What I wish I did to my blog

Whether it really is considered such, I consider 6birds an established blog. I’ve had it for almost five years, and I’ve met many people I consider to be my friends through it, and so on and so forth. Because of this, I feel like doing things I wish I would have done to 6birds would be too drastic of a change and/or impossible now to actually do.

These are the things that bug me most.

Permalinks

Rather than having the permalinks be 6birds.net/archives/%post_id%, I wish I’d made them 6birds.net/%postname%. I did find a plugin a while back that allows me to use multiple permalink formats, but none have worked that would allow the right posts to forward the former %post_id% structure to the new structure using %postname%.

And no, it doesn’t work as well if I use 6birds.net/archives/%postname%. 🙁

I just feel like it would be much easier to know what page is what if the permalinks were more descriptive is all.

Edit 12/7: Sean (@leprakhauns) gave to me a code to put in my .htaccess to make the posts redirect to the proper URL! Eeeeeeeeee.

Kept the old themes

Because of the page, The Evolution of 6birds. I feel it would have been a nice little something for people to have been able to look back at in a timeline fashion.

…and if not others, then just me. Yes.

Sidebar

Except not really. There are 3 “sidebars” that fit in the footer, but eh. I removed them, because it looked weird with just two, and I didn’t know what to use for the third one. I’ll add it back eventually, but for not it’s gone.

I didn’t want a sidebar for this theme that Georgie designed, because I wanted to put the focus on my blog posts. 6birds is a personal blog, and I felt then the same way I do now: With all these blogs popping up with bloggers telling people what a blog design needs to have, I feel like some things that are “needed” are simply redundant. Last year, I’d read so many posts about how blogs “need” a sidebar for all this annoying information (a “welcome” message, an introduction, social media crap, newsletter signup, etc.), and my decision to not have a sidebar was my way of retaliation and rebellion to the whatever-you-wish-to-call-the-sidebar-“requirement”.

I could always change themes, but I’m still quite happy with this theme, so…

Can you believe I have had the same theme for a year?

(I can’t, either. #ibrokemyownrecord)

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Comments on this post

I think I have changed my permalinks before and not thought about some links not working. >.<

I wish I had kept a record of the themes I have used. I can probably track a few of them, maybe. :/

Sometimes I really want a sidebar other times I don't. It does remind me of the old blogging days. :*

I’m kind of on the fence on this whole sidebar thing mostly because I don’t know what my ultimate goal is. On one hand, I like my blog being just a blog. On the other hand, I don’t wish to dismiss the idea of using a blog as a medium with which to promote my brand, whatever that means. We’ll see how that develops. At the end of the day, it all depends on the intent.

I never know what to put in a sidebar so for the current layout, I just put in a short about me and the navigation links and left it at that! Honestly, I don’t have enough content or information FOR an actual sidebar!

I tend to change my layout quite a bit but I can never seem to find a layout that I like for a blog so I end up making me own….however, sometimes I find that I can’t stand to look at my own designs and end up changing the layout anyway! ^^;

I wish I had your self discipline! My blog changes with my ever whim. 😛 I have kept in touch with all my friends though. 🙂

I still consider my blog as a diary of sorts, so I don’t mind the /%year%/%month%/%postname% format I have going right now. Dates are important on diaries.

I think sidebars are misused nowadays as a dumping ground of info that don’t fit anywhere else. That’s why I designed mine to change depending on what page you’re viewing. It’s silly when the sidebars are longer than the entries.

The main reason I had Georgie not include a sidebar specifically is due to the fact that I’d fill mine with junk, or I wouldn’t have anything for them, in addition to wanting the main focus on the content. I think, as a person blogger, not having a sidebar has helped me with the content a little more. Yes, I get annoying emails from PR peoples regarding sponsored stuffs appearing on the side, but I’d rather that than fill a section with things that are there just to be there. :s

I personally get annoyed when there are 5+ widgets in a sidebar, to be honest, or just when they’re filled with 45375749 things. They add clutter I don’t want/need. 🙁

I can’t believe this has been up for a year, haha.

I want to get rid of my sidebar now too. I think there is a lot of stuff that bloggers put in their sidebar that isn’t actually needed.

I wish I had made some of my links shorter, instead of just letting it use the default post name. I do edit it now, simply so when I share the link it’s easier to remember. I think there are a few things about my blog that I would want to change, but are relatively minor.

Regarding permalinks: you can change the setup of your posts’ permalinks structure at any time, and WordPress *should* automatically redirect the old links to the new! Give it a shot. 🙂

It doesn’t work! I’ve tried literally all the plugins, etc. Sean (@leprakhauns) did give me a thing to put in .htaccess, though, so I will try it soon. 🙂