FAREWELL 20six
I'm sad to be leaving after almost three years of blogging here. Like many early adopters, I felt a keen sense of involvement in 20six, having watched it blossom from a fledgling start up in the summer of 2003. I got involved in its growth, meeting with Azeem and Jo early on in that summer to research a story I'd been commissioned to write on blogging.
After that meeting, I was so impressed by the sense of community that was growing up within 20six that I changed the angle of the story, concentrating on what Azeem and Jo were doing, and how 20six was changing the face of blogging in the UK. My editor liked the tone, it went out on the newswire and was picked up and run by a range of magazines and newspapers both here and overseas.
Like many of the 'Old Skool' on here, I'd hoped that the changeover to a new platform wouldn't be as bad as we'd anticipated. And I'm not one to criticise without seeing for things for myself, so I resolved to stick with it and try to embrace the change. Easier said than done.
A month on, 20six today is a pathetic shadow of what it was. And the new platform that was supposed to herald so much has instead made blogging here impossible. It's not only massively inferior to the platform it's replaced, it's resolutely unsuitable for what it is designed to do. It doesn't facilitate, it obstructs. It's buggy, unnecessarily rigid and elements that should be straightforward are too complex for their own good. A blogging platform that requires you to log in every time you visit and which logs you out at will, sometimes within minutes, is worse than useless. I'm not prepared to watch helplessly again as several hours of writing disappear into the ether when I hit the 'Save as Draft' button and see the words "Your session has timed out. Please log-in" instead of the expected blog entry. 
Presentation matters to me. It's not just about content; I want my blog to look how I want it to, and compared to other platforms out there, 20six lite just doesn't cut it. So I'm boarding this place up and bugging out.
I appreciate that this will make no difference whatsoever to those who own and run 20six. The deal with 02 and others that was so instrumental in forcing the change is what matters, not the views and frustrations of those of us who at the end of the day have had the benefit of free software. There's a new order here, and those of us who don't like the way it's headed can go elsewhere.
So that's what I'm doing. I'm just getting to grips with WordPress and the finer points of self-hosting and I have to say, although it's early days yet, it's a revelation and I'm wondering why I didn't make the jump sooner. It's clean, flexible, straightforward and as a platform, eminently stable. And by self hosting, I'll never again be forced to watch as something I've created is changed beyond recognition and rendered useless.
My new home is at www.someoneelseslife.com and I'll be redirecting my www.black-rat.net domain to point there in due course. To my readers who have supoprted me over the past three years, and those who have contributed so much by way of comments and discussion, thank you. Please update your bookmarks and links to point to the new URL, and I hope to see you over there. The new blog is something of a work in progress at the moment and as with any new home, I'll be decorating and changing things once I'm settled. The important thing is that it works, it's approximating a design that I like and I can blog again.
Farewell all, I hope to see you there. And in the words of one Vinny Jones, can I just say..."It's been emotional!"
Cheers.
28.2.05 17:13
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princessfairytoes / Website (30.6.06 11:43) I feel exactly the same as you and hate this new system. |
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Black Rat / Website (30.6.06 12:04) Princess: Come on over, WordPress rocks! |
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Megan / Website (30.6.06 15:24) I'll follow you anywhere - as long as you promise to post regularly. 
