Entry tags:
Big post - LJ, DW, Russians, with helpful links!
First of all - you can download your LJ:
BlogBooker
In days past there used to be something called LJ Book (which was free!), but it seems to have vanished or morphed into BlogBooker, which will cost you if you want to download more than a year. But at least it's an option! :)
~
For safety, this is an excellent resource:
Encrypt the web: Install HTTPS Everywhere today.
Simple extension. Keeps you safe(r). ETA: Important caveat about HTTPS Everywhere: it cannot encrypt sites that do not have an https version. So this won't help anyone with LJ unless they reinstate their https. (With thanks to Promethia)
~
If you want to make the leap to DreamWidth wholesale, here is an excellent guide:
How to Move to Dreamwidth and Like It
If you just want to back things up/cross post for now, simple guides under the cut:
To Import:
Go to Organize -> Import Content
https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/importer
Click 'Start Another Import' and follow the instructions. Literally as easy as clicking a button. Also quick.
To Organize crossposting:
Go to Organize -> Account Settings -> Other Sites
https://www.dreamwidth.org/manage/settings/?cat=othersites
Click on 'Add new Account' and sort out the different options. You can customise the footer that appears on the LJ f.ex.
Click Save and it's done. :)
ETA: Extra tip - if you name your DW icons the same as your LJ ones, the crosspost will choose the relevant icon.
Now, DW posted a news update yesterday, and they have had a large influx of new people (100,000!). But let's not forget that LJ is one of *the* platforms for blogging in Russia, and still is free and open for them. I wish I knew more about their side of it, how they are seeing the future. If they all want to go to DW or if they want to stick with LJ despite everything...
And this is probably as good a time as any to remind people of![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
anniesj's story:
A Word to the Wise
Because of a (public) post ranting about the then President (Dubya - this was 2004) the Secret Service paid her a visit and she has an FBI file. And not because of snooping or google searches or anything like that, but because someone (on LJ) reported her.
Please read the whole post. It's increasingly relevant.
~
Anyway, I'm gonna keep cross-posting for now. Being on DW wouldn't have helped anniesj any... (Not that it existed then.)
I wrote a post on LJ vs. DW last year (or 2015, rather). Although I have since found a new analogy for DW. It's from Buffy Summers Diary, a fic in the style of Bridget Jones where Buffy writes about her birthday party (S6, the one where they're all trapped in the house). And Xander & Anya bring a friend they try to set her up with:
'...Xander brought in Normal Richard at that point. Normal Richard pleasant and rather beige, like tapioca pudding or similar.'
So, Imma gonna stick with Spike for now, but keep Normal Richard on hand in case Spike does something unforgivable...
ETA: Other point - DW has no galleries. Yes I have a photobucket account, but LJ is about a million times easier and more convenient. (I use the old style which is far superior when it comes to images.) So that's a major stumbling block when it comes to moving... Hence, staying put for now, with caveats.
BlogBooker
In days past there used to be something called LJ Book (which was free!), but it seems to have vanished or morphed into BlogBooker, which will cost you if you want to download more than a year. But at least it's an option! :)
~
For safety, this is an excellent resource:
Encrypt the web: Install HTTPS Everywhere today.
Simple extension. Keeps you safe(r). ETA: Important caveat about HTTPS Everywhere: it cannot encrypt sites that do not have an https version. So this won't help anyone with LJ unless they reinstate their https. (With thanks to Promethia)
~
If you want to make the leap to DreamWidth wholesale, here is an excellent guide:
How to Move to Dreamwidth and Like It
If you just want to back things up/cross post for now, simple guides under the cut:
To Import:
Go to Organize -> Import Content
https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/importer
Click 'Start Another Import' and follow the instructions. Literally as easy as clicking a button. Also quick.
To Organize crossposting:
Go to Organize -> Account Settings -> Other Sites
https://www.dreamwidth.org/manage/settings/?cat=othersites
Click on 'Add new Account' and sort out the different options. You can customise the footer that appears on the LJ f.ex.
