The ever-changing internet world continues to blow my mind, and this month, it happened again. I got an email from my website hosting service saying they decided to limit storage space for my subscription tier. I would either have to reduce the size of my website or pay more money for more space!
At first, I couldn’t believe it! How could I have possibly used too much storage space? But I’ve had this website since 2014; I’ve uploaded tons of photos and videos, and I’ve never done any cleaning. I just signed up for another three-year plan, and I don’t want to pay any more than I already do, so I cleaned!
Once I started cleaning, I couldn’t stop! I found so much stuff I’d forgotten and didn’t need.
I dusted out all the corners, oiled the squeaky hinges, and gave it a fresh coat of paint!
Well, I mean, I deleted all the stray pages and unused photos, ensured all the links were working, and edited the posts I kept, making them more “evergreen.”
Don’t worry – I made a document with all my blog posts and photos, so I have a copy of everything. This blog has been a journal of all my sewing and art projects, and I’ll get it printed as a memory book for my own enjoyment.
After my big cleanup, my website is WAY under the storage limit!
Have you ever done a big blog cleanup or made a memory book of your blog? I’d love to know your thoughts!
Wishing you well!
Well, I Know I am OLD Fashioned….. I just don’t have any idea how to do “clean-ups” and “resizing”! I started my blog in 2010 (on blogger) and am still posting once a week mostly with LOTS of not downsized photos! (I want to be able to expand them to really see the micro details!) So I pay a small monthly fee to blogger for storage. But a year ago I got worried about losing my content so I decided to just print out and keep in binders (A LOT of binders, Lol!) all my posts! I have all my stories as well as 12 years of projects and Comments from followers…. I couldn’t bear the idea of losing them. But now I am behind again…. Maybe I need to learn how to do the blog “book” thing….. so much to learn! But meanwhile I just keep adding content and making minis…. cause that’s what I love. I can’t quite imagine a clean-up! Lol!
Hi Betsy! I think it’s a great idea to print your posts and make a binder! In fact, going forward, I’m going to do that, so thank you for the great idea! It’ll be much easier to add it to my monthly tasks of backing up files and photos and will keep it much more manageable. Right now, it is overwhelming – my book will be just over 300 pages! It might burn up my printer!
Good for you, Michelle! The thought of losing one’s life’s work, even if on a blog, is a real nightmare! You have reminded all of us that blogs need regular cleaning, too!
I love the idea of a blog book, though I think my volumes would have to be separated into books by year. I post a lot and am not shy about the amount of photos I post. Let’s see… 8 years at $100/book… Yikes! I am so grateful that free Blogger is still an option and that they offer the Toolbox utility for quarterly back ups. But I still do not feel SAFE!
Hi Jodi! I love reading your blog posts and seeing all your photos, so I’m glad you don’t have restrictions on the amount you can post. Blogger seems like a good platform. Making a blog book is expensive and time consuming for sure! I’ll have one book of just over 300 pages, and then I’m going to take some great advice from Betsy and start printing my posts to put in a binder.
Michelle, we must have the same host because I got that same email this week! I have had my blog since 2008 and it is definitely in need of some cleaning. I did go up a tier (but not the unlimited because WHO HAS THAT KIND OF MONEY FOR A BLOG) but what I should have done is what you did and go back to clean. Well, maybe I should just do that anyway and then adjust my tier.
Where do you get your blog printed as a memory book? I have wanted to look into that but it seems so overwhelming! I’d be so sad if this blog got lost as it’s basically my Dear Diary for the past fifteen years.
Hi Nicole! I have Blue Host, and it makes me cranky because I signed up for a three-year term, and now after one year, they decided to limit storage space. If I wanted to cancel my plan, there’d be no way, but they can do whatever they want! I don’t know what I’ll do when the two years are up.
I’ve had other books self-published and printed through Amazon before, which worked well. But I’m thinking of trying LuLu for my blog book. I’ll write about how it goes!
I’ll admit I’ve thought about cleaning up from time to time but as I’m only a beginner in the scheme of things (with lots of storage left) I haven’t…but now I’m thinking maybe it would be better to clean up as I go along!
I love the idea of a blog book…only today I was thinking my blog is like a journal, but the thought of going back and saving all the pages as a document is almost as off-putting as the thought of cleaning! 🤣
Maybe I’ll start from now on both fronts 🤔
Hi Rae! I’ve learned a lot over the years about uploading smaller photos and such, so it really helped to get rid of some older things. I had some giant videos that took up way too much space!
I wish I’d done the blog book earlier, because now I have a lot of formatting to do. I think I’ll add to my next blog book yearly so that it’s not as overwhelming.
Yes that’s a good idea, it could become a bit of a tome given time!
So true! Mine will definitely be a tome! 🤣 I might need two books!
Yay to cleaning up!
Back in 2010, my first year of blogging, I created a blog book. I still have it! It’s interesting to look back on. 🤣❤️
So cool that you made a blog book, Kari! I still need to do some formatting, so it’ll print nicely, but I’m looking forward to having the book!
Wow that’s wonderful you did a clean up! It’s so much to maintain isn’t it? I love the idea of a blog book that sounds great!
Thank you, Michele! A blog and website are a lot to maintain for sure! I feel good about the cleanup!