Goodbye Windows Live Spaces. I'm Heading to Blogger.

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8/4/2006

Goodbye Windows Live Spaces. I'm Heading to Blogger.

I'm moving my blog over to Blogger as of today. Please go here from now on:

www.theworldaccordingtozed.blogspot.com

Windows.Live.Spaces isn't working properly since the rollout, they haven't fixed a number of serious issues that I was convinced they'd fix (like letting posters post with their names and not just their URLs, like letting posters ON the blog, like letting me see my statistics, etc., etc., etc.), and I like that I can size and position photos over there without a problem--you know, like a blog. Like a REAL blog. And I can design my blog like a real blog. It's all good so far.

My disappointment with Microsoft and Windows Live is pretty enormous right now, but I'm quite sure I'll be over it by ... later today.

Please change your URLs to the address above. I will slowly begin to move my archives from this The World According to Zed to the one over there...

How I get Technorati to figure out where I am is a whole other story, but I'll figure it out.

Zed

5:13 PM | Blog it | Computers and Internet

Comments (9)

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	Barbarawrote: Hey again Rob, Notice how my list in the previous comment (below) is numbered 1., 2., 3., 3., 4? That's because the add a comment box is only 1.5 inches deep and I couldn't see that I had made that boo-boo, thus verifying the validity of point #3 in my comment ... the SECOND point #3. :) Zed Aug. 11
	Barbarawrote: Hi Rob, Good to hear from you. I haven't left Spaces officially; I'm still here. In fact I stopped by two days ago to reply to comments. Right now, I'm just sort of in a wait-and-see mode, hoping Live Spaces will become what I and others need it to be. I know you're not surprised to hear that many users, myself included, were not happy with the changes or lack of changes made to Microsoft Windows Live Spaces--but I'm not sure you fully understand our unhappiness completely, so please allow me to try to explain. For me, the biggest area of concern is blogging. It's not just a matter of the rollout not going as well as expected, leaving bloggers with visitors who couldn't connect, visitors who couldn't comment, visitors who could comment but whose names wouldn't show up in the comments section (because they don't have a Windows Live ID), statistics that wouldn't work, etc., etc. My problem is bigger than that. Please don't take what I have to say as a host of criticisms, but as suggestions for how you can improve Live Spaces for bloggers. Okay? Ready? Here we go: 1. We all have our own set of needs, and most serious bloggers are far less interested in gadgets, add-ons, plug-ins, and a "my friends" section and MORE interested in seamlessly putting our thoughts down on the "new paper": a space in Windows Live Spaces, Blogger, or other blogging environments. We want--and are internally driven--to write. And we want and need to do so in the easiest, most gadget-free, add-on-free, plug-in-free, module-free way possible. I like the simplicity of Blogger. 2. A user's design of his or her space should be personal. Go check out my space on Blogger. It's pretty simple, but I added what I wanted in the sidebar (a counter and a clock, for example) without difficulty, and I was able to change the look of my space all day long--and in the beginning, I changed it all day long--without awkwardness. The template there works for me. Tweak UI gave me a few choices of ways to change my space, but they were slow and "clunky" and nothing ever looked the way I wanted it to look. (See #3 below.) If I want a bright-red banner for my blog name, I should be able to get that. (Right now, unless I've missed something, I can't add color or design to my blog name on Live Spaces.) And I don't want canned designs--such designs are not a fair representation of ME. And isn't that what blogging is all about for each blogger: "ME"? (Hey, it's a me, me, me world, you know.) I want my space to say "This space was put together by Zed!! It's so her!" :) Displaying a picture of a kid playing soccer or a palace in ShangHai as my background doesn't cut it for me and does not relate in any way whatsoever to what I write about my world. Oh, the soccer design might be great for soccer moms and their children, and the Shang Hai palace might work for an Asian prince, but those designs do not work for me--and my guess is they don't work for millions of others. BTW, Rob, your orange and purple page has got to go! My eyes! :) 3. The Tweak UI tool for creating a unique Live Spaces design is awkward and archaic at best. It's not possible that is a new and modern design tool. Surely it's possible to create an easier design methodology for Live Spaces. How about point-and-click color choices for all major design elements, a wide variety of pre-designed heading levels (don't mind me, I come from a publishing background), a wide variety of typefaces (25???) to suit individual tastes, text boxes, extracts, icons, and other design elements? 3. I want the depth of the comments box--the one I'm typing in right now--to be greater than 1.5 inches. I need to SEE what I've written. Writers like--no, need--that! Scrolling through a 1.5-inch box is a hassle and super annoying at best. How about allowing commenters to see a preview of their comment--the way other blogging environments allow? There's something about seeing a comment the way it will appear that allows one to find writing/typing errors. 