The end of the world is nigh (well, the end of this server anyway)

[easyazon-image-link asin=”B004LGA5R2″ alt=”Baker Nuclear Explosion – 24″x36″ Poster” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BaQYmGsyL.jpg” align=”center” width=”500″ height=”333″]
I am about to start the move from my dedicated server to a new hostgator VPS and convert this behemoth multi site install to a standalone WordPress blog. It’s not quite the end of the world but bloomin’ ‘ell it feels like it!

New theme, new plugins, new new new!

I’m going to have to create a new theme for the new version of the site which always fills me with dread. I am not a designer! and I don’t want to pay someone to do it for me because that always ends up being a minefield so I’m going to go down the good old path of premade premium theme with some hackery done to it.

The theme

I’ve never been disappointed with Studiopress themes because they’re gorgeous, fast to load and really extendible. They’re especially good at being modified without actually having to do any destructive coding which is good because you can update them without killing all your mods.

I intend to do a fair bit of modding to it, mainly to make it fit nice with the ads and other bits of Comluv that I’d like to keep.

The plugins

[easyazon-image-link asin=”B000HDHGWU” alt=”Denali 115-Piece Home Repair Tool Kit” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/510OiX%2Bzr%2BL._SL160_.jpg” align=”left” width=”160″ height=”133″]Lots of plugins I have here now are going to have to be rewritten because they were originally designed to be run on a multi-site type of install and they’ll break a single site because of all the specialized functions or menu positions.

Ooh, that will be a minefield! It seems I can’t just make the edits needed to make it work. I know I’ll see lots of functions that I will just need to fiddle with and make better.

The databases, oh the databases!

Currently, this site uses 256 databases. Yes, you read that right, 256! It’s a throwback from when I allowed people to start a blog here and over 2000 people did which led to 2 years of pain and trauma!

I have a big job ahead of extracting the single database that houses this site, merge it with the global users database and meta values and then install it to a standalone WordPress install and then do some tricky bastardry on the post content and htaccess to make sure that all the images that were referenced

from /blogs.dir/1/ work with the normal /wp-content/uploads/ that will be used on the new server.

such fun!

Guest bloggers?

[easyazon-image-link asin=”B002VKXN06″ alt=”Adams Guest Check Pad, Carbonless, 3.5 x 6.88 Inches, White and Canary, 2-Part, 10-Pack 50 Sheets/Pad (104-50SW)” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41s02Ga4oDL._SL160_.jpg” align=”right” width=”128″ height=”160″]
Yes! this site has got a wonderful bunch of guest bloggers who are enjoying the benefits of publishing to a high traffic/PR site and there have been some great posts lately about everything from fighting allergies to using PLR products to how to recover from the Panda update.

I will be shaping the new theme to give maximum exposure to guest bloggers and I’ll be refining the custom guest blogger plugin that I use to notify authors that their article has been published. It may take a few weeks to get fully configured but I am hoping to make the new comluv a place for authors to find new readers and for readers to find new authors.

Dashboard Locked!

[easyazon-image-link asin=”B00004SQLI” alt=”Master Lock 1500D Dial Combination Lock, 1-7/8-Inch, Black” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31DDs2VS90L._SL160_.jpg” align=”left” width=”109″ height=”160″]I’ll have to lock up the dashboard while I do these changes and when the new server has everything in place, I’ll swap over the DNS to point to my new home so hopefully I’ll be able to do it all without any downtime.

There wont be any new posts after this one is published until I’m on the new site but I’m hoping to get it all done by the weekend so it’s only a few days to go without anything new to read.

Let the move commence!

[easyazon-image-link asin=”B004SEYB36″ alt=”Matchbox 2011 # 61 MBX Mover Orange Cab With White Cube” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41QQR8%2BP-%2BL._SL160_.jpg” align=”right” width=”160″ height=”120″]This post is set to publish on Tuesday and hopefully by then, I’ll have a working copy of this site on the new server which I can fiddle with and tweak until it’s ready to be the new comluv

Please be patient while the changes take place! (and wish me luck!)

(images in this post were sourced from Amazon using the awesome EasyAzon plugin. Try clicking them, they all link to a product page on Amazon. sweet! free images that can make me money)