Change is coming to PDD
By the end of January, Perfect Duluth Day will be switching from its current publishing platform, Movable Type version 3.2, to WordPress version 2.8. Please remain calm. You don’t need to buy a converter box or anything else.
Once the switch is made, things will work a little differently, but the site will mostly remain the same. In the process of getting used to it, we hope you won’t bash in your screen with your bare fists.
Here’s what to expect:
For Lurkers: You shouldn’t notice much of a change, except for a fresh design. There is, however, a strong possibility that simple things won’t work for a few days because we broke them due to our technical incompetence.
For Commenters: Don’t worry, the process will be the same as it was before. You might not even have to wait five minutes for your comment to upload, which means you’ll be less likely to make the same comment three times and look like a stupid goober.
For Bloggers: You will have to learn a few subtle changes the new platform requires. Those of you with experience using WordPress should find this transition quite simple. The rest of you will probably think it sucks big ones.
Ads: We'll also be adding a few advertisements to the site that will help us pay our big, fat bills and hopefully fund plans to improve the site further. With all the bitching going on about the local media, perhaps PDD can do something to fill the void. But that's a topic for another day.
Once the initial month of trauma wears off, we’re sure you’ll agree that PDD has changed for the better. In the meantime, prepare to flood our inbox with angry rants. Write to [email protected].
Have a perfect Duluth day,
Barrett & Starfire
PDD founders
Comments
Speaking of change, a local blogger has started a "DCB Demise Pool" that is absolutely hilarious, I just read it and am still laughing my ass off. Creative submissions are most welcome. The blogger likes the DFL conspiracy theory best, but I like the Ed Anger analogy too. It made me nostalgic for the Weekly World News.
http://dcbwatch.blogspot.com/2009/01/enter-dcb-watchs-dcb-demise-pool.html
BTW, glad that there'll be changes in PDD's time to upload. PDD is a *fabulous* message board and Barrett just keeps rocking along, making it even better, so keep on rocking, dude.
Posted by: Blog Addict | January 28, 2009 10:35 AM
Please don't give me all the credit. Starfire, Paul Lundgren, Brian Barber, and Cory Fechner are all working on the new PDD, most of them far more than I am.
Posted by: Barrett | January 28, 2009 10:42 AM
Kudoes to all of you then! PDD is the finest local message board in Duluth, by far. It's definitely where the action is these days, and I hope it does even more thoroughly fill the increasingly obvious void in the DNT's arts & culture coverage. Though I do like Christa Lawler's reporting, she's really smart and on the ball. But one person can't save that rag, I'm sorry to say.
The only regret I have about the changes at PDD is that fewer people will hit the button and look really stupid. It's always fun to laugh at those goofballs when four comments all by them appear one after the other.
Posted by: Blog Addict | January 28, 2009 10:57 AM
Ah, too bad. I like MT a great deal and use it for my own blog, but I'll try this other version and give it a fair shake.
Posted by: ironic1 | January 28, 2009 11:08 AM
Yay! I love wordpress. Good-bye 15 minute publish times. (I hope)
Posted by: Sjixxxy | January 28, 2009 11:11 AM
Thanks for putting all this work in! We really appreciate having our local hub of cool. :)
Posted by: Bad Cat! | January 28, 2009 11:16 AM
Will we still get double posts?
Posted by: ian | January 28, 2009 11:16 AM
Will we still get double posts?
Posted by: ian | January 28, 2009 11:19 AM
Don't forget to have http://www.perfectduluthday.com/atom.xml and http://www.perfectduluthday.com/index.xml redirect to http://www.perfectduluthday.com/feed/ when you're done or you'll lose all your RSS visitors/authority.
A 301 Redirect is probably the best way to go.
Switching to WP, IMHO, is the right choice.
Posted by: Aaron | January 28, 2009 12:18 PM
Welcome to the 1990s. Thank you for joining us, PDD. I appreciate all your efforts and look forward to less stupid goobers.
Posted by: samh | January 28, 2009 12:37 PM
I appreciate how my two cents are valued. Thanks for giving the little girl/guy a platform!
Thanks too for the hard work!
Posted by: heysme | January 28, 2009 12:47 PM
Luce Ads on Perfect Day Duluth. Wow!
Posted by: Craig | January 28, 2009 01:39 PM
hey, craig:
1)perfect
2)duluth
3)day
okay?