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Sunshinechick / Website (30.6.06 15:30) Well good for you. I totally agree and have been off for a while now. Miss the community totally. All the best dude. |
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Boso / Website (30.6.06 15:30) I feel you. I made the same move to self hosting and Wordpress a while ago, and had to abadon 20six after enough frustration. |
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Kate / Website (30.6.06 15:47) It's a shame what's happened to 20six because I really think the community we had here was a one-off in the blogging world and I'm sorry to see it drift away. Glad to have met you though and I'll keep an eye on your other site. |
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Beso / Website (30.6.06 15:51) Now that the (Black)rat has fled the sinking ship, I can't help but feel I wont be far behind. I'm not great with change but decided to give the new platform a couple of weeks. However it just feels, and it pains me to say this, uncomfortably clunky and, well, shite. I'll come and have a shufty at t'other place in a minute. |
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Flighty / Website (30.6.06 18:55) Reading this entry merely confirms what I now think of 20six. I decided within a few days that it was no longer for me. I've come back every day to check out my favourite blogs that are still here, and look at new ones. None of the later have proved to be worth more than a glance by the way. That sense of community that you, and indeed many others, mention has gone. That is a shame as I found that to be one of the most enjoyable aspects to blogging on 20six. I'll do one of my blog roundups soon in which I'll mention that you've moved. Links will be changed and I shall continue to visit in the future as I have in the past. |
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Knobber / Website (30.6.06 18:58) well said BR, look forward to reading on |
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StarCorner / Website (30.6.06 22:00) I have to agree with you BR - the sense of community that brought me into 20six in the first place has been severely compromised here. I'll be checking out your new site!! xx |
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amillionpieces / Website (1.7.06 00:38) To be honest, I think, and I know I am going to be a little biased, but the community could have still been good if a lot of people didn't bolt first week. Yes its got bugs, yes its not got all the features we loved, but I still think its the people who make the community, and it could have been given a better chance by some folks. Blackrat, thats not towards you btw, as I noted you did genuinley give it a chance and not like it, but some people jumped ship practically first day which effectivley doomed their own community before we'd even had a chance to iron out bugs and things. I accept that the loss of features is partly responsible, but also some of the bloggers who said most about community were the first to ditch it without even fighting for the community they apparently held so dear. Anyway, best regards, will keep up with you on your new domain, cheers, mate. |
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Flighty / Website (1.7.06 19:28) I moved away within a few days because it was apparent that for me it was no longer user friendly. I believed then, and still do, that staying would have meant merely prolonging a losing, and pointless, fight. However I updated all the links on my blogs and regularly visit all my favourites, and others, wherever they are. That is not giving up on the community, that is taking the time and effort to stay in touch. I've also been asked, and offered, to help bloggers here which I've been happy to do if I could. My main blog is now elsewhere but that's not to say that I've turned my back completely on 20six despite some rather petty comments and silly remarks, which others seemed to think should not have been made. |
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Andy N (1.7.06 19:35) I have to agree with you BR...the presentation now is only a pale shadow of what went before. Your original blog was so attractive that it made me come back for more. This one just looks like so bland in comparison. Like the rest of your readership, I shal be following you over to your new homw, and look forward to having my appetite whetted by all the new experiences that you are prepared to share with us. See ya. Andy N |
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amillionpieces / Website (1.7.06 20:47) Flighty, as I have said on numerous occasions, if you recieved abuse on 20six, you can report it, but I can't do a blind thing about what I don't know about. |
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(1.7.06 21:00) amp please note that I wrote petty and silly not abusive. The two are very different. The first I couldn't care less about, although others were sympathetic. Had I received any abuse you would certainly have known about it. |
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amillionpieces / Website (3.7.06 00:25) Ahhh, good good, just checking, I'd hate to think that anyone made you feel unwelcome here. |
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Redchic / Website (26.7.07 11:47) I hate it - I feel all that we built up within the early days was mutillated when the new platform crushed us under it. I have missed blogging and missed the friends I made here. Following your invite I have finally relented and joined facebook - hope to see you there. I can't even open up my blog for others to follow a link! Anyone who knows me from 20six please use the advance search to add me lottie_totty@hotmail.com and tell me your user name from 20six. 20six - Sometimes less is more! |
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ristorantibarcellona / Website (4.12.07 20:48) I'm sure that you will enjoy wordpress. I use it on my site which is more like a CSM rather then a blog. By the way you are right this one is rigid. Is the third time I try to post this commetn as I set the wrong antispam words... |
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carpenters.daughter (1.6.08 08:59) I find you just as you are leaving. I have enjoyed what I have read so far and will be taking a look at your new address. CD. |
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Syrus (4.6.08 17:54) cool blog... |
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