all Shiny + New
So why the big change? Why the new website? I don't often write about blogging itself, but this migration calls for a little explanation.
so long Blogger
Since 2010 I've been blogging on Blogger, now owned by Google. It's really a great platform for most bloggers. It's simple, straightforward and not at all high-tech. Unfortunately, it's also pretty stagnant. Google rarely improves anything. When I've wanted to do anything special I've had to use html. And remember Google Reader? Remember when it up and disappeared? I wondered sometimes if that would befell Blogger. And then what? Yikes.
blog banner, circa 2010
enter Squarespace
After researching blog platform alternatives, I chose to move to Squarespace. Squarespace is really a website-builder, not specifically a blog platform. It's not free like Blogger, but it includes some extras I've been paying for such as ecommerce. All told the change cost me little as I did the web design and transfer myself.
How To's/Patterns
Squarespace helped me understand that I wanted a website, not "just a blog." One of the biggest draws to this new platform is all the customization available through a surprisingly user-friendly interface. I have so much flexibility in displaying pictures, videos, collections of posts, page layouts, home page customization, etc. Plus special tools like newsletter subscription, search and contact forms are built-in. It's rare for a program to be so powerful (think Photoshop), yet so easy to learn and use (unlike Photoshop).
What's New
Home Page - my new landing page accomplishes a lot and looks rather nice doing it! You can quickly navigate to recent posts for those who just want to read the blog, or discover what Stitched in Color is all about with some scrolling.
Improved Quilts Gallery - Browse my quilts by category to get a feel for what styles you like: Improv, Angled, Simple, Scrap, Curvy, Applique and Quilt-as-you-go. Click"see all" to access all the quilts in any category. Um, there are a LOT.
Color Inspiration - Under Inspiration in the main menu you'll find a Color page featuring all of my Mosaic Contest inspiration posts and more.
eCommerce - instead of transferring you to BigCartel or Etsy to purchase patterns, classes or quilts, now I'm selling directly from my website with Squarespace's secure checkout. Digital patterns are delivered automatically!
Newsletter - At the bottom of my home page you'll find a peach form for subscribing to my newsletter. This is an occasional email that will keep you informed of new patterns, classes and workshops.
Fabrics + Tools - New pages to help you shop for fabrics and find the tools I use and recommend.
Shop/Tools
Bumps
No transition is without its bumps. There was a snafu with my blog import that delayed the site changeover by over a week just when I was ready to launch. I had to use both websites for a bit there.
But the biggest problem has been the comments functionality. It's been two weeks since I made Squarespace aware of the problem, but the comments field is still not consistently displaying. I'm also disappointed that it's hard to reply to your comments via email. I'll always respond in the comments thread itself though!
Make the Change
Overall I am really pleased with my new site! I trust we'll get the comments issue ironed out eventually (or I might have to resort to Disqus comments). But more importantly, I hope you are enjoying the new space. Please do let me know what you like and what is missing. Your feedback is appreciated!!!
Oh, and if you have been following Stitched in Color via a blog reader such as Bloglovin or Feedly, you may have to re-subscribe to start picking up new posts. Just enter my web address like you are following for the first time, and that should solve any problems.