I don’t think writing about topics or events that aren’t part of my list will become a regular occurence here—but sometimes you just have to start finish some shit.

By the way, if you think you’ll be offended by what you’re about to read, maybe you just want to skip down to the useful blogging tip.

The So-Called “Incident”

This past weekend I got wind of a question that popped up on twitter by someone using the savvyblogging hashtag. They wanted to know about autoresponders and what people thought about them. I chimed in because I’ve had some experience and I like to think I can help. I remember the days when you had to FTP uphill both ways.

Maybe the fact that they were going to be doing it wrong played a small part in my replies.

It’s sound advice. A lot about blogging is building and maintaining a community and autoresponders are pretty much the opposite of that. I’m not saying you have to personalize every response and ask about their little dog too, but at least skim their email to make sure you’re on topic.

What followed is quite humorous. If you’re an IRC holdover, you might say I attracted the attention of someone playing mod. And it would appear that I offended the fine folk’s delicate sensibilities with my choice of language. Basically, I was scolded for saying ‘pissed’ and ‘douche’ and whatever the hell else I said—not unlike a toddler would be scolded for sneaking into the cookie jar.

Now, I don’t mind being told I’m wrong when I’m actually in the wrong. Eh, scratch that, nobody likes to be told they’re wrong. I do try to acknowledge my shortcomings and do better next time, but in this situation I am not in the wrong. I am, however, outnumbered; so it’s a good thing I have logic on my side.

The Resolution

1. Understand how the Internet works.
I’ve included a descriptive drawing of the basics:

2. Understand how twitter hashtags work.
Hashtags are neither owned nor operated. Twitter uses them as keywords with the only added functionality of quick search links. Not searches about those keywords. Not searches related to those keywords. You only get tweets containing those keywords. Building a brand around a hashtag as they are currently implemented is not feasible.

3. Understand that you choose your version of the Internet.
This concept applies to what sites you allow access to, to your twitter stream as well as comments on your blog. It’s your personal responsibility, not mine, to sanitize what you consider offensive from your Internet downstream.

I respect that you don’t use “bad” words and don’t expect you to use them. Respect that others do, and expect that they damn well will.

And Now For Something Completely Different: A Savvy Blogging Tip

One of the most important things you can do for your site is to create a test version of it. You need a version that’s not publicly accessible to test adding new features, plugins, design changes, software updates and other various and sundry things. Many hosts have backend admin software to automatically install popular CMS’s like WordPress or Drupal. It can be easy as pie, so there’s no reason not to have one.

You don’t have to buy another domain name for your test site. You can add a subdomain or even install your blogging software in a subdirectory of your existing site. In this case, you’ll want to be careful that you’re connecting to a new database and not your live database. If your host only allows you 1 database, it’s time to switch hosts. There are numerous plans out there now with loads of extras like unlimited databases.

Some of you may use blogging services. I’ve never used services like Blogger or WordPress.com, but I don’t see why you couldn’t create a test site with them. Try signing up for an additional account.

Next, you’ll want to lock the site down. This is your playground, you’re going to be installing or upgrading plugins or themes and something is going to break. You don’t want people (or indexers) crawling all over this junkyard you’re about to setup. If you’re using WordPress, grab the Maintenance Mode plugin, activate it, and if you care to, edit the message to tell folks that this site isn’t going live any time soon. If you’re a more technically advanced user, you can add a site password with your .htaccess file.

Even if your test site is just a fresh install with a nearly empty database, that’s a good start. A more savvy tester will fully duplicate their production site in their test environment. Backup your production database—which is always a good idea anyway, so go ahead and stash a copy elsewhere, while you’re at it—and restore to your test environment. Copy your entire folder structure while you’re at it. Don’t know how? Take a couple hours, grab an FTP client and learn how to use it.

If you don’t have the time to learn this, hire someone who already knows it. You’ll be glad you did. The bottom line is that at some point, something that was entirely preventable will go horribly wrong. You’ll be glad it happened on your test site when it does.