After checking everything out with my hosting co. and doing a bunch of different things to get a grip on the reason for the slow load I finally figured out that it was my dated theme that was not working so well with the WordPress 2.71 upgrade and with the latest Firefox browser which upgraded about the time when I started noticing the problem.

In the meantime, overnight I had lost nearly 1/2 of my traffic on those sites using that particular WP theme. I checked it out on Internet Explorer and found that it still loaded ok using that browser, that’s why I still had at least retained half of my normal visitors. Then I checked out how the sites worked on Safari and found that they would not load up on that browser either.

So here is a lesson to be learned at my expense:

It is a good idea to check out how your blog or website reacts and loads on different browsers!

I have known this in the past and have noticed that by blogs look somewhat different using different browsers. My daughter alerted me one time a couple of years ago that my site looked somewhat distorted on her Mac–she was using Safari as many Mac folk do. After that I had her checking it out once in awhile. Also another time by accident I discovered that some of my blogs looked different on IE 6 than they look on IE 7. So it is important to even check out different versions of the same browser at times.

Right now I have the current versions of Firefox, IE 8, Safari, and Chrome installed on my computer just for a quick check. However, it takes up a lot of memory. Here is a great site where you can check out how your blog or website resolves on all of the different browsers and versions currently in use:

<<<Browser Shots>>>           *Top

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Here’s an article with some good tips on choosing the best domain name for your Internet ministry:

“The Beginning of your Internet ministry: A Domain Name”  @eMinister Blog

Related Posts:

“Purchasing Domain names -What You Should Know”

Getting Started: Getting Domains from ‘Go Daddy’

Resource Site: “ministrypool: online stuff for churches”

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Andrea references "The Blogging Church", a book written by Brian Bailey. Then interviews Ben Arment, pastor of Reston Community Church in Reston Va., about his experiences of blogging as a pastor.

I found this link on Brian Bailey’s Blog.              *Top

1. Blogging and Pastoral Ministry, Intro.

2. The Benefits of Blogging as a Pastor

3. How and What Should a Pastor Blog

4. The Dangers of Blogging as a Pastor

The series is written from the perspective of a pastor who has been blogging for more than two years. He not only presents the ‘whys’ and benefits of blogging for pastors, but also details the potential dangers. A well thought out and very balanced presentation.                *Top

One warning however, if you start browsing his website: ChurchCommunicationsPro.com you can easily spend a couple of hours and just scratch the surface. It is full of good stuff for churches and for those involved in ministry on the internet.                *Top

They are a little pricey but I am glad to pay extra for dependability. There are hosts out there that are just as reliable and less expensive. It just takes a little research.

There are a lot of hosts out there and it can be confusing to a beginner and even to someone like me who has been around only a year or so. The following are web hosting evaluations and ratings on the following sites to help in the process:

Hosting Review

Best Web Hosting

The next site has some good info. about how to choose a web host:

How to Choose a Web Host

One good tip that I have learned. Before committing to a host, go online and check out all the complaints or problems posted. Every popular host will have some unhappy customers for various reasons.

Look and see if there are a number of similar or repeated complaints. At least you will find out if there is any common problem repeatedly experienced by customers. Just ‘google’ the host name and ‘complaints’ or ‘problems’ and etc.                *Top

Pastors have so little real time to influence their people and blogging can extend and increase the opportunity to share the Gospel and the Christian world view not only with their own congregation, but also with anyone else who happens to come across the site. Best of all, blogging can literally be done at anytime, and the time investment is minimal compared with the possible results.

View this great video that I came across on the Revival Blog. It is less than three minutes long and more than worth the time:

"What People Need From Their Pastors" -John Piper (3min.)

This video is for you Pastor, but there is all sorts of great stuff like this that you can share with your people on a blog. Why should the ol’ adversary have all the great media?

Got this at Google Video, there is all sort of good Christian stuff there along with everything else under the sun. You just have to search for them. John Piper has over 500 listed! *Top

Terapad is loaded with features and potential, however it lacks variety in the basic templates that are currently available. Read my evaluation which is posted on my new Terapad site and take a look.             *Top

There are a number of very good reasons to use TypePad.

1. The Cost is minimal.  $4.95/mo. or $49.50/yr. for the starting package, even a free trial @ 30 days which is a great way to get started blogging, learn, and decide later.

2. It is fast and easy. Using the basic default settings you can get started in 30 minutes. If you are particular like me and you want to view a bunch of template possibilities, it could take an hour or so. It took me 1hr 30 minutes to set up this site the way that it is.  I only clicked on the ‘Help’ button once.

3. It has all of the important features that the more advanced programs have.  Most of the features are built in or can be added easily as plug-ins/widgets.  One very good feature, you can easily configure the sidebar through click and drag.  You can also add any kind of list to your blog including a blogroll very quickly.  Even the more advanced MovableType program doesn’t have this feature.

4. Public or Private blog? You can choose to publish a public site which can and will be viewed internationally. Or you can produce a site that is Private -accessible only by those you choose–or maybe a small group ( like: Church staff, Bible Study, Youth Group, Missionary Org. & etc.).

5. Posting to the site is easy and the editor is loaded with all the needed features and then some. It even has a spell check built in which the more sophisticated Word Press that I use on my other sites doesn’t give you to start.

6.  A TypePad blog looks great and is always readable.  All sorts of books and manuals are available to help make your blog more unique.  You can upgrade the hosting and even get your own domain address.  Some of the most famous sites in the blogosphere use Typepad.

7. TypePad is part of SixApart which produces the MovableType program and also hosts Livejounal and VOX.   So they are a major player and there is almost no possibility that this host will quit or go out of business anytime soon.  Also the tech. support is built in and easy to request.

Here are a couple of not so good points:

1. TypePad owns the domain you are publishing on so you are always somewhat limited in what you can do with the site. You can however get your own domain address and point it at your TypePad address to give yourself and your users an easier to remember URL (domain address).

2. TypePad does own the domain so if you decide to move your blog to another host, you will lose your blog address, links, and much of your traffic. You can move your files to another address and republish, but you will need to maintain your old site in order to direct visitors to your new location and maintain the links to all your old posts.

3. No real static pages. It does give you a permanent ‘About’ page where you can post a lot of stuff about yourself and your blog.  Large articles or organizational documents have to be hosted elsewhere and linked to. You could however link to your TypePad blog from a permanent website.

Nevertheless, TypePad is a really great looking platform that is extremely easy to use.  It could be utilized by a large variety of different groups, ministries, and churches. Plus the price for what you get is very low.           *Top