I have a confession - lately, nothing makes me feel as uneducated, incapable, and dumb as Blogger.
My B.S. degree (which means Bachelors of Science, not Bull Sheep even though my undergrad alma mater was and still is completely out of touch) is in Computer Science. My boring day job is "Webmaster". I've also earned decent money over the years as a web designer/consultant providing sites from the ground up (concept, design, coding, implementation) to people, organizations, and offices large and small.
Yet, somehow, Blogger baffles me. The problem may be that I know too much. That's not a brag. It's the truth. Certain HTML tags that I use every day are disabled in Blogger. Things that should work, nay, WOULD work on any other site, do not work here.
Hence, my code for my pretty button yesterday did not work for everyone. And I can't seem to get Feedburner to play nice, even though I've written my own custom RSS feed application in the past for other sites.
And I can't make my images have a border or not have a border (let's not talk about alignment!) based on how I code the img tag here, despite the fact that I am inputting valid HTML or CSS.
It's frustrating and the biggest reason I avoided Blogger for so long. I'm a control freak. And since I know things are technically possible, I want to do them. When Blogger doesn't cooperate, I want to have a hissy fit.
But the biggest reason I finally succumbed to Blogger was the sense of community. The tools for following and growing relationships is amazing. And with such a massive audience on Blogger, it would be silly to ignore this.
So here I am, coding and cursing all the way. And enjoying most of it. But also sometimes feeling like a complete idiot. For technical reasons, not just reasons relating to logic, silliness, inexperience, or my foot in my mouth.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
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16 comments:
dude, I'm in awe of the fact that you even created a button. I was sweating the whole 'put a line thru certain words' trick everyone does..(finally got it right though) ..so yeah, to me you ARE a rocket scientist..lol have a beautiful day, Cate :)
As a programmer, also with a Bsc in Computer Science I can relate.
I just pretend that my mind is as computer literate as my aunty Margery's when using blogger.
Ugh! I have nooooooo idea anything about html. I got rid of my Feedburner because I couldn't figure out how to make it portable should I ever leave Blogger to some other blogging thingy. It baffled me, and I gave up. I'm pretty sure that's keeping a lot of readers away, but...
I'm impressed you can even make a button. I'm just la-la-la-laaa I'll cut and paste her button thankyouverymuch, and don't think how much work gos into it! Thanks for being so patient!
Wow I thought it was just my own untechsavyness that was the issue.
Thanks!
Somehow it feels a little better to hear that tech experts like yourself struggle with blogger, too. The worst thing about it is that what works today on blogger, will not necessarily work tomorrow. She's a moody thing, isn't she?
Not being anything close to computer savvy, sometimes I feel like a genius on blogger when I can figure something simple out. When it doesn't work, I chock it up to my computer mental disability.
Most of the stuff you mentioned is completely foreign to me, what's a feedburner?
Kimber - oh, me and "strike" go way back. And Photoshop is my friend. Hope you have a great Sunday!
Yaya - short and to the point. I agree!
mo.stoneskin - yes, we just need to remember I suppose that we don't speak Blogger-ese, regardless of our other qualifications and skills.
Sassy Britches - I wasn't even trying to make feedburner portable and it hated me already!
Comedy Goddess - I actually think I'd be better off if I knew less. Then I'd just use the tools instead of wanting to tweak them.
blognut - Blogger is inconsistent for sure. Right now, I think she's PMSing.
Wife O Riley - when you publish a post, it "feeds" out to Google Reader, etc. Feedburner does the same thing but allows you to track how many people are receiving your entries that way. But I couldn't get mine to work correctly. Because it hates me.
It took me months to figure out how to link to another persons site in a post!
I have a B(ull) S(hit) degree too!
All I know is everytime I try to do my own HTML it gives me an error message. Took 2 weeks to figure out how to embed a video. I have no idea what I'd do if I ever figured out how to do the button!
Yeah, I've heard Wordpress is the end-all beat-all, but blogger is much more follower-friendly and less confusing for those of us who are new and not so technical. I think your button is so awesome, though, and you are such a rocket scientist in my book. (maybe that doesn't mean as much coming from an idiotech?) ;)
Grand Pooba - as long as you're linking to me, all good. And if not for that whole Lent/non-swearing thing, that's what I call my BS degree too. (BTW, I owe some charity about $107 at this point based on my pay to be vulgar system).
Julie - hmm, I haven't tried a video yet. If/when I do, I'll make a note to contact you with problems.
RAS - I had a blog on Wordpress. Maybe I still do. Anyways, it was nicer and worse in completely different ways. Buttons and banners and the like are a blast. I <3 Photoshop. Maybe I should have a button give away. Think anyone would care?
Oh Girl! I'd sign up for your button giveaway! I've been trying to figure that out for days! :)
I'm so glad that your a "techie" and still have issues with Blogger. I am a non-techie (but I can usually figure things out in time) as long as it's not too technical).
I have the same issues. I don't pretend to know as much HTML code (only took a few classes in undergrad, you know, too look computer literate), but still, I want to put horizontal lines in sometimes, but that seems to be a big no no according to blogger. It makes me grumble, growl, grouse and other verbs starting with "gr".
I've only been a blogger on blogger and I really haven't had any problems....don't hate me for that !!!
videos and links...easy....fonts, frames...easy....but I have no idea about the feed burner !!!
I acutally even turned my test blog into a 3 column blog when I thought that would be cool...but it looked too busy for me...that was all by using HTML crap, but it worked....
and yes...everyone should have a test blog...that way you can try anything "over there" without screwing up your "real" blog !!!
if I can help with anything...give me a shout !!...ps...my daughter is a cate !!!
i have been here three minutes and i love you already- straight to the point- most excellent xx
Peggy - I find the easier they make things, the more I want to complicate them. It's a skill...
the iNDefatigable mjenks - I hadn't tried a horizontal line. I bet Blogger's layout hates it.
beth - I have a test blog (or 12) myself. So much safer that way! And yay that your daughter's name is spelled correctly! ;)
Lisa - well thank you very much!
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