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Widgets...Can Be Hazardous to You and Your Readers!

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS INFORMATION THAT WILL BE UN-SUITABLE TO BLOGGERS AND VIEWERS IF YOU OVERDOSE YOUR BLOG WITH WIDGETS ON ACTIVE RAIN!

Well I finally did it! Pushed the envelope! Went over the edge, maxed out, and crashed my Active Rain Blog! As many of you know, I am kinda techy, and love to share my Widgets, Gadgets, and What-cha-ma-callits with others! On my previous post, Broker Bryant commented that it was taking a ton of time to load my blog on his screen, and that the cookies were killing him. (Mine, not TLW's) LOL I made some wisecrack about him needing to get a new computer or something like that. (lovingly of course)

Many of you know Jeff Turner. He comes up with some great techy stuff too. So I am always snooping around his Blog to see what he'll do next. I have to say, the Bubble Guru and the Gizmo head were very fun and entertaining, however they do make your Blog bog down if you have as many as I did.

Well last night, I went and added this little Widget below to my blog. (bottom of this post) It was the straw that broke the camel's back. That little puppy was all my Active Rain Blog could take. When I went to reply to my comments tonight, my Blog was just a plain blank white screen. I thought AR was down. Then, I got an email from Teri Ellis saying she couldn't get into my blog. Now I'm really starting to have a freak out episode...

Frantically, I go into my personal settings, remove some of my widgets, say a short little prayer, and BAM, still no Blog. Now I am totally in a state of panic!! I'm thinkin someone's hacked into my Blog!! Or maybe AR has given me the boot for some unknown reason. So I go back into my settings, and kill almost half my widgets and gadgets, hit save, and then refresh my browser. OH MY GOSH! Still just a blank white screen, absolutely nothing! My Blog was GONE!!! :-(

By this time, I have a HUGE VEIN popping out of my forehead, and I am totally RED from my hairline, all the way down to my chest. I'm soaked with perspiration, my eyes welling up in tears, so I tear off my sweaty shirt and do the only thing I know left to do. I call another member from my Associates list! And guess who I called? Yep, Colleen Kulikowski.

I dial the number as quickly as possible, still continuously hitting the refresh button like it's some kind of a "pinch me, I'm in a dream" button, (I mean nightmare) I listen intently for her to answer her phone. One ring.....two rings.....then three.... and I can't believe it, I get her voice-mail. (She always answers her phone) I'm thinkin CRAP, (that's not really what I was thinking) should I hang up? No, she probably has caller id and I'd be busted. LOL (she's pretty techy too ya know)

I start leaving her this whiny message "why isn't my Blog coming up when everyone else's is working fine?" I get half way through my next sentence and Whah-Lah, my Blog appears on my monitor's screen! Oh My Gosh!!! So I calmly and politely dismiss myself from her voice-mail, and decide immediately, to do this post. This all took place in about 10 - 15 minutes or there abouts. (It could have been an hour for all I know)

OK, I deserved it! I had over 30 widgets and gadgets on my blog! I was using them as a showcase to help other friends and members see which ones that they liked. Then they could add them to their blogs. Kinda like a "Brad's Window Shopping" display. Well, I guess enough was enough. Now I have about half of them left.

I have learned in life that everything has a limit. It doesn't stop me from pushin the envelope, that's just how I am, but this did teach me where the lines and limits were, here on Active Rain. You know me, always trying to find ways to amuse, educate and entertain readers and viewers.

The moral of this post and story is, don't put too many widgets and gadgets in your green and yellow baskets.
This guy below pretty much chopped down my cherry tree, and sent my blog over the edge!! LOL I thought it was kinda funny and ironic what it said below his picture when I was done. :-)

                                                                                                          My blog is worth $0.00.
                                                                                                      How much is your blog worth?

                                                                                  There will be days when your Blog may lead you to this:
                                                                                                 <<<<<WATCH VIDEO>>>>>



All Content Copyright Protected © 2007 - The Escrow Guy

Posted by Brad Andersohn ~ Community Builder on 06/23/2007 03:28 AM

Comments (52)

activerain community support, widgets, gadgets, gidgets, gizmos

Originally posted at: Real Estate 2.0 Technology : Widgets...Can Be Hazardous to You and Your Readers!

52 Comments on Widgets...Can Be Hazardous to You and Your Readers!

JUN

2007

Oh Brad, I'm sorry but I was laughing while reading this. Didn't you ask a very long time ago what would happen if AR ever went down? I think you have your answer now. Glad it's all good now. he he he

Brad, I remember one time asking you about how to get some of those widgets for my blog. I figured you were the guy to ask, you had so many !!! You were very helpful. Glad to see it all worked out and you are still here. Thanks for the early morning smiles.

have a great weekend

LOL...poor guy. Sounds like you were about to have a nervous breakdown.

