Monday, May 23, 2016

News from Behind the Scenes: May 2016



I haven't posted much to this blog for a little while now ( and not and frequently as I had wanted to for MSE in general). There has been a lot that has garnered my attention, but also, a little housework on the back end of the website. I wanted to give you an update so that you can have an idea of what to expect.

Blogger isn't meeting a lot of my needs these days. I have come to regret the decision as to whether or not to merge this blog into the main MSE site so long ago. When I bought a domain name, I should have just merged the two. Lesson learned. Meanwhile, I am struggling with the decision of moving this blog over as a subdomain to the main site( which is a HUGE ton of work), or simply to leave this be and begin posting to a blog series there.There are pros and cons to both. This blogspot still sees a lot of traffic but I prefer working through the MSE website. It has more functionality and it is so much easier for me to format the posts there. Rest assured that whatever my end decision is, I will announce it for you here.

I have been doing some tweaks and edits behind the scenes of MyScrapbookEvolution.com in an effort to provide new content later this fall( and maybe as early as this summer). For the most part, you won't notice anything until the new content goes live. I am adding in a new article series about my life as an expat. Much of my Project Life and pocket pages will be shared through it, as that is how I document my life abroad. Since we have a new apartment, I have found a need to start decorating it. What better way to do that than with things that I have made! These articles will start appearing under the new MSE LifeStyle category.

For added security, I have decided to upgrade the website with an SSL certificate. Under the previous hosted plan, it was a shared certificate through Hostgator. This new certificate will be for MSE only. Hostgator will handle the changes for me, however, I have been informed there might be a conflict in some content on wordpress. In some cases, the current wordpress installation and the SSL certificate cause some images to not display or for the person visiting the site to receive a mixed content warning. I am hoping this won't happen, but wanted to let everyone know in case it does. ( You can read more about this issue here is you are considering an SSL certificate for your site. It also explains what an SSL certificate does.) Please, rest assured that MSE is safe to visit! I also have a plan through Sitelock which scans the website for malware and keeps hackers at bay ( it's peace of mind for me as a website owner and ensures you have a safe site to visit). I will also be updating the plan through Sitelock to include a CDN. For you, that should mean MSE uploads faster.

It seemed so daunting to start a website of my own a few years back. However, despite those times when it's a headache, I have learned a lot.It continues to be a learning experience which is always good for the soul.

Meanwhile,as a family, we have settled in and love our life in Abu Dhabi. We have gotten an idea of what our homeschool schedule and social life will be like. I am making adjustments but also, looking forward to a few weeks of rest during the summer.

I hope everyone enjoys their upcoming school breaks! Happy Summer everyone!