Like I wrote on the Facebook page last night, SO. FUCKING. EXCITED.
If you go to the site now you can see the beginnings of what it’s going to be, as well as the very cool new INS logo. At this point my web designer is starting to undertake the massive job of moving the 900+ stories from the old host to the new. My main concern when contemplating the update was how much of a pain in the ass it would be to do that, but she assured me it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. I’m sure some of you have noticed that it’s being built on a WordPress template and will no longer look like a crappy GeoCities page circa 1998, however commenting on stories will not and will never be enabled. I know that may disappoint some, but doing that would make the antis declare open season on INS contributors. INS will continue to be a site where women may share their stories open and honestly, and fear of being judged would prevent many would-be contributors from doing so-even if the judging is positive.
At this point the foundation is being laid. Once it is, then my web designer and I will start fine-tuning. I can tell you that the FAQs will stay, as well as the links and Buzz pages. The About INS and Why INS Was Created pages will most likely be combined and revamped. The guestbook is up in the air-there’ll be one but I don’t know in what guise. A longtime INS friend created a “greatest hits” of guestbook snark so if the old one goes the memories can live on, LOL. And there will be tags. Oh, yes, indeed there will be tags. No longer will I get e-mails saying “are there any stories I can read about married women in their forties having an abortion?” Win-win for everyone involved.
As far as ETA of when the new site goes live, all I can say right now is “this month.” I’m leaving on vacation for a week tomorrow and although I’ll have my laptop with me-like the old American Express commercials say, I don’t leave home without it-obviously I’ll be out and about with my beloved doing vacation things. I’m also going to have a learning curve. Since this blog’s on WP I’ll have some familiarity but not with the running of the site, and I don’t want my already beleaguered web designer doing work that I can do myself. So be patient because trust me, it’s going to be worth the wait.