This is a post that is all about Xanga!

(ok, don't get too excited)

This past week I got slammed by a few folks saying that I didn't respond fast enough or am not helping the community enough on Xanga.

Hey, that's ok - I completely deserve it.  After all, I didn't give everyone a heads up - nor have someone cover for me on the facebook page to respond to people.

Again, that's ok that people respond.  People are passionate about preserving their personal past on the site.

First - I'm not going to call out people or add screen shots of individuals who criticize any efforts I do for Xanga.   That just wouldn't be constructive.  I'm actually grateful for the responses.

Seriously, I am.

But, let's answer a few commonly asked questions and address a couple of rumors:

1 - I'm not going anywhere anytime soon just because Autisable is now transitioned to my own company.  Yes, I do talk about it a lot, it's a passion of mine, deal with it.... and let's move on...

2 - Eugenia is a real person and not a figment of our imagination.  She has real feelings and we have been shoving a lot of people her way.  A tenth email regarding the same topic repeated from a hundred people will bog anyone down trying to 'quickly' get people's issues resolved.  I know it's frustrating, but feel free to contact myself here, or on Xanga's FB page to highlight your specific issue.  I can follow-up with Eugenia directly to address that specific need and follow-up if necessary.  Let's help her save some time, and ensure she can expedite issues without duplicating our efforts.

3 - John and Marc are still alive and well.  No, they have not been kidnapped.  Marc is still doing what he's doing and John is still wrapping his head around making 2.0 a hell of a lot better than it is now.   But, here's where Xanga is at now - powered by wordpress.

4 - if you don't know how to Xanga, learn how to use wordpress and you'll be fine.  It's rather easy.

5 - Xanga is not dead.  Hey, you're reading this still - which is a Xanga account, right? (yes).   There are many others on the site still, and it's one of the issues John is having to address in his process.  That issue is to make a great way for all of us to stay connected on-site.

6 - yes, John has a process - and no, I have no clue what it is.  However, I did have a conversation with John about Xanga awhile back, and it was in relation to Autisable - as I was picking his brain as best I could.  I do know that John is wanting to build what is needed for Xanga in-house.   Acquiring plugins for each add-on/feature can be problematic for site stability and site security.  This makes complete sense to me as I'm involved with Autisable.  A couple of months ago the site crashed the server due to plugins not working with the theme and with wordpress.  It was a major mess that took a month to resolve.  Come to find out, the theme got corrupted due to someone hacking into the theme.   Suffice it to say, John has his work cut out for him on this part.... as it will be core in how the site will function long-term.   The front end plugin for users on Autisable is Ultimate Member.  Other sites use BuddyPress.  Both of these membership type plugins have some serious pros... and cons, of which John needs to see the best of what those plugins have to offer - and see what he can do to build an in-house version that will work for Xanga's purposes that the Team can have complete control over.  If they use a plugin from another developer, they will be limited in their ability to tweak it for their purposes.   It's a very large undertaking.  Ultimate member was launched just a couple of years ago, and it's just now getting to a point where they can deal with expansions and make site functionality more fluid.  Keep the team in prayer on this folks... John especially.  I don't envy their endevour.

7 - Contact Eugenia if:
- you have an issue with your account (can't login, can't access your archives to download, or want to upgrade)
- If you want to upgrade, yes, contact 'Eugenia'
- want to notify her of an account that could be in violation of the terms, or if it's a Xangan who passed away.
- email 'help@xanga.net' (always include your username and the email address associated with your account.   DON'T worry if you don't have access to the email account in question anymore.  What she needs to be able to do is verify that you are who you state you are, and the account belongs to you.

8 - Don't contact Eugenia if it's not associated with your specific account or Xanga related.  Really people, she's gotta answer enough emails already.

9 - Where can you connect with other Xangans?   Please feel free to spread this around... Xanga's Facebook page!   Yes, please do.    Many Xangans are blogging on their own sites now, or have chosen other platforms to be on.  Check in and share where you're at now. IF on Xanga, GREAT! share it.  People need to know there's still an active community.

10 -  Yes, my new job does pull me away from serving as community liaison a bit.  I fully admit to that.  Hey, Xanga doesn't pay me - I'm here for you guys.  But, I do respond as often as I can on the FB page and here.

If you're interested in helping out on Xanga's Facebook page, even just checking in from time to time to help out and keep the community connected - let me know.   More the merrier.

Ok - It's the Holiday's, a seriously busy time of the year.   Don't expect anything to happen regarding site improvements on Xanga for the rest of the year.

Until later, have fun... be safe... and please be sure to be kind.

I know I've been rather silent, but it's been across the board.  Doesn't mean that nothing is going on.

About a month ago I spoke at a startup night event for the good folks at Hatch.

Here's the video:

As for Xanga, no news.

But, I am getting back to responding to folks on the facebook page and will share a quick Q and A post to answer some commonly asked questions.

Ok, back to the grind...

So I'm diving into some of the newly launched features on Autisable and realize that much of what it now looks like is very similar to what Xanga was... (well, pre- username.xanga.com, if my memory remotely serves me... )

Allow me to provide some pics of what I'm talking about... see if it's similar to you...

This is where people would create a blog post and submit it to the main page for Autisable.
The reality is, if we didn't review content and just made it go LIVE immediately, this would show up on the persons account AND the main page automatically.

This shows all comments and status updates, with short/quick updates - photo/video sharing (kinda like how FB does it).
But, it's also similar to how Xanga was.... right?

Showing a history of my comments on the site.

Showing all blog posts under the account.

Suffice it to say... a lot of similarities.  Well, at least I think so.

I'd love your input as well.

(if you have an interest in sharing and/or discussing autism in any way... the invitation is open to join Autisable.)

until later... back to the grind.

