Empress Of Drac, A Cebuana Blogger

1and1’s hosting platform is not the standard cPanel and DirectAdmin. As of now, I’m trying to locate the back up database function in their Webspace and Access area. Just a while ago, I tried to manually back up my files from the server through ftp, but my web browser (I use fireftp, mozilla’s add on) encountered an error and I have no choice but to close it. I’m actually using a lower version of firefox, and I noticed that it has lots of bugs. I need to upgrade it to firefox 3.0, the latest version.

So, why should we back up our wordpress blog? Backing up data is as necessary as the air you breathe. As a website or blog owner one should be well aware that it’s not only your host full responsibility to check on your database. It is advisable that you keep recent back ups in your local hard drive. That way, if anything goes wrong you can still restore your contents. And this should be done in regular basis.

Wordpress has a Database Backup plugin. Check it out.

I’m always a fan of KC, and I even visit her blog every now and then. One thing I like about her is her boyishness, and she’s really a down to earth person. Disregarding all her regal qualities and attributes, she really is beautiful inside and out.

Before I watched this movie, I already heard feedback about her acting skills. Some said she should just remain in stage plays or just be good in her commercial modeling career because she doesn’t have that X factor in acting in TV or in the big screen.

My reaction was actually quite neutral for I really don’t judge anything unless I’ve seen or experienced it myself. So, I watched this movie yesterday and I can say that the people’s feedback are quite true.

KC doesn’t look convincing when she cries. It looks like she’s a character in a horror movie when she sobs, that is, she looks more scared than sad. The scene wherein she mistaken Richard as an intruder is very exaggerated. She’s so stiff in her entire screen appearances that I feel like I’m sitting with my back straight and my chain up.

Well, there’s always a room for improvements. This is her first movie and I guess it’s normal to be criticized especially when you’re that popular, and smart, and all.

Anyways, I really don’t like the story of the film. It’s a very typical Tagalog movie wherein you can easily predict the flow of the events. KC and Richard have no chemistry at all. And I guess the people who showed up yesterday were just there because of curiosity. Well, who won’t be intrigued if it’s Sharon Cuneta and Gabby Conception’s daughter’s first movie?

That’s not really how you say it. The correct phrase or operational definition is actually transferring your blog hosted by wordpress.com to your self hosted webspace, wherein you install wordpress from wordpress.org to your own database.

Moving your blog from one host to another is quite easy if you’re just transferring it from blogger.com to wordpress.com, wordpress.com to xanga.com, and any sites which host blogs for free. But it’s easier said than done when you move from other host to your own hosted site. Like what other people said, it requires patience and you should be self-efficient and more resourceful.

I never thought it would take me 3 days to configure all these stuffs here. Anyways, I’m happy that I successfully managed to move all my contents from wordpress.com to my own server at 1and1.

I realize that it could have been easier if at the very start I already had my own domain and host. That way I can be saved from all the hassles in moving my contents. But, looking back I’m quite thankful that I went through those ordeals because I did learn a lot of things. And I will enumerate them below:

This is just a rough draft and not really a detailed procedure. Just check links for more itemized instructions.

1. The first thing you have to do in moving your blog from wordpress.com to your own host(assuming that you already bought a domain and webspace) is to create a database in you mysql administration in your cpanel. This database is where you will install your wordpress and also it is where you will put all your files for your blog.

2. Next, you set up your ftp account in your ftp administration in your cpanel. Then, install an ftp software in your pc. In my case a friend of mine recommended the fireftp add-on from mozilla. Fireftp is more practical because you just have to access it using your firefox browser, and it won’t consume space in your hard disc.

3. After setting up your ftp, you’re now ready to install your unzipped wordpress folder in your server’s root directory. I installed mine in the root directory for I preferred to access my blog site using my domain empressofdrac.com, instead of empressofdrac.com/blog(etc.).

4. When you’re done with your wordpress installation, you’re now ready to transfer your wordpress.com contents to your server. The first thing you will do is to export all your wordpress.com posts, links, categories, unpublished drafts, comments, etc., and save it to your local hard drive. All these contents will actually be saved in one xml file.

5. After exporting all your blog contents and have saved it as an xml file, you’re now ready to import it to your self-hosted site.

I actually encountered a problem in importing my contents. In my first attempt, not all my posts were being transferred. What I did was I deleted the already imported post in my Manage Posts dashboard area, and since wordpress has no bulk delete feature I have to delete them one by one. And that’s quite very tedious, and I really hate doing it. But I really have no choice. After that, I import my content again but the result was futile. And I deleted my posts again and reimport again and again, but my posts are still incomplete and I thought of just posting them again one by one(a very desperate thought).