4. A user should be able to size art by clicking on its corners once it's in place and to move it by dragging. Users shouldn't have to learn HTML to accomplish these tasks--there's got to be an easier way. 5. Finally, I ran a small software development team for a number of years and we tested our product 10 million times (okay, I'm exaggerating; 5 million times) to make sure our product worked correctly. Once, and only once, a user pointed out a minor, hidden error (no other user ever found it to this day), and we all went nuts because the product wasn't perfect and recalled it to fix the problem. Maybe that's the source of my anger toward Microsoft right now--or toward large corporations in general. If my little rinky-dink software development team could put quality control first, it seems to me that making sure a product works correctly on rollout should be top priority for everyone and every company. Sometimes corporations think it's more important to get a product out there than to get it out there working correctly. And when someone writes to me and says, "I tried to post on your blog a couple of days ago & for some reason I couldn't get signed on. <Angry ICON> That is me yelling at MSN, idiots that they are. I know when I first saw the changes to your blog I wasn't even sure I was on the right one. ... I say we shoot Microsoft" then I know I am not alone in that anger. I promise to think more about this situation and hope to add just one or two more comments in the course of the next few weeks and months. Deal? Thanks, Rob. I do appreciate your response. I hope things are going well on your end, or at least a whole lot better. Zed Aug. 11
	Rob Dolinwrote: Hey Zed, Since it looks like you are going to be blogging at Blogger (I hope in addition to Spaces as opposed to in replacement of Spaces), I recommend adding an RSS module to your Spaces for the feed from your blogger blog. You can add the RSS module via Customize \| Modules... and your blogger RSS feed is at: http://www.theworldaccordingtozed.blogspot.com/atom.xml. As far as technorati, you can register multiple blogs for your profile. Also, regarding your comment about photos, have you tried clicking the "HTML" button on the Spaces text editor and adding a bit of HTML to position your photos? Finally, regarding advertising, you might want to consider adding the Kanoodle Ads module and/or the Amazon book list module to your Space. Both of provide payments to the Space author. It may not be enough for a yacht crew and a place in Montauk, but at least it's a (hopefully easy) way for you to make some money from your site. (BTW, I have heard that San Diego is good for sailing too, but I'm originally from the midwest so the waves I am most familiar with are waves of grain :) ) I think you will find that Blogger and Spaces each have their strengths and weaknesses. I hope you will continue using Spaces (at least partially) and continue to provide your feedback (my work email is [my first and last name] [at] microsoft [dot] com.) 'All the best-- --Rob Aug. 11
	Barbarawrote: Wes, I agree that the team is probably extremely overworked right now. In fact just this afternoon I was thinking how that's one development team I would NOT want to be part of right now. But I like a product to work when I get it--especially when it's a product I've waited a long time to receive and when I've been told for a very long time how wonderful it will be when it finally is release. What a disappointment it is when, on receipt, I see that it's not particularly wonderful after all. If the new features work for you, great. But what I need from Live Spaces still doesn't exist. And I am cutting them slack, Wes, honestly. I haven't taken down my site, and I'm hoping that Live Spaces will become everything Microsoft promised and more some day. But for right now, I'm standing back as a spectator and waiting for new developments.Let's hope they knock our socks off at some point! In the meantime, enjoy your site here and the new software. Best, Zed Aug. 9
	Barbarawrote: pjakubo86 You're right. I have NO patience. :) I want things to work right. And when I think of Microsoft as a software giant I've come to expect it's products to work the way they were intended to work. They DID disappointment me. I expected more from them. Anyway, enjoy your Space wherever it may reside, now and in the future. Zed Aug. 9
	Barbarawrote: Blogger was out for about 5 minutes in the last hour--but it's back again. Here's the thing guys, I love it at Blogger. It offers features that I want as a blogger. I can size art and photos the way I want to, place it where I want to, and design my space the way I want to. That's what I want and need from a blog program. You might be looking for something different than me--you might want features in Live Spaces that mean nothing to me--and vice versa. It's just a difference of opinion that both sides are entitled to. If you're happy with Windows Live Spaces then stay here and enjoy it. I mean that. It worked for me for a while, and I hoped for all sorts of improvements that would make it better. But when the rollout finished, I found that the changes I desired weren't sufficient and that parts of the program I needed to work didn't. If Live Spaces works for you, great. I just wanted more from it, and less of what the Windows Live Spaces development team was attempting to deliver. Anyway, I'm really happy where I am now. And I hope you all will ultimately choose the program that works best for YOU. Enjoy! Aug. 9
	anonymous wrote: Google Error Server ErrorThe server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request. Please try again in 30 seconds. This is the error message I got when I tried to access your blog. So much for better performance. You're being extremely harsh on the Live team and I'm sure they don't deserve it. Aug. 9
	Patrick Jakubowskiwrote: Seconded...you've given them, what...3 or 4 days to figure out the problems? Patience is a virtue. Aug. 8
	Wesley Williamswrote: I think you're overreacting. Microsoft could have done a better job of informing people of possible pitfalls regarding the "upgrade", but we need to consider how big Spaces is (it's the biggest blogging site in the world) and how hard it is to ensure such an upgrade goes off without a hitch. I'd cut them some slack, no doubt the team are all working extended hours right now to fix the problems and knowing the IT industry as I do, they're not getting paid for that work. Aug. 8

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