Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Interesting title, yes? You might be wondering why I’ve posted a wonky warning today. I am simply anticipating what may happen to this blog. Let me explain.
The Relaunch of booksandsuch.com
Our newly revised website goes live today. We’re calling it a “soft” launch, meaning we’re not going to announce it widely in case things go sideways– you know, wonky. But if you are a regular follower of our blog, and if things go as planned, you will already notice the different look. It’s only part of the website revamp.
Of course, you may have tried to log on to get the blog and a message popped up to tell you we are offline or the server is down. Wonky stuff. That’s because the old website has to be taken down before the new website goes up, so we’ll go dark for a few hours. Of course, if you’ve tried to connect and can’t, this explanation will not be any help, right?
Technical Issues
We’ve all experienced wonky technical issues. I got a frantic text last week from one of my clients. She’s in the last few days of her deadline and has been pushing so hard, she hasn’t taken time to save everything to the cloud or to a different hard drive. (Don’t ever do this!) She opened her computer and got a message that she’d had a fatal error and that she needed to call a certain number in the next thirty minutes for help. I can’t remember if she called the number or not (it’s a scam, folks) but she was wise enough to call Apple directly. They explained the scam to her and reassured her that her files were not corrupted. But that kind of wonky has happened to many a writer, especially in the rush to finish a book.
Your Comments
If our comments section works (no guarantees, friends) share with us the wonky technical glitches you’ve experienced. And if the website happens to go up– after all, we have a topnotch web designer– let us know what you think of the new look and the new content.
And blessings to you this Advent season.
Nice new website!
* Wonky stuff…well, there was the aeroplane that lost a bolt vital to the elevator control just before takeoff. The elevator is the ‘flipper’ at the tail that moves the nose up or down, and is useful for letting you do cool stuff like not crashing.
* And then there were the 250,000 volt power lines that stepped into the way of my aeroplane one day (flying too low? ME???). The charge I got from their parting and arcing was AWESOME, dude, and Barbara says that it explains a lot.
* It’s a lot of fun, being me, if you survive the experience.
Barbara’s right. As usual.
Glad you lived to tell the tale.
Awww, Andrew. You do have a way with words. You made me laugh. 🙂 Like Shirlee, I’m glad you survived to tell the tale. 😉
“That explains a lot” … 🙂 You made me laugh, too!!
Wendy, “new” is often fun. To see a new look on a website, the happiness that it can bring is fun. But, “new” is sometimes frustrating. When I recently updated my Mac, it began running extremely slowly. As in, to try and upload my email took a minimum of 90 seconds, or more. To click on an email? To move an email? 90 seconds for each action. My internet was running very slowly. Thankfully, I could still work on my manuscript and do non-internet things with the same degree of speed. It was definitely wonky. After a number of hours on the phone with Apple, we figured out that a couple of extensions are not currently set up to run with the newest update. Sigh. So, they are not being used on my computer, and things are running more smoothly on the internet. Thankfully. And for the record, my husband believes “wonky” is a woman’s word. I personally love that word.
I think wonky is actually used a lot by Brits. I have to confess, I ran the word by Janet first to make sure it didn’t have a second meaning. It doesn’t. I used to use “snafu” until someone clued me in that the word is an acronym and the phrase is one no well-spoken person would ever use. Eek.
Wendy, for the sake of completeness, snafu is actually the middle stage in a triune progression:
* TARFU – things are really fouled up
* SNAFU – situation normal, all fouled up
* FUBAR – fouled up beyond all redemption
I’ll have to visit England so I can hear this fun word used more often. And, for the record, I used to use snafu as well . . . until I learned what it stood for. 😉
I guess the wonkiest thing that has happened to me was when I was working on my speaking-engagement book on surviving hardships. I clicked on an article about a friend, and this creepy voice-type sound came across my speaker. Scared me to pieces. It was a virus. Thankfully my husband fixed it. The next day or so, I was sitting at my desk, editing, barefoot, with one leg propped up on my chair. I placed my foot down on a Wolf Spider, and it bit me. I squashed it accidentally when I put my foot down, but not before it bit me. For anyone who doesn’t know, it’s a “big” spider that we have here in Texas. My foot tingled with numbness for a day or two. 🙂 Making memories!
The website looks the same to me … perhaps I am simply incredibly unobservant.
I can see the new website now! Yay! It looks lovely, so professional and I love the big pictures and that new photo with the spreading tree. Lovely!
I find a lot of the “wonky” stuff (especially on-line) has turned out to be due to my incredible skills (not!) when I attempt things with just a little bit of knowledge to back me up. I think…”I will learn as I go.” Sometimes it doesn’t work that way! 🙂
I wanted to reply to Kristen but the reply button doesn’t work on her comment. Wonky. As I write this the website has not yet changed. Hmmmmm.
This made me grin. 😉 Wonky indeed!
Well, I am an idiot.
When I aid, “Nice website” on my initial comment, I had indeed gone to the Books and Such homepage…but it had been so long since I’d been there that it looked new to me.
You know what they say…you can’t cure stupid, but you CAN sedate it.
For what it’s worth, the new site looks good.
Much of the content you saw WAS new, Andrew. We just needed to finish with the whole design. So you weren’t wrong. 🙂
Wendy, thank you! You just saved my psyche!
Congratulations! I love the updated website! And I love the ease of signing up for the Books & Such newsletter through it now too. Thank you for sharing such an amazing wealth of information. I’m so grateful.
I like the new look! This change is good.
Nice new look. I like it.
Here’s a wonky tech situation for you. A church in our neighborhood wanted to show a lovely tribute video for Mother’s Day at the beginning of their service. This video was on YouTube, which, as you may know, often runs ads at the beginning of popular videos. So anyway, a certain man from the church introduced the video, saying his own mother was very special to him and this video was dedicated to her. Then he pushed the play button. And a Victoria’s Secret commercial popped up.
Not being tech savvy, they were unable to skip the ad or blank the screen until it was over, so the whole congregation sat in awkward silence trying not to look at the scantily clad women for a very long 20 seconds.
Katie, is there a way I can make that ad run deliberately, because that’s EXACTLY the kind of thing I want to have happen at my funeral!
My Memorial Service Motto is “No tears, just beers.” Barb is, of course, horrified.
Andrew, you probably couldn’t do it on purpose…these special events usually only happen on accident! But you could always set YouTube to autoplay its “Trending” list. Ha.
Dear Wendy, I love the fresh look of your new website. One of my websites recently went wonky for a few hours. The good news is BlueHost always knows what to do when I call for help. I even got a compliment on my hat when the technician saw my home page. 🙂 Now, that’s good customer service.
Blessings ~ Wendy Mac
I love the new look! It’s beautiful.
I absolutely love the website! It reflects Books and Such Literary Management and all of you there so much better. Why? Because the former site was nice but very static, and in box like segments. This design brings creativity and life and movement. The combination of colors, and the lovely script font as the headings, with the basic straight font for the body of paragraphs in various colors, bolded, italicized and the use of white space is awesome. It is beautiful, professional, and full of life just like the women who work there.
Plus, I LOVE THIS COMMENT BOX!!! It makes it much easier for me personally to comment.
Yahoo, and kudos to the designer!
Just beautiful, so fresh and inviting! Happy to be here 🙂