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Hey, all: as has been written before here, after installing MovableType 4.01, the previously functioning site templates and MovableType customizations had to be set aside.

The updated, newly installed MT 4.01 edition is unique from previous MT editions and the template methodology is unique accordingly; thus, templates written and functioning with previous MT editions don't translate well to the unique 4.01 configuration and it's required me starting afresh in both learning about these MT 4.01 changes and then recreating my own site per site requirements. I'm pleased to write that what initially appeared beyond my reach -- the MT 4.01 program -- has now become understandable and usable after reading the Documentation in while living my life otherwise this past week. MT 4.01 is very smartly done and I commend the authors for what they've created.

And that I have an excellent webhost is, of course, a large part of accomplishing the program installation. In fact, the excellent webhost accomplished all of that on this site's behalf (which is why they remain the most excellent webhost I've yet to find, not that I continue to look for alternatives, being exceptionally pleased with where this site is situated now: livingdot.com).

As to my site progress, pending today are installation in the site templates of blogrolls and direct links. All those sites I've maintained past mutual links with -- including blogrolls -- will return soon (another day or so -- I have not had a dedicated project time to complete this site's new templates and all, but am rapidly catching up recently). So, finish isn't too far off after today, as to overall site (re)design.

Thanks, again, for reading BIRD.

Hey, all, still on pause here due to the site design issues. The template you see here now isn't the site design, just the default Movable Type 4.01 template -- I'm still working on a site redo and not updating for this Holiday weekend while working on the site.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, stop back by mid-week ahead and the site will be back on more frequent updates by then, even if the design isn't completed by then.

What you see here as to site appearance isn't the finished site design, just the holding appearance until I author a new set of templates.

But the Movable Type 4.01 edition has been reinstalled and that's taken care of a few of the slowdown glitches I wrote about earlier (see previous entry).

Pending site (re)design, I'm going to be watching a lot of movies on this nice holiday weekend and reading a lot about Movable Type 4.01. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

This blog isn't stagnant, it's stale. Updates have become burdensome since upgrading to MovableType 4.0 due to imported, pre-existing templates used successfully otherwise with previous MT editions, and, due to an excess of image files cluttering up my "Site Root" in my site File Manager (an annoying result of many thousands of foolish hotlinkers, requiring image file replacements at existing hotlinked locations combined with replacement images under new file names uploaded to maintain my own use of my own image files on my own site). Essentially, my site takes an excessive time to respond to publish and edit commands using MT 4.0 and I grow weary of waiting it out, and thus, the use of the site becomes tedious for all but the most ardent intent to write something.

Thus, it's become more of a hassle to update and edit this site while waiting for the site response, and, it's become ridiculously silly to try to comment here due to the unresolved, shrunken comments "box" or reply area for visitors here. And, I've kept postponing figuring out the solutions myself due to life requirements elsewhere -- I'm not a designer educated formally in website design and the template design issues I've managed so far are mostly like the sweater and sock results of someone trying to figure out on their own how to knit: takes longer than paying someone else to do it for you, unless the process is one of education while the design results are left hanging in the interim.

But I'm working on resolutions to these problems, inorder to continue blogging. I've considered deleting the existing site, starting over with a basic prepared template and then leaving thousands of broken image links all over the internet for hotlinkers to deal with, and then recreating site customizations on my own time, one at a time in "knit perl" fashion (pun intended), to accommodate my learning curve.

What I need to do is just zip-up the existing site contents, save it to disk, clear the existing File Manager and then reimport and start all over, or, if there's any designer reading this who would be able to solve a few existing hangups for me, I would appreciate it (please contact me, if so).

I have a site arrangement ("design") resolved already, I know what templates I need as to title and function (for the most part) but I need someone who can author templates with ease, OR be available for a few hours here and there to advise me how to accomplish specific tasks. The first task would be to advise me how to enlarge the functional comments box or commenting area, because after importing to MovableType 4.0 and launching TypeKey commenting, the box shrunk in size before my very eyes to something impossible to use.

Thus, due to these existing complications, I am not updating BIRD as often as I'd like to be and, so far, to date, not made the concentration effort available to learn to solve these site design problems on my own.

However, I will continue to update this site and manage in bandaid fashion the existing File Manager congestion, but I felt it would be helpful to any readers to explain why the site goes silent more often lately -- it's certainly not for lack of anything to write. Please hang-in and visit again because I appreciate the visits.