Just finished going through the website, repairing broken or missing links.

I had NO idea how many there were. Someone, I believe it was Marianne Weldon, let me know a while ago that there were some that needed fixing, so I was aware there were problems, but I am truly mortified to be only just noticing that there were no operable links between the myriad parts of “Passages”.

OMG!

So, so sorry for that inconvenience.

And this after spending all last week needling and fussing at my eighth graders about proofreading their work, about checking to make sure their animations and transitions in their upcoming visual presentations are necessary and operable so things go right when they present their visual projects this week.

Definitely a ‘physician heal yourself’ moment here. I will be sharing this with them tomorrow as they finalize their work. They like it when I mess up and have told me they learn a lot from my mistakes that I have to fix once they point them out or we run up on them together.

When I first started these stories, I used Microsoft Front Page, a program that allowed neophytes to web design, like me at the time, to build and publish their own websites. I was able to write and publish my stories on my own site through a web host, which gave me the flexibility to go in and correct errors or make changes as I caught them or as I saw fit. I soon discovered after posting Queen of Harts, my first story, on Susan’s site,  that having that kind of control is important to me.

As the internet and coding became more sophisticated, Front Page, in its wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) simplicity became archaic. When it was discontinued, Yahoo, through whom I had been posting the site, announced they would no longer support sites that used it. That meant everything in J.J.’s room would have to be taken down and moved to a new platform or be lost.

I experimented with different programs. I tried a couple that with my limited knowledge of coding, ere either over my head or too difficult to maneuver. Then Cal Landry suggested Wordpress to me. A godsend, to say the least about it. For the most part, it was a one-stop shop, and once I got the hang of it, easy to use. It also helped that I took an online class to make sure I was doing it right.

It took a while to get everything moved and set up. In fact, I didn’t realize how much was on the site until I had to take it down and put it back. The URL had to be moved to the new server. Then there were the hours of copying and pasting, reformatting, and on and on. Lots of wine, cheese, grapes, and cursing.

That was three or four years ago, but as evidenced by today’s discovery, there are still some things in stored away boxes that need to be unpacked.

Spring Break and summer project: a major editing and revision of J.J.’s Room. At any rate, you should be able to navigate the site more smoothly in the meantime.