Click Save and it's done. :)
ETA: Extra tip - if you name your DW icons the same as your LJ ones, the crosspost will choose the relevant icon.
Now, DW posted a news update yesterday, and they have had a large influx of new people (100,000!). But let's not forget that LJ is one of *the* platforms for blogging in Russia, and still is free and open for them. I wish I knew more about their side of it, how they are seeing the future. If they all want to go to DW or if they want to stick with LJ despite everything...
And this is probably as good a time as any to remind people of
anniesj's story:A Word to the Wise
Because of a (public) post ranting about the then President (Dubya - this was 2004) the Secret Service paid her a visit and she has an FBI file. And not because of snooping or google searches or anything like that, but because someone (on LJ) reported her.
Please read the whole post. It's increasingly relevant.
~
Anyway, I'm gonna keep cross-posting for now. Being on DW wouldn't have helped anniesj any... (Not that it existed then.)
I wrote a post on LJ vs. DW last year (or 2015, rather). Although I have since found a new analogy for DW. It's from Buffy Summers Diary, a fic in the style of Bridget Jones where Buffy writes about her birthday party (S6, the one where they're all trapped in the house). And Xander & Anya bring a friend they try to set her up with:
'...Xander brought in Normal Richard at that point. Normal Richard pleasant and rather beige, like tapioca pudding or similar.'
So, Imma gonna stick with Spike for now, but keep Normal Richard on hand in case Spike does something unforgivable...
ETA: Other point - DW has no galleries. Yes I have a photobucket account, but LJ is about a million times easier and more convenient. (I use the old style which is far superior when it comes to images.) So that's a major stumbling block when it comes to moving... Hence, staying put for now, with caveats.
no subject
no subject
Well, I guess overall it's tolerable. I could probably name 10 things that are wrong off the top of my head, but that's to do with the main layout. So thank you, this is an improvement, and I should probably go nag some DW staff/layout creator to make a carbon copy of The Perfect Layout. ;)
no subject
>>Other point - DW has no galleries. Yes I have a photobucket account, but LJ is about a million times easier and more convenient. (I use the old style which is far superior when it comes to images.) So that's a major stumbling block when it comes to moving...
Yeah, this would be a major headache for me if I'd ever used it, but I never had a paid account, so it's always been Photobucket for me anyway. Now Photobucket, which has always been a flaming trash pile, has, for reasons I cannot decipher, become completely unusable in the past week. I've tried it on two different browsers, and neither will actually let me copy the image links to be able to embed in a site. So I've had to go looking for alternatives . . .
Right now I'm trying out PostImage (postimg.org). So far a massive improvement over Photobucket. Much faster and less clunky. Very minimal. The sign-up process was the most intelligent I've ever seen anywhere: you give them your email address, they email you a password, and you're done. That's literally the whole process. Very nice.
Speaking of unusable, I tried to clean things up over on LJ a bit last night and, dear god, pretty much anything in site skin is a wreck right now. I can't see comments on site skin pages, I can't edit my profile, I can't edit my circles, and I can't use half the controls on my flist page . . . I tried, world. I tried.
no subject
See I don't have the patience (or indeed knowledge) for that. I love Compact because it's exactly right and all I have to do is add a new header/fiddle with the colours.
(Should probably find out about adding headers on DW. Sigh.)
I'm reminded of just how many settings I messed with last time to get what I wanted.
This is what worries me. I'm always worried that tinkering will break something and then I can't get it back.
Now Photobucket, which has always been a flaming trash pile, has, for reasons I cannot decipher, become completely unusable in the past week.
Yikes. I only use it very sporadically, f.ex. for mood themes, as it'd take forever to upload them all individually.
Right now I'm trying out PostImage (postimg.org).
*makes note* Always good to know.
no subject
See, but there's the thing, Dreamwidth makes fiddling with stuff like the font and the widths and arrangements of things as easy as changing the colors. So, yes, it takes some time, but it is pretty easy and you don't have to muck about with code to do it.
This is what worries me. I'm always worried that tinkering will break something and then I can't get it back.