And just so ya know. It still takes a long time to load your blog. I don't think it's any faster with half the widgets gone. It still is bogged down.

Brad, you are on my subscribed list but I can't ever get into your posts.....could that be the reason? I was surprised to be able to get into it today. And if I'm having that problem, I would think others are as well......

I would have freaked out too !! Paniked is more like it. So you're sure it is the widgets ?

Brad,

I kind of like the widgets...they add fun to all the other nonsense here...so it is kind of cool.

Brad, Glad you saw the light:) Man that must have sucked to crash. Glad you got it up and running again.

Brad, you were a little Widget Happy;-), but so am I. I removed some for fear that readers not too tech savy would never find the tags and just leave my page

PLEASE do tell me how do I get the "Join Active Rain" sticker you have? I can't find it where it would link to me as yours does???

Brad - I couldn't stop laughing! I'm glad you are back!

The "White" is scary isn't it?

"Brad Anne - listen to me. Do NOT go into the light. Stop where you are. Turn away from it. Don't even look at it."

"Now clear your minds. It knows what scares you. It has from the very beginning. Don't give it any help, it knows too much already."

Welcome Back Buddy!

Oh man, that is a very funny story. I'm all old school and widget wary anyway... but now I'm REALLY afraid of them! LOL I'm so glad your blog has not drifted off irretrievably into cyber space though!

Brad, you crack me up. I was thinking that perhaps it had to do with all of the photos we were adding of our work area. Maybe those, together with your widgets? I couldn't figure it out either 'cause I could get everywhere else by your's. Since I like all of those toys too, I'll make sure I have no more than you do. :-)

Maggie , don't be sorry. I have to say, this morning I can laugh too! Whew! Glad that's over! I just read my own post and thought to myself, this guys lost it!! LOL

Jo-Anne, yes I remember! I was trying to establish a name on the rain as the escrow guy, but quickly learned I was being reputationed (if that's a word) as the Wacky Widget Wizard!! LOL!! I think I will start rotating my widgets and gadgets and gidgets on a monthly basis. That will allow for new ones I find, and also keep my blog "fresh" and "exciting" with ever changing stuff besides my posts! There are a few I found recently, but I think I'll wait to show those off until next month. Right now, my feet are a little cold....

Becky - thanks for commenting. I'm not sure why it is bogging down on your computer. I really don't have any widgets now that would cause that. I even removed gazr which at the time, seemed to be a major contributor to my bogging blogging. If you review my widgets now, you'll see that there is really no more than alot of other members have.

Maybe it's those little blog rating counters (which I love) I can't think of what else would be slowing it down. I figured if Broker B got in, and didn't comment that it was still slow, life must be OK and back to normal. Is there is a small speck of a chance that it could be your computer or browser? Try clearing the cache and cookies in your browser, and see if that speeds the load time.

Carole - Excellent point and the exact reason for my title on this post!

"Widgets...Can Be Hazardous to You and Your Readers!" with emphasis on READERS!! I may have had many more comments, readers, SEO, link love etc. However, if viewers and subscribers like yourself were unable to get in, then that's where the "hazardous" to the health of my Blog comes in.

The fact that you were able to get in this morning as oppossed to previously, is a good sign to me. I have missed your comments and now I know why. There are many others that I haven't seen in a while too. I hope this fixed the problem. Thanks for checkin back and not giving up on me!! :-)

Missy - what else could it be? any suggestions?

Coming from a techy background, I know there are multiple things that can cause slowdowns on computers.
These are the things I try first, and suggest others try if computer is slow.

Defragment your hard drive every 3 months
Clear your cache and cookies in your browser
turn your computer off, wait one minute, and then back on
(some people never shut their computer down for days)
Run Norton System Works for any gliches or hidden bugs
Run AdAware to remove spy bugs and other bogging creatures

There is also other some other things to consider on computers. The amount of memory on the hard drive
and RAM. Some older computers are or were never meant to run memory consuming applications. I hope you are able to load my blog easily and quickly now. If not, please let me know?!? Thanks for your help Missy and continued support of my blog!! You're the best!!

Neal - I too think they're cool, but if I am loosing readers and subscribers like Carole, then I do have my priorities, one of them has to go....and it's not going to be Carole!! I would hate to think other viewers were unable to get into my posts or blog due to my "Widget and Gadget" showcase. I guess I just need to find that happy medium. I'm going to rotate them now and not feature too many at one time, I think that'll be the key! Thanks Neal, always love to see you've been by for a visit and appreciate your honest comments!!

Bryant - since I see your comment, and you didn't say it's still slow, is it safe to say that the amount of widgets now is ok? I am assuming (which I usually don't do) that the speed issue is ok now. LMK!