Well, good thing my friend came to the rescue. What he did was he just reimported my exported xml file a few times, and when we saw the ALL DONE prompt message at the bottom page of the browser, he said that that’s the sign that all my posts have already been transferred completely. And it did!

My friend told me that it’s normal to have an incomplete transfer when you import contents. The only thing you have to do is to reimport it again and again until all the posts are transferred. No worries for post redundancy because the mysql function can detect a redundant file, that is, if a post already existed in the database it won’t be imported again. But this doesn’t really hold true based from my experience. After all my contents have been completely transferred, I found lots of redundant posts when I checked my blog site. What I did was I manually deleted all of them from my Manage Posts dashboard area.

6. The next thing you have to do is to properly index your site. In my case, I just deleted the default index.html file my host puts in my server’s root directory.

7. Now, you’ll be ready to set a redirection from your wordpress.com site to your self-hosted site, that is, if someone will click a link from your old wordpress.com blog he will be automatically redirected to your new website. This way your old traffic won’t be wasted. Wordpress.com charged $10 per year as a redirection fee.

I’m actually very thankful to this walk-through documentation written by those guys from blog-well.com. It is a complete step by step redirection procedure that would surely help you a lot. You just have to follow it religiously and I assure you that your site will be well-redirected.

8. Lastly, enjoy tweaking your newly self-hosted wordpress blog, and put any ads or java script goodies you’ve been wanting to grab(but are not allowed to by your host because of security issues) when you were still in wordpress.com!

Happy Blogging!

I’ve been waiting for 1and1’s confirmation email since yesterday evening, but it seems like their promise of sending me my log in details within 24-hours has vanished to thin air.   I signed up for their Beginner web hosting package, the one with a free domain name and a 10GB web space. I really have no idea why until now they haven’t sent my log in details yet. I feel a little unsatisfied, since aside from the hosting package fee, they also charged me another $6 for “security of the processing of my order”. I don’t have any idea how that “thing” works.

Anyways, at last I bought EmpressOfDrac.com. Whew! Such a relief because I’ve been planning to buy this domain name a year ago, but I just got the opportunity to buy lately. I’ve been using this monicker since 2004 and starting that time, my close friends didn’t call me by my real name anymore. Hehehe! They call me press, empress, emp, empret… That’s why if someone is calling me by my real name that means that person ain’t a close friend of mine.

I hope can already access my cpanel tomorrow so that I can start switching from wordpress.com to wordpress.org. This way I can freely put ads in here. Wordpress would actually charge $10/year in order for me to change my domain name and also for them to automatically redirect my old site to the new one. Gosssh! I better be good with this stuff so that I can pay my credit bills. Grrr…

Please don’t be fooled by the title or make prejudgments because it sounds so lousy. This tear-breaker shoujo by mangaka Yamada Keiko is the very first manga that made me cry.

Limited Lovers, unlike any other manga I’ve read has a very strong plot, and other shoujos absolutely fade in comparison. On the other hand, just like any other shoujos this one is definitely full of idealism. But you would absolutely forget about that as every chapter is carefully painted by painful struggles, and is gently stitched by unwavering hopes and faiths.

I’m quite flabbergasted with this news about the fake performance of a child balladeer during the opening day of the Olympics in Beijing, China.

According to the news when Lin Miaoke, (in the right), opened her mouth to sing “Ode to the Motherland” during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, the voice that was actually heard was a recording of seven-year-old Yang Peiyi(left).

Miaoke performed before an estimated one billion viewers woldwide, but unfortunately, the voice they were listening to is not hers. It is the voice of the seven-year old Peiyi.

Peiyi was intentionally not chosen to perform because she’s not that good looking compared to Miaoke. Chen Qigang, the general music designer of the opening ceremonies said that the child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feeling and expression.

These Chinese people are really into fakes. No wonder most pirated and imitation stuffs like dvds, jeans, etc. mostly came from China. I guess their effort to impress the world made them look stupid. Oh, well that’s just my opinion.

The chain of Thanatos’ lover! It is an invisible chain used by a Shinigami the moment he takes the soul of a mortal who’s going to die.

Miku’s accidental death due to the system crash of the database of the Death World causes her to be literally tied up to Sei, a Shinigami, with a chain called the Thanato’s lover. She and Sei are bound to be tied up until she can fully live her entire life span. But what will happen if the two will fall in love to each other?

Well, this manga is another shoujo delight. It’s actually a quick read because it’s only composed of 12 chapters and a special story at the ending. If you’re used to seeing a very tall, gawky, and ugly Shinigami like those characters in Deathnote, then you better think twice. Hehehe!