Wednesday, March 27, 2013

I Dropped the 'blogspot' from My Blogger Domain Name and You Can Too! (plus a BONUS Corgi Short)

I am not affiliated with nor have I been compensated in any way by the brands mentioned herein. I share because "sharing is caring." I learned that in Kindergarten.

Down below, after the technical stuff: Bonus Corgi Pictorial Short Story "Frosty Doesn't Look Good, Mama"!
DON'T MISS IT!

Okay, so you probably haven't noticed, but a few weeks ago I switched my blog's URL (domain name) from www.chroniclesofcardigan.blogspot.com to www.chroniclesofcardigan.com.

That does not mean that I left Blogger and/or became self-hosted on some other blogging platform, for example WordPress. Nope, I'm still using Blogger (for free*), it's just that I followed the Blogger on-screen directions to add my own custom (previously purchased and "parked" at GoDaddy.com**) domain name.  

I will explain why I did this in a bit.

But first, let me tell you why - about a year ago - I went to GoDaddy.com and bought the custom domain:

SO NO ONE ELSE WOULD

Yes, friends. I was afraid someone else would. Why? Well why wouldn't they? ;) Okay, that and because the custom name is easier for people to remember and it looks a lot better (than the blogspot URL) on business cards, and everywhere else on the Internet. But mostly it was so no one else could take it and lure unsuspecting peeps over to some fake Chronicles of Cardigan page with spammy links to window washing and tree removal services, for example.

The trouble is, after I bought the domain name, I was afraid to actually use it. (what if my blog disappeared? no one could find it anymore? I screwed something up beyond repair?) So I did the next best thing and forwarded my new custom domain to my blogspot address:

If someone typed chroniclesofcardigan.com (in the URL address field),
they'd be automatically directed to chroniclesofcardigan.blogspot.com.

Forwarding is easy and (at least with GoDaddy) can be accomplished with just a couple clicks from the Domain Details (Domain Information > Forwarding) page. (Hint: Go to your domain provider's Help section and search for "forwarding.")

Okay, so fast forward 13 months and on this one random day, I just decided it was time to go for it. And I read a bunch of blog articles about why I should go for it***. And looked for user feedback on whether or not their blogs were obliterated after having gone for it. And decided that I could live with a couple months (if that) of not being as searchable in search engines.

To edit your domain name in Blogger, get to this screen and click Edit in the Publishing box.

And here I am. And here's the ugly:

Things that Broke after the Switch: 
My blog roll (Blogger gadget) went blank. (But because I had read that the same thing happened to other users, and that it was a known Blogger bug, and that I would just need to add the blog links again, I was not alarmed when I noticed it.)

That was the only thing that broke.

According to my stats, I'm still getting views from search engines. In fact, I haven't noticed much of a change there, if any.

And in case you're curious, Blogger is redirecting all traffic from my previous "blogspot" domain name to the new one. That means any and all existing hyperlinks to that old address will redirect here (for as long as I keep the custom domain name). Additionally, the old blog feed (for those who have subscribed/followed my RSS) redirects, too. That means YOU SHOULD NOT RESUBSCRIBE (unless you want see my blog twice in your reader, and you will; I tested it)!

And if at any time I decide I don't want to associate the custom domain name with this blog anymore, I can just go into my Blogger blog settings and switch back to the original "blogspot" name. Too easy.

So have you been contemplating making a domain name switch yourself?

If yes and you have a Blogger blog, and use GoDaddy.com to obtain your new custom domain, there is a SUPER EASY tool at GoDaddy.com that will do almost all the work for you:

Note: You must be logged into your GoDaddy account before using the tool.

In fact, the folks at Blogger think this tool is so awesome, they've written an entire blog post about it at Blogger Buzz (hint: GO THERE!), including step-by-step instructions for switching your blog to your new domain (once you've updated your DNS records at GoDaddy using this tool). (By the way, don't ask me what DNS records are; I have no flocking idea. Just trust me; you will need to update them using this tool.)