Xanga update?   Nothing new at the moment.

A change of pace today, folks.  Yeah, gotta take a small break and share other things that I do.  C'mon, you knew it was gonna happen... right?

Well, one site that I'm a contributor in is called HitRecord.org.   It was founded by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (yes, the actor), and his brother - as a collaborative production company.

Sometimes I'm actually able to take a few moments to contribute to a project.

This one was interesting, and you'll actually see me on camera (rare, I know) in a small blip - answering a question...

And here's another video on the same topic...  (and like that first one... a small snippet was taken out and applied to this collaborative video)...

Agree or disagree with the ACLU, the topic is one that is good for discussion.

So, what do you think... "Is today's technology good or bad for democracy?"

Note to self:  When moving a URL and needing the Email address associated with that URL... make sure you have the right steps in play.

For those who know my email address for Autisable, and tried to send me an email within the past couple of weeks - you know what I speak of....

Grab your popcorn, and welcome to the adventure of the lost email address....

When the Xanga team launched Autisable - they also set up an email account that had Autisable.com for me.   This allowed me to conduct business under Autisable from the beginning.

But now that Autisable.com has moved to a new server - the email URL info still remains on Xanga's servers.    This little 'glitch' in how things are moved - caused my autisable.com email to not work anymore.

This has caused quite the interesting set of small events... which are easily overcome, but a nuisance.

Suffice it to say, I've got Google on the case - along with keeping the Xanga team up to date on the situation.

If you have my email - you know what's up.   If you're trying to reach me - well, there are a plethora of options to reach me - so no worries.

I'm just thinking that my email address is on vacation while I'm working....   and I'm a bit jealous.

When it's back... I'll let y'all know.

Until later... back to the grind....

Earlier this week my company took formal ownership of Autisable.com.

It's been over 7 years working with the Xanga team to get Autisable to this level, with the last two years having the biggest push.

We launched the site starting with 123 users, and there's now over 187 users on the site.   So, with minimal online promotion, we've garnered over 60 new users on the site in less than a week!

And the remaining tweaks and crazy stuff still has to be done, but it's just getting started!

But, I'm still here, and will continue to be on Xanga.   Hey, it's a bit of blogging home for me.

Thank you all for following my journey, it's been a pleasure sharing it with everyone.

Now it's time to switch gears on what I'll be blogging about next on Xanga and Autisable.   I still have to plan out my thoughts on that, but generally speaking anything Autisable and/or Autism related will be minimally spoken on this blog.   After all, I'm sure y'all get bored of me talking about Autisable all the time and am curious as to what in the world is going on with Xanga.... or the other stuff in my life.

To be honest, I don't have a full update from The Xanga Team on that note.   But now that Autisable is launched, there's still a few things I need their help on to wrap up... but I will be able to dive further into a timeline.

In the meantime - if you have any interest (at all) on the subject of Autism.  Feel free to join 'Autisable'.   http://www.autisable.com

If you have any other questions not xanga or autisable related, leave a comment below.

For those who have been following my journey for all these years, you know what this means.

Autisable.com... the ownership has officially transferred to my company.

And

The newly redesigned website has been launched!   Feel free to check it out!  http://www.autisable.com 

There will be A LOT of work to still do on the site... but it's up... it's active...

It's ALIVE!

If you visit Autisable.com right now (ok, after you read this update and as of today's date) - you'll find the current version of Autisable still online.

This version of Autisable is currently hosted on Xanga.com's servers, and the URL is 'at the moment' owned by Xanga.   Autisable has been launched as a new company.

However, we're now in the waiting phase of changing ownership of a URL.  This process, according to the new hosting company, can take up to seven days.   I've been working with the Xanga team to make this transfer happen, and everything is submitted.

So we wait.

So while we wait for the ownership of the Autisable URL to transition from Xanga ownership  to Autisable (the new company), I thought I'd share a quick update on what's to come...

First things first.... it will take a few days to make sure the dust has settled on the ownership transfer, and also to address my business e-mail account.   There's several details that have to be updated across the board after the move to make sure things line up behind the scenes so we can still conduct business.

Then....

We'll launch the redesign.

Now, as with all things new - people will want to log in, set up an account and get things rolling.

But, the first phase of this launch is to make sure the move goes well - and the basics of a members account is a very simple user interface where people can update their profile pic, cover photo, and submit articles to the main page and comment on other articles.

More functionality is already planned to be phased into the website as we move forward.   The major limitation will be budget constraints, and the amount of time to implement the upgrades.   After all, it's a brand new small company of just a few people to run it.

Ok... with all that said and done... we continue waiting.   More updates soon.

In regards to Xanga.com updates - nothing new to report.

Within the next couple of weeks, Autisable will be changing ownership.    That's right, ownership.
Once the paperwork is processed, a new company will be formed that will be the conduit for me to operate Autisable.
Will share more soon... stay tuned!

Nothing new to report on Xanga.  But if you have ANY issues, please e-mail 'help@xanga.net' and Eugenia with your username and any other information (like original e-mail address associated with the account)... and she can help you with your specific account.

Ok, back to the grind....

For the latest on Autisable's redesign, check out this post - http://autisable.com/2016/07/16/pre-launch-information-getting-started/

The pre-launch warm up posts are being distributed.

Here's some feedback - Some from Facebook, other's from here on this Xanga blog.   Thank you for these completely unsolicited responses!

There's a lot more responses that are similar to the ones above  that I could share, but it's your feedback that encourages me to keep things moving forward on Autisable.   It also has provided me direction on how the site should be developed.

Have a GREAT WEEKEND!  (and back to the grind I go...)

Xanga Update:  Nothing new to report at this time.