Posted by: localmoron | January 28, 2009 01:47 PM
Biggest issue I've had with WP is comment Spam, and the most effective way to combat it has been a Captcha system. I love how WP is very plug-in friendly.
Craig, I'm sure pdd will take your $ for ads as well. I think you need to take the chip off your shoulder or something. Your disdain has almost made me like Luce'.
Posted by: edgeways | January 28, 2009 02:32 PM
Thanks for having this blog. It is very entertaining. Keep it coming.
Posted by: mevdev | January 28, 2009 03:11 PM
So this why I am getting so many great entries in my "DCB Demise Pool."
Barrett, you should be very proud of your elite clique--very funny people.
Posted by: Tony Ramone | January 28, 2009 06:42 PM
What's in it for me?
Posted by: Zeldfelder | January 28, 2009 07:13 PM
Wordpress = yay
Ads = boo hiss
Posted by: rediguana | January 28, 2009 07:21 PM
Oops,
So this is why. Note to self: proof read before clicking.
Posted by: Tony Ramone | January 28, 2009 07:23 PM
Dear Original Tony Ramone:
I just visited your blog, and read the DCB Demise Pool, at www.duluthcitizens.
blogspot.com. I almost wet my pants, I was laughing s damno hard! Your DCB demise pool is frickin' brilliant, I think it's going to be really hard to decide who the winner is. Good luck and thanks for tilting at windmills. I admire your courage.
Posted by: Calk | January 28, 2009 07:55 PM
ads, don't look at them as advertisements. look at it as community support:
if i kick in $50 bucks (or however much it'd cost) to promo, say an upcoming photography installation a month or two before the event...
readily updatable rotating graphics?
hell, that's a lure even craig'd be stupid not to bite on.
Posted by: zra. | January 28, 2009 09:19 PM
"updatable and rotating" is a preferred state of existence.
Posted by: baci | January 29, 2009 12:06 AM
Who cares what your little blog likes like. I want to know--will it have a blog counter?
Posted by: Ben O Hica | January 29, 2009 12:15 AM
Who cares about a blog counter? It's a msg board, not some contest to see who gets more hits: the msg board where it's obvious that different people post, and the comments are 99% interesting, or the msg board where half-a-dozen people post under about 3-5 handles each, and 99% of the comments are idiotic rants by Duluth's "finest?" I think PDD wins. If I were considering moving myself or my business to Duluth, and found PDD, I would be even more likely to move here, b/c Duluth would seem to be a cool city with interesting residents and a lot going on. Other local msg boards -- not so much (understatement of the year).
Posted by: Blog Addict | January 29, 2009 08:03 AM
ads, don't look at them as advertisements. look at it as community support:
Agreeed.
I run some ads on my palty little site, and have seen single clicks bring in as much as $2.50. If they are well integrated to not be obstrusive, like the google adsense ads are when placed sparingly, they can go a long way to help cutting down the maintenance costs of this site.
Posted by: Sjixxxy | January 29, 2009 08:59 AM
The new beta PDD site looks good. Keep up the good work.
Posted by: Dead Rabbit Sheen | January 29, 2009 09:36 AM
Are you going to add more lines, so we don't have to sit around and wait when someone else dials in?
Posted by: adam | January 29, 2009 02:37 PM
Thanks to Barrett, Starfire, and all for maintaining this forum. I'm hoping we'll still have the banner photos because I LOVE those. I wish we could have the newer ones on Flickr or some such thing so I could while away the hours viewing them. Good luck with the switch!
Posted by: magus | January 30, 2009 09:03 AM
The banner photos are staying!! They are a staple of the PDD community. Be sure to keep submitting your great photos to PDD and you may see your photography in the PDD banner rotation.
[email protected]
The image must be 960 pixels wide by 167 pixels high. The Perfect Duluth Day logo will be added by PDD’s art department.
Posted by: cointeractive.com | January 30, 2009 10:34 AM
I love the banner photos too! I didn't know I could submit photos, I must have some good ones from the time two years ago I think, when Lake Superior froze so quickly, the waves froze in mid-wave. It was so, so cool.
Posted by: Calk | January 30, 2009 11:55 AM
er .. beta?
Posted by: baci | January 30, 2009 04:31 PM
Liftoff in 10 ... 9 ... 8 ... 7 ...
Posted by: clumsy | January 30, 2009 05:44 PM