BTW - thanks for bringing it to my attention, I'm glad you said something, I think it's funny (only after the fact of course) that right after you commented on this, my blog rolled over and died! I can laugh now!! :-)

Janie - I checked yours out, you have about the same amout as me. (love the Jane Fonda song) LOL
It didn't take more than 3 - 5 seconds for your page to load in my browser, but I am running a pretty powerful rigg. Not sure about readers who have a little less power or system....

The Join Active Rain logo I created in Paint Shop Pro 11, and then posted on my profile page. From there I was able to load it into the same place as the widgets. If you need help with that, let me know and I'll walk you through it "off-post". You can view source in your browser to see the html I used to get it there.
LMK. Thanks Janie for the comment!! :-)

It's too late, throw me a rope, pull me through the ceiling if you have to, help....hel....he......h........

Thanks Mike - your Poltergeist Analogy was perfect! I think I laughed harder at that than I did my own pity post!! ROFL

I know, I know!!! You have been a great mentor and friend, and I have been a stubborn and rebel pupil...but...but...but... sound familiar?

Enjoy your weekend my friend, let's do lunch in the next week or two, I'll be calling you to setup a time!

Gotta run now, my house is starting to crumble and is being sucked into the earth by some strange force or power...he he!

Christina - thanks! I'm glad it's still here too. Old school? I don't think so, I think Mac was made for widges and PC was late for gadgets. There's a couple youtube videos that relay a funny message regarding widgets and gadgets: and which one is better!! Check em out, very funny stuff!

This one here is hilarious: Watch Widget Video >>>>>

Then there is this one I really like: Watch Mac vs PC Video>>>>>

Last - here are my favorite Mac vs PC Commercials: Watch Video>>>>>

Teri - thanks for your saving email. Between you and Broker B, I think yo both helped save my blog!! You're scoring big points with me!! (Biggest Smile) It's great to be up and running again. :-) Thank you!!

That cat's pretty funny. I found it hard to read on after that!

"Is there is a small speck of a chance that it could be your computer or browser?"

So what's that supposed to mean? You trying to tell me I have a piece of crap computer and yours is better than mine? I swear. It's just like a man to blame someone else. Always have to blame someone else instead of taking responsibility for your own actions. Is anything ever your fault? Or do you always blame other people?

Ok...so I'm just kidding. LOL....just trying to yank your chain! hehehe! Ok, so I tried it on another computer and it loaded faster. Must of been my other piece-o-crap computer!

Enojoy your weekend, and try to not break anything else!

Jeff, glad the cat was enough to get you to comment, now I know the secret.... LOL! Thanks. :-)

Becky - you are too funny! Whatever you're thinking must be correct. Yes, I am behind you all the way! Sure wish I'd thought of that! When you're right, you're right! Are these comments any better? LOL

Here's the perfect link for you regarding your comment...you'll love it!! :-)

"The Man Is Always Wrong!!!"

If you don't laugh at this, I take it all back!! (Huge Smile)

Brad...I thought you were being punished for sneaking into our Bookmarks!

Are you sure it wasn't a warning?

Joan - ya know, I never even thought of that, guess I better fly a while under the radar huh? If that were the case, that's all the warning I needed, I'll be a good boy from now on, I promise.... :-)

JUN

2007

Brad - You are one funny techno geek! You had me actually laughing in my chair. Thanks for the giggles and sound advice.

Marlene - I am a little geeky!! I find great joy in sharing this stuff with others, you should see how good I am at Title and Escrow stuff!! That's my specialty, this is more for fun. Glad you were able to get a laugh at my expense...that's the best part about this post! Laughter and giggles are the best therapy there is! So keep smiling, laughing and enjoying all that life has to offer. :-)

LOL....ok that was a funny!!

I thought you'd get a kick out of that one! You'll be glad to know, I haven't broke anything since :-)

Hi Brad, thanks for the feedback on the Join Active Rain Widget. Yes, I am a widget hound, that is our next AR Betty Ford Group! Hahah!

JUN

2007

Hey Brad, I like the idea what you do, I love to share techy stuff when I can too, :) I love technology and I am always looking ways how to do more efficients our duties with techy stuff.

this blog should be featured, you have my 5 star my friend

Janie - widgets are cool!...how much to join your group? I think I'll need a lifetime membership!! :-)
I think we can entertain all the Betty Ford AR members, we could just weave widgets all day long!!

Hey Ray - I have had many of my post "featured" and appreciate your comment. Now it's time to get some of the new people on the "Cover of Rolling Stone". There are so many good bloggers joining AR, it's nice to see them up there too! Glad you liked this one, thanks for the 5, and do keep in touch.

BTW - I replied to your email this evening, I hope the info I sent you helps!! LMK

When you feel like you're having a dry blog day just bring out the cat and post something, anything...watch the comments rooolll in!

