So it looks as if Inkygirl’s been hacked again (if you missed reading about the first one, see this post). This time the hack is more subtle (no malware) and only noticeable in search engines. If you try entering “inkygirl” in Google right now, here’s what you get as the top hit:
Chris Pearson encountered the same hack and posted a solution, but it didn’t work for me. I admit to being frustrated, especially after Jeff spent so long cleaning up after the first hack, and all the time I’ve been spending on repairs as well.
And this has got me thinking more about time management issues. In the early days of the World Wide Web, I was as excited about the tweaking/design of my websites as I was about the content.
I’ve always tried to have good content but I also admit to spending a ton of time tweaking templates, looking for useful plug-ins, playing around with different WordPress features.
As more and more people started using the Web, however, inevitable security and hacking issues have increased. This last incident (or incidents) has prompted me to seek another blogging platform. I would much MUCH rather spend more time writing and creating than tweaking and admin.
Yes, I realize that any platform I choose will have its security issues. But whereas I used to want total control over my site’s design and features, now I’d rather find a service that will do most of the behind-the-scenes work (including putting out security issue fires) so I can just focus on the content.
Some of you have suggested Tumblr and Blogger. I’ve tried both sites and they’re easy to use, but I have to confess I’m hesitant to commit to any free hosted service that doesn’t have a clear business model, just in case they decide to start charging (like Ning just did) or worse, shut down without warning. Not as much of a problem if you only have one blog, but I maintain quite a few, not just for myself but for others as well.
I plan to consolidate some of my blogs/sites and cut down on the number of domains I use. I’m thinking of reorganizing most of my own blogs under one personal site and one work site rather than have the scattered all over the place.
I’m looking for a service that won’t roll out new versions unless they’re rock solid and thoroughly tested, will let me modify CSS if I want but also have templates so I don’t have to do much appearance set-up, has as little downtime and glitches as possible, and good customer service.
Right now I’m checking out Squarespace and Typepad. If any of you have had experience using either of these services, I’d love to hear about it.