2020: Blogging Thoughts For A New Year

~ beetleypete

Four days into a new year, my mind turns to thinking about my blogs over the next twelve months.

Because I am still using the now outdated Windows 7 on this PC, I may have to consider changing to a new version during the year. This brings with it the prospect of having to use the dreaded ‘Gutenberg Block Editor’ on WordPress, something I have so far managed to avoid. I am thinking about paying someone to give me a comprehensive and easy to understand tutorial, so if that’s something you can do, feel free to contact me.

As I posted a lot less of my own photos during 2019, I still have almost 70% of my allowance remaining, on the paid-for ‘Personal Plan’ I use. Considering that, I will try to take a lot more photos for the blog in 2020. Especially of Ollie, who will be 8 years old next month.

LinkedIn has generated so few views of my blog over the past year, I think I will give up on that particular social media platform. If anyone only uses that to view my posts, please let me know in the comments.

Fiction will still feature here, with short stories and longer serials. But I will reduce the word length of serial episodes considerably, to make them more reader-friendly. I would like to say that I am going to write a lot less about weather in 2020, but I fear that will not be the case. If anyone has any other suggestions about what they would like to see more of on this blog, feel free to tell me.

I stopped reading again late last year, when a long bout of cold/flu/cough made it hard for me to read at night in bed. I will try to get back to that soon, and hopefully begin to review some of the many blogger’s books I have bought but still not read.

I am determined to stop stressing about the new followers who have no blog connected to their gravatar. So if you follow this blog, and never hear from me, it is because you have not connected your blog, and I have no way of commenting, following, or communicating with you.

For any of you new bloggers who have decided that 2020 is the year you are going to start blogging, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. If I can ever be of help to you, my email address is on the ‘About’ page.

Here’s to another great year of blogging, in the year to come.

85 thoughts on “2020: Blogging Thoughts For A New Year”

  1. You are the kindest blogger I know! If I only had met you sooner-I am not at all tech savy and was amazed it happened at all! Besr wishes fir a wonderful new year with you delightful blog . . I can not wait! your fan and friend-Michele

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  4. Like you I tried the Gutenberg block editor, and reverted back to something I understand. Studied Gutenberg when in printing college, so the new WordPress should have been a breeze. It isn’t! Ten years ago I bought WordPress For Dummies, it might be undated.
    Just a quickie Pete, while on the subject of WordPress. Do we get daily backups included in our paid personal account?
    Happy New Year, and Yes! The short form posts are far more accessible.

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  6. Hi Pete, I’m a fan of your blogs, sometimes I read the series but tend to get a little behind, life distractions! I say keep the variety going. Also I have to say I enjoy reading all the folks who comment on your posts! I’ve followed a few of my favorites. You’ve created such a lovely community, one in which we all benefit! Warmly, Cheryl

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    1. Thanks, Cheryl. The serials are always available in a complete story, if you ever want to catch up.
      As for the comments, I love the way everyone interacts with each other. For me, such engagement is the very ‘soul’ of blogging, and worth far more than many views or ‘Likes’. .
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. I am praying so! I am going to do my best. I haven’t been active this last week and a half because of my car being totaled with us being in an accident. Everyone is alive and okay just some injuries to get past. But I am trying to be positive still even though just put all my money to fix the car 2 weeks before the accident if it’s not one thing it’s another. Lol. Hoping y you’re doing well, friend!❤💛💜 Lots of love.

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  10. Hey Pete, I’m on Windows 10 but I still use the old WordPress editor. I’m afraid of Gutenberg too! 😉 Maybe if you take the plunge first you can warn the rest of us about the pitfalls. Windows 10 has been okay, but I do have occasional problems with the Microsoft Edge browser and when I do, I switch to Chrome.

    As far as your content Pete, you have such a great variety it’s all good. Just keep doing what you do!

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    1. Thanks, Susanne. I have never used a Microsoft browser, as I couldn’t get on with them. I used to use Firefox, but changed to Chrome seven years ago and now use that all the time.
      I’m going to carry on pretending Gutenberg doesn’t exist, like an ostrich hiding its head in the sand. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  11. First of all thanks again for being truthful about contacting you for help. You got me over several hurdles in the beginning. I may be an outlier, but I love the stories from your working past and things you had to deal with. Of course I treasure the stories and I never even realized that some episodes are longer than others.

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  13. I do enjoy your thinking out aloud posts & any about general life or thoughts. I’m not a big fan or fiction but that’s just me. I do look forward to logging in to see what you have written. Keep up the good work Pete.

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  14. I’m sticking to the classic editor until WP forces me to change! And I’m still using Windows 7. When 10 came out it brought lots of business to my husband when people switched and ‘lost’ all sorts of things from photos to address lists. He used to mutter and moan about what a dreadful system it was, absolutely no improvement, etc., etc., so you can imagine my shock when the other evening he suggested it was time I moved to Windows 10. I haven’t yet.
    Yay to more photos of Ollie and stories of your walks with him.

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  16. I run Windows 10, and use the classic editor on WordPress. I won’t ever use the block unless it is forced upon us. I tried it and hated it.

