Now that CSS Naked Day is over, I do owe you all a fabulous surprise. :D The surprise being the (not so surprising) "temp theme" I've been coding away at for the past few weeks! So where is this theme, right?! I'm hearing more screams of "OMG, Melissa, stop being such a tease!" XD
Here is my confuzzlement. I am wanting very much to start using melly.me (Mm), like right now. I've already switched over my collective and Q*Bee quilt, along with a few other projects, to the Mm domain. The problem is that I really want to start Mm off with a fabulous release, which is going to take me several more weeks, if not months, to design and code what I have planned. :(
I've gone back and forth the last few days on whether or not I should just switch everything over to Mm and start forwarding everything on GA.net anyway. Mostly because I'd hate to release this cute new temp theme I have, start blogging all kinds of cool things, get even more involved on the web and have everyone start/keep linking to GA...resulting in a hassle for link updating when the switch to Mm is made. Obviously it wouldn't be hard for me, I can just forward everything on my end...but if others link any of my articles, then there are other things to worry about like pagerank, authority, etc. X_X
So what should I do? Do you think it's a good idea to do the switch now (adjusting my temp theme a little) so Mm is fully ready to go when it's official release time? Or should I keep GA.net the same and do a full on release of Mm when it's finished in a few months? :$
Relaunch Highlights
Happy Halloween Relaunch Party!
Melly.me is Here!
Spring Redesign Continues!
Aisling »
April 10th, 2009 at 7:20pmHmmm... tricky decision! I'm probably not going to be able to help, either. :P All I know is that a BIG UNVEILING is REALLY cool and fun, and I think yours could be SUPER. But, at the same time, it's been 6 months on the 18th since I launched Dreamling, and I STILL have people linking to Aisling-B.net. :\ On the other hand, it shouldn't take too long to build up your PR again, I've been back up at 4 for a while now. :)
Kaylee »
April 10th, 2009 at 7:35pmI think it's okay to have the ~big release~ at a domain that you've already been using for a while :)
Melissa »
April 10th, 2009 at 7:36pmTrue dat! It shouldn't take too long to build PR back up. However, I think what's irking me the most is I'd just hate to get all crazy involved in things, using GA.net as my link, possibly have places link to me...when I'd rather be known as Mm than GA. Does that make sense?! XD
If I were to switch, I think I'd probably append my temp them to be a "transition theme", with some spiffy notations in the header explaining the change. I may be able to pull it off... >_>
Oh and um...I'm prolly one of the people still linking to your old domain, eep. XD <3>
Dayna »
April 10th, 2009 at 8:02pmI feel that it should be okay to release it now. There's still time to redirect the traffic. Plus, other people linking to your pages should have time to update their links when they realised the old one isn't working or is redirecting. :)
Cristina »
April 10th, 2009 at 8:28pmWell you said you temp theme is a modified version of this one, right? So throw it up and work on Melly.me. I thought that was the whole idea anyway. :$
Sarah »
April 10th, 2009 at 9:47pmBig release, baby!
Medli »
April 11th, 2009 at 12:34amI don't really have a solution for you on this one. When I try to bring a big surprise up for my domain, I just work on it during the side and leave my old up for a while. However, since you said the new layout is just a modified version of the current one, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to go ahead and bring it up. That would allow you to have more time to focus on the bigger project. The choice is really yours. True, we are waiting for the big arrival, but that arrival can come when you want it to come. No matter what your choice is, the surprise is going to be great. :)
Ann »
April 11th, 2009 at 1:01amGive us the temp theme on here, don't necessarily start blogging too much, and get that Mm big release ready in a month or so!
I wouldn't expect your PR will drop more than it would have anyway...
Melissa »
April 11th, 2009 at 5:09amThank y'all for your your opinions. :D
I hope it's just understood that this "official release" is going to literally take months...possibly until the end of the year. Mostly because I'm needing to do some crazy research on some of the stuff I'd like to do. I'd also like to take my time and make everything awesome and not feel rushed to complete.