They won't let you do anything too dangerous with their own controls. I'd just only make a few changes at a time so you can keep track of what caused what. Put your journal in one window and the settings in another side by side. Change something, refresh, change something, refresh, etc.
Let me know what your base style is and what's bugging you and I can probably help you figure out how to change it.
Yikes. I only use it very sporadically, f.ex. for mood themes, as it'd take forever to upload them all individually.
I've only used PostImage for a few pics so far, and I'm never going back to Photobucket. Should have got rid of it years ago, tbh. It's always been a misery.
no subject
I even made an icon! The keywords are 'Change is bad'. Tanya <3
Let me know what your base style is and what's bugging you and I can probably help you figure out how to change it.
Well I've got the Librarian one you pointed me towards, and it's not terrible. I'll let you know when I've got a list together. ;)
I've only used PostImage for a few pics so far, and I'm never going back to Photobucket. Should have got rid of it years ago, tbh. It's always been a misery.
Right, I shall bookmark that, since LJ did something REALLY AWKWARD when I tried to check a banner. (I thought I had avoided that by keeping the old style BUT APPARENTLY NOT. I hope it's just a glitch.)
no subject
I think you can make the vast majority of their layouts 100% better by reducing the base font size and the margin widths--like, yeah, a lot of them are a bit plain, but they are totally serviceable if you do just those two things. It's not like 'flexible squares' is a masterpiece of graphic design. TBH, it does annoy me that the defaults on DW are so huge and boxy, 'cause I like pretty things, but they do it in the name of accessibility, so . . .
although what I'm really grumpy about is LJ making itself continually more problematic.
Genuine, non-sarcastic question: people understand that it's not going to get better, right? LIke, I totally get not wanting to leave your people and I get having invested in the place and not wanting to give that up and I get not wanting to have to take the time and effort to move. All totally valid reasons. I even get feeling like nothing bad has happened to you personally so you don't want to care about it, though that is not a good reason. But . . . bad things are just going to keep happening. There is no scenario in which this don't end badly. Do people get that, or are they just blasé because they feel like they've put up with so much already?
I even made an icon! The keywords are 'Change is bad'. Tanya <3
Genuine lol.
Well I've got the Librarian one you pointed me towards, and it's not terrible. I'll let you know when I've got a list together. ;)
You know where to find me!
Right, I shall bookmark that, since LJ did something REALLY AWKWARD when I tried to check a banner.
Maybe still just server weirdness?
(I thought I had avoided that by keeping the old style BUT APPARENTLY NOT. I hope it's just a glitch.)
Are they letting people keep that in perpetuity, or were there plans to phase it out? I'll admit I didn't pay much attention since I didn't have a paid account and I actually liked the new site skin (I even changed my flist over to it as soon as they gave you the option.)
no subject
Haven't particularly bothered me yet, but I may fiddle more...
But . . . bad things are just going to keep happening. There is no scenario in which this don't end badly. Do people get that, or are they just blasé because they feel like they've put up with so much already?
A combination of both, I'd say. Most have been on LJ for more than a decade. And by now it's not just a fannish base, but a social one. It's like telling people to up and move to a different town.
ETA: Or you could call it Blitz spirit:
I'm also reminded of the 7/7 bombings, when a traveller who'd been caught up remarked: 'I've been blown up by a better class of terrorist than this'.
(Icon is from 7/7! Tea, dammit. Keep Calm and Carry On. And so on. Why should we let Russia dictate what we do?)
Genuine lol.
:)
Maybe still just server weirdness?
No, it did the awkward thing it did on the new style, which made the galleries almost impossible to use.
Are they letting people keep that in perpetuity
That's what they said.
no subject
no subject
No need to reply btw. ;)
no subject
Unfortunately I'm having trouble remembering whether I've tried to do any of the stuff that was blocked since I installed Ghostery. It was awhile ago--probably about a year? I guess it's possible I just haven't tried to do these things in the last year and I'm only now noticing. Or maybe parts of the interface got shifted to different domains in the move? I don't know.
no subject