Once More, With Feeling

If I was honest with myself, I absolutely loved the domain name Finding Whitters, but it was just too long for me. I’ve never been a huge fan of long domain names, except in very specific circumstances. So even though I really liked my blog, I’d been thinking more and more lately about finding something else. And every time I thought about getting a new domain name I found myself wondering if there was any way I could get my old site: whitters.nu back.

After extensively talking with GoDaddy, NuNames, and Key-Systems¹ I found that the domain is actually pending delete and has been for nearly the last two years. This means I technically could have been using the domain for the past two years without paying for it. In June it will finally be deleted and back up for someone to purchase. So instead of using it, experiencing downtime and then purchasing the domain again, I decided instead to pick a different name.

In the end² I ended up with something not so different: whttrs.nu. I use whttrs for pretty much every website I sign up for, so it seemed like the natural choice. So far I’m absolutely in love with it.

Something else you’ll probably notice if you’re browsing around my sites: over the next several hours they’ll all disappear. All of my domains (brand-new.me, theshegeek.net, etc.) are being set to forward here to whttrs.nu for the time being. The reason for this is twofold:

1. To make me a better blogger - I’ve told myself that if I can’t keep up with one blog, then I don’t need to have multiple ones. So now if I can prove to myself, as time goes on, that I can keep up with this place, then I will consider adding my other blogs back into the mix.
2. To protect my viewers – All of my domains (including findingwhitters.com) pointed to my old HostGator account. Due to an old copy of wordpress left in a former hostees account, all of my sites were infected with malware and despite the best efforts of both myself and the HostGator security team, we just cannot get rid of the malicious scripts. So, because that account will expire in just one short month, I opted to create a new account with HostGator that’s been paid for 2 years in advance so that it matches up with the life cycle of this domain name.

So, for the time being, whttrs.nu is my only blog and will stay that way for at least a couple months.

In addition to my goal of becoming a better blogger, I’m also starting off attempt #2³ at completing the 365 Days challenge. I’ve got my phone all set up again to remind me every night to take a picture. That didn’t help last time though, so I guess we’ll just see.

Day #1

So here’s to looking forward to a (hopefully) better and brighter blogging future!