Also, my temp theme I'm going to toss up anyway, the main question was whether or not to keep it as a temp theme for GA.net or to make it a "transition theme" into Mm!
Hmm, maybe I'm not explaining my question right, LOL! XD
Jess »
April 11th, 2009 at 5:13amI think you should switch your domain! Because melly.me is cool (like me) and if you're wanting to get more involved with the web and stuff... you should just go ahead and switch it. Put up your temp design.... and then throw up your official design when it's ready... It'll be like opening a new place of business! We know you're getting built... we're just anticipating the GRAND OPENING!!!
:):):):)
Caity »
April 11th, 2009 at 8:32amI'm biased since I'm so excited for Melly.me and also since I'm one of those people who is very spontaneous and would totally have already switched myself. My vote is switch! You obviously want to and I think it would be a fun project! There's nothing wrong with tweaking after you're already open! Plus, lots of people like to see progress on a site as it goes up!
Meggan »
April 11th, 2009 at 9:07amSwitch now, and put the temp theme up at melly.me. It'll let people start getting your URL moved over and recognizing you as Melissa from Melly.me instead of Melissa from GA.net, and then once everyone is used to the idea you can WOW SHAZAM them with your awesomely rad new theme!
Noellium »
April 11th, 2009 at 2:30pmO_o I thought you were going to put up an entirely new layout on Melly.me? *scrutinizes older entries*
But putting it up now with a temp theme sounds like a good idea. Like others said, if it's up sooner, people might know to link to your new site instead of the old one. ^^
(Not to mention I am eagerly waiting to link to Melly.me, but I would feel a little weird about linking to an almost bare site. ^^;)
Catherine »
April 11th, 2009 at 2:34pmI can't wait that long XD Noww! :dance: You don't need a big released :) XO These emotions are so cool =]. Where did you get them. ^^; :cheer:
Vanesa »
April 11th, 2009 at 2:41pmI'm impatient, so I'd really like it now. :D
But if the ~big release~ will be better than if it was just now, I'm willing to wait. Slowly and painfully. Look how much I sacrifice for you. :P
Melissa »
April 11th, 2009 at 5:52pmI am going to put up a totally new layout, hee! :goodie: But it will take me a looong time to perfect. So in the meantime I figured it would be good to have the temp/transitional theme up to satisfy me so I can be properly motivated to work. XD
Melissa »
April 11th, 2009 at 5:54pmI got the smilies at Aneesah's Hideaway. :D
sharon »
April 12th, 2009 at 11:25amI like the idea of a transition theme. Maybe you can put some sort of subscription link in the theme so people can be updated when you officially launch the new site? That way they can immediately update their bookmarks and so forth.
Melissa »
April 12th, 2009 at 12:52pmThat's a good idea, Sharon! I'll have to get a little creative on that....I would say to most people to just subscribe to my blog or website tweets, but for those who just want to be notified and nothing else...hmm...will have to ponder! :D
Annie »
April 13th, 2009 at 10:07pmI'm definitely one to comment on domain name change/transition. I owned a site called "sparrow" for a while, but when I made the switch a lot of people found it hard to find my new site. Mostly because I did it without warning.
You've been advertising for a while about the switch, so I think most people will take a hint :) esp. if you have a note on melly.me explaining that you used to be at guitar angel.
I'm also very excited for your domain unveiling :D
Melissa »
April 14th, 2009 at 5:45amI'm excited too! :dance: One thing I'm going to make sure to do to try to avoid that kind of situation is to forward everything via htaccess to melly.me so no one will have any excuse, haha!
Ethel »
April 16th, 2009 at 2:45amHello~ First time commenter here. :D
I think a full release would be better, since it will be all complete and pretty and working right from the start. But yeah, it will take time and your visitors might lose interest if you go on a hiatus for too long. I vote for full release, as long as this stays updated :) You can blog here, while working on Melly.me :dance:
Good luck! Can't wait for the big release~ ^_^