently — okay, the 548th thing I’d do differently — would be setting up redirects after switching domains. Instead, I’m stuck going through 15 years’ worth of posts and manually updating every single hyperlink.

But hey, that just gives me an excuse to revisit all these absurdities of everyday life I’ve been writing about forever. 

36 thoughts on “Freshening Up the Joint”

  1. as a tech-challenged person, this sounds like a nightmare life sentence to me, and I applaud you for managing it. I really miss the falling snow too, it was a little pick me up during the cold days of the season.

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      1. Oh hey — great point! You DO do that and I think it’s really a great technique. It keeps everything flowing…and in your case, it keeps your readers on the edge of our seats! 🥰😊🥰

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  3. If something works, I’m “tech hesitant” to change. But you have presented a good argument for giving blogs a make-over. Maybe I’ll consider updating more than just the seasonal image on my Homepage in the future! Thank you, Mark, for sharing your courageous Word Press modifications. 🙂

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    1. You’re welcome, Nancy! If nothing else, I do feel that the WordPress support team is pretty helpful when you need them. At least that has always been my experience. (If they weren’t, I would probably still have my same 15 y/o theme!).

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    1. I wasn’t nearly as SEO-savvy back then, but luckily, I’d been blogging long enough that the domain switch/merge had no effect on my numbers. Ignorance is bliss!

      In Wisconsin, we’ve had a bit of snow here and there, so I don’t feel totally left out.

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  5. I love your incredible Carpe Diem spirit. It’s always so refreshing! Kinda like a new batch of snow.

    There’s no doubt that “sharing stories about the absurdity of everyday life, which is kind of my jam” – we’re so lucky that you are willing to do that and the secrets behind the curtain!

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    1. Thanks, Wynne. I have it in my head that I want to do a special 15-year anniversary post on Monday, in which I share my favorite post about life’s absurdities from each year, but that feels like a very daunting task. Where would I even begin?!

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  6. Yea, you tell ‘em Mark! We’ve had too much of the Heat Miser! It’s time for a little Snow Miser! We need our falling snow. How will Santa deliver all his presents without it. Oops, sorry about that Mark. I thought for a second I had found myself in a Christmas cartoon. Ha ha, but yes I’m with you. It’s time to bring back some fun to WP. 🤣🤣🤣

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    1. Autumn leaves?! I don’t ever recall seeing those, but I would have been all over that. Makes one pine for the old days of WordPress (I know all the block editor haters would agree).

      I look forward to your updated blog should you decide to go for it!

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  10. I’ve been thinking about changing up my theme, though it seems to be much farther down my list of priorities. Some week when I don’t have a ton of things going on (Yeah, like when will that happen?) perhaps I’ll give it a makeover. My story is about the same as Michelle’s. I’m five years in and still have the original theme.

    I had no idea you had been with WordPress for 15 years. The happiness engineers and you should be on a first name basis and hosting each other for dinner parties by now. 😊

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    1. Ha! You would think so, but I have yet to receive an invitation to a single soiree, black tie or regular.

      If you do freshen things up, definitely set aside some time. I’ve swapped some themes out with very little work, but this last one has so many different templates and layouts, it took a while to set everything up how I wanted it. But it was totally worth the trouble.

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  11. The current look/theme I have for my blog was a big refit/change, and it felt so good to do it. It was a sort of mental clear out and declutter for me too, and I love the look/structure of my site. Freshening up in this way (or others, like a good clean of my apartment) always make me feel good and a bit more “together” (haha)!

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  13. Congrats on blogging for 15 years, Mark! I’ve been blogging for 14 years now and have changed my theme twice. I’ve also changed the url a few times, but with each change, I hold my breath, hoping to not mess something up. Honestly, there’s so much I don’t know that I’d like someone to handle it for me. 🙂 And I do miss the snow. It added a bit more magic to the season. Thanks for your tech insights!

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  16. Changing laptops, new phones–nothing quite works the way it’s expected to, and everything seems to take longer. I can’t imagine trying to move my blog from typepad to WordPress; it would be so complicated to do the hyperlinks and photos. I admire your openness to change and the way you meet challenges head on. I’m a wimp!

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