And that's all there is to it, friends! I hope this has been helpful!

* I use Blogger (vs. self-hosting on another platform) for a variety of reasons, mostly because I am lazy. It is a personal preference, and I believe personal preferences are okay. :) I pay nothing to use Blogger; however, there is a limit to free image storage space, which I plowed through in under a year. Therefore, I pay $4.99 per year for the lowest available increment of extra image storage space through Google. When my hard drive crashed a few months ago and I lost thousands of stored images, that $4.99 annual fee seemed like a really small price to pay for back-up.

** GoDaddy.com is NOT the only domain name provider. I chose them because they were the only provider I had ever heard of, thanks to their (horrible) Super Bowl commercials. As of this writing, it costs $12.99 annually for me to have my .com custom domain (with absolute basic service). I've set it to renew automatically (highly recommended).

*** You should read the article at the other end of this link @ Spice Up Your Blog (a trusted source of mine) if you are still undecided (or even if you're not). In easy-to-follow Q&A format, it thoroughly covers some of the things I've mentioned in this post, plus several others. Also, because there is great user feedback in the comments, it really helped to put my mind at ease.

*****

And now, your BONUS CORGI SHORT (story):

Frosty Doesn't Look Good, Mama!

In the front yard on Tuesday...


Hey, Dewi, something's wrong with Frosty!



Frosty? You okay, man??




Hey, Mama? What happened to Frosty?




"Blah blah blah...went bye-bye...blah...all gone...blah blah...dead"




Oh, Frost-ayyyyyyyyy!!!

The End

Double-Bonus Outtakes:



Dude, where's the catering service around this set?




The "Catering Service" does not recommend the yellow snow.

;-)

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Because Inquiring Minds (like K's) Want to Know: What They Look Like All Together

Caution: If you get squeamish around pet hair, pets near where you might insert food into your mouth, large numbers of pets in one place, or you work for the Health Department, no one is forcing you to read any further. 

This post is dedicated to Kristine, who lives with only one dog (Shiva) and one cat (The Cat) and who writes eloquently (and often humorously) about them at her blog Rescued Insanity. To her I say: Insanity is such a relative term!

;-)

So I took this picture today at the crack of dawn (except that dawn had cracked about an hour earlier for less morning-averse people):



Unfortunately, due to my poor camera skills and the seven moving targets, this is the best photo quality I could get. I did, however, make a few clarifying adjustments in this next photo:


And what you are seeing here (in case you can't tell) is cat treat time at my house. It happens once a day, first thing in the a.m., usually by my husband, right after he starts a large pot of coffee. (Yes, I know. :) Anyway, today he was running an errand, so Middle Child stepped up. Also, since dawn had cracked an hour earlier, the dogs, who are normally still in the bed at this time (and therefore, not trying to get in on the cat treat action), had already eaten their breakfast and were free to try and get in on the cat treat action.

Note: Cat "treat" time should not be confused with dog "snack" time, which falls between 11 a.m. and noon daily. We have two distinctly separate words for these activities so that the dogs don't break the sound barrier trying to get into the pantry whenever the word "treat" is called (and vice versa for the use of the word "snack"). We also, I will have you know, sometimes spell out T-R-E-A-T and S-N-A-C-K in front of the animals. Because although they can speak English, they can't spell it...yet. :)

So there you go. I hope we can still be friends. Even if you're allergic. And if you are, just say "no" if I invite you over; I'll understand. :) (By the way, how did bloggers ever manage before the invention of keyboard smiley and winky faces?)

*****

My next post will be technical in nature, but with a sprinkling of furry faces. I recently moved to a custom domain name (URL/address) for the blog and I want to share some of that experience with those who are interested. Hint: It wasn't hard and the transition has been seamless. But best of all, the switch doesn't require you to do a thing!

Friday, March 15, 2013

A Corgi Limerick for Ye - Third (and final?) Edition


Behold ye these Corgis of Cardigan
Whose faces tell a tale of longsufferin'.
Though regularly charming
Next time, without warning
They'll poo in her shoe if she does this again.