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  19. Your “Thinking Aloud” on a _____________ posts are some of my favorites, Pete. A year ago, I didn’t have a blog or had ever left a comment on someone else’s blog—a lot can happen in a year. https://petespringerauthor.wordpress.com/2019/12/31/happy-new-year-2020/

    What comes with the territory is learning to manage my time wisely. Whoever knew this retirement gig would leave me so busy? (I wouldn’t have it any other way.)

    Much luck with Windows platforms, weather, and the inevitable home project and its associated expenses.

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  20. I am an Apple girl so I can be of no assistance. At this moment my husband has been grumbling for days about his computer. I am not sure if it was Windows 8 or 10 that forced user updates. I just find Windows more complex than it needs to be. Apple of course means $$.

    I love your fiction, but I now wait until you publish them in their entirety to read. I follow so many blogs, it is easy for me to lose track.

    Your Thinking Aloud posts are always my favorites. I follow your other blog to try and understand a bit of the political environment in your part of the world.

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  21. I use Windows 10 on my laptop Pete and I only ever use the Classic Editor for writing my posts. I just get to it from My Sites, WPAdmin – not sure how you use it at the moment. I loathed the block editor. I think everything is designed these days for using a phone to do everything on.

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    1. Yes, I had some email exchanges with WP Help, and they admitted that the editor changes were driven by more bloggers using Tablets and phones. Personally, I don’t see how that helps them. I have the ‘original’ editor on my admin dashboard, and don’t have to select it.
      I thought if I had to upgrade the PC and start again, I might be forced to change to the new editor.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. You shouldn’t have to change editor and you don’t have to upgrade either, just because Windows 7 is no longer supported, but your machine will still function and if you have good antivirus software you’ll be alright. I still have a machine running Vista!! OK I don’t use it for much, but it still connects to the internet if I want it to and I run ESET antivirus on it to keep safe if I do. I did upgrade on this laptop but only because my Windows 8.1 was corrupted last year (failing drive) and kept crashing. Seeing as I needed to buy a new drive it seemed sensible to upgrade at the same time. No issues with WP.

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        1. Thanks, Jude. I have Avira Antivirus, and Advanced System Care for scanning Malware. They are both free, and work well. If you don’t think I need to upgrade, then that’s fine with me. 🙂
          Best wishes, Pete.

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            1. I bought it when I moved here, so March 2012. I would have bought a whole new PC if I had changed to W10, not just the Windows software. (A similar PC is actually a bit cheaper now) It is still working well, and I have only used a small percentage of the 1TB hard drive so far. 🙂
              I also have a new Lenovo 15-inch laptop that I got free for testing it. That has W10, but so far I have never used it.

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  24. Keep writing the stories Pete, I am not sure why you think the episodes of your serials need to be shorter, has someone complained? I like them not to be over before they’ve begun and think you have the balance just right! I look forward to a ‘good read’ when an episode arrives. Just my opinion though, am possibly in a minority. I have windows 10 on my works computer, so if you need help just ask, also I’ve been using Gutenberg on ‘the other place’ blog since it came out so every day for over a year and I know it through and through now, it has improved as these things tend to over time, and also as ones brain gets itself wired in, though I still use the old editor on the universe blog. If and when you get to it let me know, I will do you a video walk through, it really is quite easy, but I know changes can seem daunting, and that makes it harder to get to grips with mentally.

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    1. Thanks, FR.
      The episode length is based on reviewing the stats. Parts with around 1000 words or less get around 25% more views than those closer to 1800 words. I think many readers are put off by what looks like a long read, so drop out of following the serials.
      If I have to bite the bullet with W10 and Gutenberg, I will happily seek your advice.
      I am still using the 2012 ‘original editor’. I didn’t even change to the one before the Block Editor. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  26. haha, in the past we talked about us having so many common traits – now – I also have stuck with Windows 7 and I’m totally dreading the new system of blogging. It just may cause me to close out my blog.

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  27. Commenting to say I really enjoy how honest your writing is. Good luck on changing to a new version of Windows and subsequently, the WordPress editor. The only constant is change. Thankfully we humans are excellent at adapting. 🙂 Happy New Year.

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  29. I have been having thoughts about Gutenberg too, and a good friend of mine, Colleen Chesebro, suggested I read two posts she had written about learning it. She said it was easy to understand (she knows I’m an idiot) and it does look like something I could do. (One of these days)
    The posts can be found on her site; ColleenChesebro.com. Look for The Gutenberg editor parts one and two in her archives.
    If you have trouble, I have them saved, so let me know and I’ll send them to you…

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  30. Pete I use Windows 10 and hate it…I may be alone but I liked XP it was the best Microsoft had and it had to go. Sue looks forward to your fiction…she loves them…..I have not used social media other than Twitter and then only for news mostly….here is hoping that you have a banner year in 2020….chuq

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    1. Thanks, chuq. I was a big fan of XP too. It was simpe, and intuitive, just how I like it. Microsoft are removing all support from Windows 7 this month, so I may soon have no alternative but to change to 10. Planned obsolescence!
      Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. I used it years ago, to connect with ex-colleagues after I retired. Then I added my blog posts to it. But in all honesty, I haven’t logged in to it for well over a year now.
      Thanks, Stevie.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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