Jeff - that's cute! In other words, just call "here kitty kitty kitty, and they'll come running!!" LOL :-)

JUL

2007

I missed this one! I remember calling you back.....

Brad...

I just had to come in here and LMAO...Sorry. I just can't help it :)

You had so many widgets that your blog has actually crashed my IE on several occasions.

Glad you have come to the realization that when it comes to AR...Less...Is More. More or less :)

TLW...ROAR!

Colleen, no worries, it's more comical now that I think back on it...besides, if I didn't fix it, TLW wouldn't have come back to ROAR like she did above! Sometimes we have to change things for the needs of one instead of the needs for many. I hope you didn't think I was upset that I got your VM.... It just put me over the edge to get it fixed.... You know me, the escrow guy by day...the Gadget Man Blogger by night! :-)

Thanks TLW - out of the 3000 comments I have received on my posts, yours and Broker B were the only one's referrencing the widgets and them slowing down your systems. In fact, I have many comment on which ones they liked and wanted help putting them on their page. It took this crash and your comment to get me to realize that the AR server can only handle so much! Also, I am running a new HP M7760n that is actually faster than me, and didn't realize others may be running less powerful systems. So thanks for ROARING and bringing to my attention.

ALL WIDGETS ARE NOW ON A ROTATIONAL SCHEDULE
CHECK BACK TO SEE WHAT WIDGET IS BEING FEATURED ON:

"BRAD'S WIDGET SHOWCASE"

Brad, that was a funny story. I always enjoy reading your post. I'm glad everything worked out for you at the end.

Brad, you are funny. Sorry I am not laughing at you but with you (I hope).

Well, I am sure you have learned something from this episode and will continue to share your learnings with us.

Here I was begging to know how to do the jaxtr and/or jingl and whatever else in widgets because I could not figure out how to get them on my posts or on the right side of my blog page under my photo. And no one would let me know how to do it and I felt left out.

I still want to know how to do it, but I now know how to use them sparingly. lol

GET YOURSELF TOGETHER FOR MY CELEBRATION coming up soon. Well not until Sunday so I can get 200 points for my 100th post! 'cause I is gonna celebration and I hope to get comments to help me out. But I will admit right now that I am somewhat already disappointed that I have almost written 100 posts and not one of them came close to a feature post. What's a girl gotta do to be featured?

Alex -nice to get a laugh once in a while at another members expense huh? LOL! It is funny now, but I really was a freaking out blogger at the time! :-)

Rosemary - if you want to get featured, you have to try something different. First, you should read my most recent post entitled "5 Principles for an Effective Post!" that will give you a head start.

Regarding the jaxtr widget, just go to their webpage, create the widget (they walk you right thru it) then copy the html code from jaxtr to your settings "description" box located on your "My Home" page in AR. If this is all to confusing, only 2 things you need to know....

#1 - pick up your phone

#2 - call Brad for all your resource needs.

If I don't have the answers, I'll find them, or someone who does! That's how I Roll!! Big Smile! :-)

JUL

2007

Brad - Although your widgets are interesting/amusing they are sometimes annoying/distracting. I hope your personal website isn't as busy as your AR blog is?

Hey Bud - always great to have someone elses perspective and opinion, I sure appreciate that. I did use to have a ton of widgets for people to play with or add to their blogs, use to get tons of comments regarding how much they liked em. Then this happen...."The Big Crash"

Now, maybe you didn't notice, but there are only 4 widgets on my blog. The other graphics on my page are either links, meters, or animated gifs. Of those, there is only 1 animated gif, and the TopBlogSpot counters. I hope you don't find these too annoying or distracting. They are needed to track my placement in the Real Estate Blogosphere. I have removed 12 other widgets, 6 animated gifs, and the Meez, Polldaddy and NEWS feed from my blog. You'll see many members have those, so for them, you'll just have to build a bridge and get over it! (big smile)

I do hope you'll check out my website at www.FirstAm.com , I'd love to hear your comments about that one too! Thanks for taking the time, and please check my blog again, I think you'll find it much less annoying or distracting now!!~ :-)

Brad, your business site is very professional, although I am not a big fan of extra small type, preferring slightly larger serif typefaces for readability. I do understand that blogs are a personal manifestation of oneself and as such we tend to over-exaggerate our creative side. No need to explain your usage of widgets, I was just expressing a personal opinion.

Thanks Bud, your opinion is respected and appreciated, it's great to live in America where you won't get shot or hung for sharing it!! :-) This "Buds" for you!! Now I'm off to check out your blog, so as I can give you some of my personal opinions as well, care to join me for the guided tour.... LOL!!

You realize my expectations are going to be a little higher than average, based on your comments here.... :-) Thanks Bud!!~

JUL

2007

I'm glad you got your blog back and didn't resort to the guy to trashed his computer. That would have only made matters worse, no computer, no blogging.