♣♣♣♣♣♣♣

However, friends, not to worry. Like the tricky Irish elves themselves, even petulant corgis masquerading as Leprechauns and pots-of-gold-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow must deliver the goods when seen by human eyes. (And by goods, I mean all these other silly photos of Jon Farleigh and Dewi "suffering" through the St. Patrick's Day shoot!)

Enjoy! :-)



Is it me or is Dewi not completely believable as some sort of mythical wish-granting creature?
Seriously, he looks like he was just plucked out of the shire, possibly along with a hobbit or two! :)









Totally worth his weight in gold.



Ears, wings or end table? :)



The Eyes

The String of Drool ;-)

The First of Many Feline Photo Bombs
(I have FIVE cats, people; what did you expect?!)

All begging for a treat; yes, the kitten got one, too. I do not discriminate among species.

These do not look like the faces of corgis who poo in shoes, do they? ;-)

Do you see it, too??? hehe ;-)

And rounding it all out with some highly unusual feline insolence...

Yeah, well at least I'm not dressed up like a kindergartner in a parade!
(he says while sporting the bandana from his human sister's
American Girl (brand) stuffed West Highland Terrier) 

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody!

:-)

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Wherein I Admit to Keeping the Kitten and [gulp] to Having 4+1 Cats

Remember this guy?


Not sure? OK, how about now?


Perhaps if you go back to October 3rd, it'll ring a bell...

Alright, fine! I'll just say it: It's Bertie. The stray kitten I found outside on October 2, brought in, tried to find the owners for, but learned he and his littermates had been left outside on purpose, took to the vet to get vaccinated and neutered, and then left you all hanging about whether I was going to keep him or not.
 (The last time he appeared in a blog post was October 30, incidentally.)

Well, I did. Or should I say we did (I do live with four other humans, you know)... 

KEEP HIM, PEOPLE!

He's our cat. Numero cinco. AKA a whole flipping pile o'cats live in my house.

And you know what? 

YIPPEE! I LOVE MY KITTIES!

Now, pass me a muscle relaxer and draw me a bubble bath.
Actually, don't. I don't do muscle relaxers...or baths. ;) That would mean I'd have to keep the tub clean.

So there you go. I'm glad we had this talk.

Here, have a parting shot (or two) of Bertie and Maddox hanging out (this morning). They're BFFs (for real).



By the way, Bertie is also BFFs with Lulabelle (frap friend) and Dewi (he grooms Dewi's ears). He is only an FF, however, to Eva, Tigger and Jon Farleigh. :-)

"Easter Egg" Alert!

If you scroll to the bottom of my (previously published) not-so-original and even-less-nursery-like song OLD MacDONALD WAS CRAZY, you might find a "new" final verse. ;-) 

Friday, March 1, 2013

Elvis Presley's (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear (as Covered by Jon Farleigh)

Preface:
Originally recorded by Elvis Presley in 1957 for the film, Loving You...
(Notes: If you're too young to know it, have a look/listen HERE, now. I beseech you. Also, Jon Farleigh changed two words of the original lyrics.)

(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear


Baby let me be
your lovin' teddy bear.
Loop a leash around my neck
and lead me anywhere.




Oh let me be (oh let him be)
Your teddy bear.

I don't wanna be a tiger.

'Cause tigers play too rough.
I don't wanna be a lion.


'Cause lions ain't the kind you love enough.

Baby, let me be...



...Around you you every night.
Run your fingers through my hair...




...And cuddle me real tight.
Oh let me be (oh let him be)
Your teddy bear.




I don't wanna be a tiger.


'Cause tigers play too rough.
Don't wanna be a lion.


'Cause lions ain't the kind you love enough.
Just wanna be...your teddy bear.



Loop a leash around my neck
and lead me anywhere.
Oh let me be (oh let him be)...




...Your teddy bear.
Oh let me be (oh let him be)
Your teddy bear.



/(^.^)\

Happy weekend, poopsies.

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