I have a new home, and finally made the move to a self-hosted site! After six years I worked up the courage, and with that move came a big facelift. Not only did I redesign, but also rebranded.
Upon choosing a domain, I found that sheistoofondofbooks was already taken as were other variations. I could have played with it all day but finally came to the realization that it was not unique enough. In the past, I have gotten review requests for another blogger under the same blog name that had left me questioning my originality. Thus I decided it was time for a fresh start and now was the time.
I brainstormed, with my mind immediately drifting towards Jane Austen. Like an epiphany, the working title for Pride & Prejudice popped into my head — First Impressions. I typically form first impressions for characters and plotlines very early on in novels, so between that and my affinity towards Jane Austen it felt like the natural choice. Therefore, First Impressions Reviews was conceived. I have always loved the whimsy of the illustration on my header so merely headed over to PicMonkey with a font in mind, and like Banksy, spray painted over it.
Then came the daunting task of actually moving. Ashley at Nose Graze has a great walk through that made the transition easier. I had my freak out moments, I won’t deny it, and think I threw up in my mouth a little when I redirected to the new url. It was like driving away from your childhood home, looking back until it is just a speck. Although, the moment passed and I was ready for the next new adventure.
As for theme, I tried several freebies, including one that was designed for book bloggers in mind, but the limitations these freebies had irked me, and purchased the Tweak Me Theme v2. I love the versatility, and the multiple options lead to a creative euphoria. I am a minimalist and was happy to design such a look that was clean and minimal without being boring. Even someone like me, who looks like Homer Simpson when it comes to code, could easily navigate and develop the look they want. I did have a question during the”tweaking” process, I submited a ticket and Ashley was quick to respond, backing up her claim of fast customer service.
It is still a work in progress. I’m slowly migrating my Disqus comments from Blogger to WordPress, having to reroute them all, but that can be done with time, and I am waiting to hear back from Bloglovin’ about changing my domain on my profile, but the boxes are unpacked and it is time to settle in.
Congratulations on the move!! 🙂 I love how you’ve customized Tweak Me v2. 🙂
Thanks Ashley, it is a great theme to begin with!
Love it!!!!!!!!!!!
I appreciated your support Felicia, it means a lot!
Congratulations!!
Thank you JoAnn, it had been a long time coming.
REALLY Like This Re-Design and New Name!
Thanks, I’m glad you like it!
Great job Whitney! How did you find Ashley for the transitioning, I’m hoping to do the same but maybe in a year when I have more readers, do you get to keep your readers? How are you finding wordpress? Just Ashley’s plugin makes it worthwhile to moving to WP 😀 Well done! Glad you took the leap of faith and it paid off 😉
Thank you Angelica! I had already been following Ashley, but found her transition walk-through via a Google search (the link to Nose Graze goes to that post). The break down makes it more manageable and is very detailed/laid out. As for keeping followers it is all about RSS/link redirect. Although I did have to look up how to log on to WordPress. Regarding my liking for WordPress, it has been less than a week but so far I am liking it and is much easier to navigate then I thought it would be. If you’re considering it, I’d highly recommend the switch.
[…] I discussed my move to WordPress […]
Oh I love the new blog name! It’s wonderful that you combined your love of Austen with something that is meaningful to you. The new site looks fantastic – it’s lovely and minimal and well organized. 🙂 I do still love blogger, but I know that if ever I move to WP, I have to go to Ashley, everyone has a good experience with her it seems!
Thanks Charlene, and I’m glad to hear that my site is organized! Blogger will always have a place in my heart but Google had started to feel like a monkey on my back and love that I own and control my content.