Lord, deliver us from evil. And a thousand emails.

Funny thing is, I don’t consider myself a techie geek.

Yet I’ve got quite the knack for digging in and figuring things out. And my problem-solving abilities are strong. Thus I call myself a closeted geek.

WordPress in point. Upon initial entry, it was unfamiliar and overwhelming. And a whole other beast compared to Vox, whose navigation was kindergarten in comparison.

True to my nature, however, I rose to the occasion. Dedicated hours in the first couple days to exploring, following this link, pursuing that tidbit in a drop-down menu. The great achievement of WP is its on-site support. Comparatively, Vox pales dramatically. After a couple days, I’d gotten the lay of the land and the basics. The initial huh!? – evaporated.

Fact is, I totally love the challenge and the learning! And my brain naturally engages in systems that, to present an analogy, require opening the doors and trespassing the hallways. So I’m happy at WP; for its design, I couldn’t be otherwise.

Which isn’t to say all is peachy keen.

What I’d tweak:

EMAIL!

1. I don’t want my email address appearing on notifications sent to subscribers. There’s no getting around it, no option to remove it. Matter of fact, WP nearly lost me on that singular count. I’m a master of privacy; I am not a happy camper on this aspect.

2. I don’t want to hear what all commentors at Joe’s blog have to say! And I especially don’t want to hear what particular Voxers/people who annoy the heck outta me have to say! I don’t care. I’m not interested. Go away!

Unfortunately, there’s no option for selectivity. You leave a comment at Joe’s blog and want to receive Joe’s reply to you. On Vox, a one-to-one was innate. Here, you must subscribe to ALL comments, if only to receive the one directed to you.

That SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS!

Imagine the deluge of emails from blogs with active commentary! I’m not a blogshound so the amount of emails bearing others’ comments is manageable. Still, I don’t want them. PERIOD. I may only want to know what Joe said to me. If I want to know what others said, I will hop over to Joe’s blog or read via GoogleReader.

(P.S. To illustrate, one blogger reported 400 comments emails in her box in a day! She’s a blogshound, however, so will change her tactics, spend her life reading emails or delete them unread, which defeats her purpose for subscribing.)

So stop forcing others’ comments on me, WP! Please! Give me an opt-out option that doesn’t simultaneously opt me out too!

While I’d suggest additional tweaks here and there, these are the two that rock my world unfavorably.

In related news, I see the Vox migration unfolding as predicted. They moved their material but their blogs remain inert. The platform rules of engagement here are so much greater than Vox’s and I knew it’d cost us a certain lot.

Of the many teachings from Vox, this is one: I’m going to be even more stringent in maintaining a blogroll of active bloggers. At Vox, I cut a number of once-active bloggers who fell into inactivity some slack in case they returned – and they never did.

Here, rules of engagement similar to platform interaction apply. You contribute, you stay; you don’t, bye bye. Sound harsh? It’s not. I’ve had my fill of deadwood at Vox.

Today is a new day, this is a new site and the future is bright. I ain’t mucking that up with, yup, deadwood.

And a moment to thank my readers. I blossom in an environment of activity and interest in the words that flow from my spirit through my fingertips to you. Your very presence does not go unrecognized or unappreciated. So, merci my readers.

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