Website/Hosting

Just been through a “beneath the bonnet” upgrade of GBMINI and with nothing much going on with GBMINI the car, I will instead waffle about GBMINI the web pages!

My web pages are hosted through 1and1. I signed up with them when they were offering a free trial – the package offered a reasonable 500MB storage as well as PHP support (the ability to execute programs on the server). I also use SSI which ensure that the right hand column of all GBMINIs pages is correct (because it is the same file!)
I recently upgraded and now for $10/month I have masses of storage, 10 times more bandwidth than I need, and all the features I am ever likely to need.
I also host three different sites (GBMINI, MargaretAndIan, and MINIsOnTop) within the same package – the same account, log-in, etc make it easy to look after all the sites.

I wanted PHP support because I wanted to upgrade from Blogger which I used to use for my weblog; I now use MoveableType which is much more flexible. Benefits of MoveableType include the calendar grid and the search facility (which Blogger did not have when I left them); more important I can totally customize the pages any way I wish (so long as I am smart enough to figure it out!)
I have just completed the upgrade to a new version of MoveableType which offers “dynamic pages”; this feature means that not all GBMINIs web pages really exist – instead they are created “on the fly” when accessed by someone. The downside is that those pages take longer to load but the upside is that when I post something new, or when someone posts a comment, the process is quicker.

Finally to look after my pictures I use Gallery. Gallery is a bit “clunky” and I am sure there are nicer programs out there now, but I have loads of pics in there already with loads of links everywhere – I don’t see me changing things around!
I was able to use the CRON feature available with 1and1 to speed up GBMINIs main gallery page; that helped speed Gallery up a while back!

Some pages (like the home page) are plain HTML not built by MoveableType; for those I use AceHTML which is a bit more than just a text editor and works well for me; the companion program AceFTP handles uploads & downloads, and I use WebSynchronizer to maintain a regular backup of the server – the program automatically handles downloading files changed on the server (weblog files for example) as well as files that I have edited on my PC.

I have been wanting to improve my weblog pages for a while, having seen what other people have. What triggered activity was last weekend when blogger failed to post to my web site for a day (their tech support was quick, but not helpful).
I had seen weblogs of other MINI owners, including Sean Bartniks which runs on Movable Type and has a built-in search feature, so I investigated further.
It turns out that you need features like “php” to make Movable Type work, but since switching to 1and1 I have this … so I bravely followed the instructions and installed Movable Type, and after a while I got it to work!
Next I had to move all my posts out of blogger and into the new weblog (which was easy but tedious – adding titles to every post), and get the look of the new weblog in the style I wanted.
And now, here is the new weblog!
My only issue at the moment is that I wanted to have this AND last months calendar (over on the right), but I cannot figure how to display the month/year of last months calendar – if anyone knows, please tell me!
Anyway, hope you like the new format and features.