Tagged: WordPress
A new era for MLB.com/blogs
Now that we are well into the Hot Stove season, another key player in Major League Baseball has just made a big change of scenery: Us.
We are excited to announce that MLB.com/blogs, approaching its 11th season as the leading baseball blogging community, has moved its popular PRO blogs to a terrific new blogging platform at Medium.com. Soon the overall move from WordPress.com will impact our existing fan blogs as well, so this is an update for everyone involved.
Background
First, a bit about Medium. Launched in 2012, it was developed by Twitter co-founder Evan Williams to provide a platform for longer-form writing. It features a full visual editor user interface, can handle multiple forms of embedded multimedia content, and uses a system of tagging, sharing, and recommendations to group and promote articles within its network.
Some of the biggest benefits of the move to Medium are:
Same community. MLB.com/blogs dates back to the very first post by Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda with an ode to his friend and former teammate Jackie Robinson — and the community is going to be stronger than ever around that hub. We’ve included a roster of all of the PRO blogs that moved over, and just some of the examples there already include the Our Game blog from MLB Official Historian John Thorn, Tigers beat reporter Jason Beck, Dodger Insider, the official MLB.com Books Blog with a new review from Hall of Fame writer Paul Hagen, From the Corner of Edgar & Dave, Cardinals Insider, MLB.com columnist Richard Justice, Twins Pics and many, many more. There will be some new looks, led by Kansas City’s relaunch of Royal Rundown.
You’ll recognize the familiar MLB.com logo and our familiar slogan we’ve always featured for baseball blogs: “Official Affiliate / Unofficial Opinions.”
Networking. The odds of your blog surfacing to a fresh set of eyes will be higher than ever before with Medium’s expansive reach. The new platform excels at placing links to your articles on related articles within the network, where it’s likelier to find greater exposure. As a result, Medium expects to provide nearly a 40-percent traffic bump to content on the network.
A culture of reading. Other platforms are geared more to publishing than being read. Medium’s audience skews younger and is engaged and well informed. Readers come to Medium to consume meaningful, quality content. And their growing audience is “sticky,” meaning readers spend a considerable amount of time on the site, consuming a series of related articles.
The neighborhood. The new Bill Simmons venture, The Ringer, launched earlier this year on Medium, joining SI’s The Cauldron and the NBA. The Italian football club AS Roma is on board as well. We will be positioned alongside these high-profile sports entities as Medium continues its push to become a hub of sports content.
What it means to you
We invite you to move your own blog over to Medium as soon as possible and continue to be part of our new MLB.com/blogs community. Just create one using your Twitter account, the easiest way to get started. If you do, please by all means leave a comment on our hub blog at MLB.com/blogs simply listing your URL. Then we will continue to help promote your blog as we always did, surfacing PRO and fan blogs regularly. That page is promoted across MLB.com.
Only the pre-existing PRO blogs will keep their familiar “mlblogs.com” domains from this point forward. Between now and the end of 2016, any fan blogs with those domains will revert to a “wordpress.com” domain. WordPress is directly messaging bloggers who will be affected. The old addresses will continue to work for some time after the switchover there.
In addition, the four MLB themes used in recent years at WordPress (PRO, Fan, Modern and Retro) will be retired. Bloggers who stay with WordPress will need to choose new themes from them.
You’ll immediately notice some slightly different lingo when you blog at Medium. Your WordPress blog becomes a “publication” on Medium, and your blog posts now are “articles.” The visual editor ultimately is very similar to what you’re used to, but some things do operate slightly differently and you’ll notice some unique functionalities the first time you write on Medium. We’ll make sure you have a guide to writing on Medium to make your transition as seamless as possible.
Even if you aren’t planning to blog at Medium, it’s a good idea to start an account there just so you can continue to follow certain PRO blogs so that you are notified immediately when a new entry is saved. While the URL for that blog will not change, you will need to start a Medium account in order to continue receiving such notifications. To do so, visit Medium.com, click on the “Sign In / Sign Up” button in the upper right corner, and sign up using Twitter, Facebook, Google or by using your email address. After creating your Medium account, please visit that blog at the familiar URL, click “FOLLOW” and make sure to check the box next to “Receive Letters in your inbox.”
We’re excited about moving MLB.com/blogs to a new platform, and we think you’ll enjoy using Medium. If you have any questions at all about this process or Medium in general, please don’t hesitate to ask us right here.
– Mark
Around MLB.com Blogs
Please take the time to read “My Baseball story” by Matt at The Cardinals’ Base, and share your own favorite Major League Baseball memory in the comments there and on your own MLB.com Blog. After all, that’s why we are all blogging here and ready for another great MLB season.
[updated] As of 5:22 pm ET, Plushdamentals was third overall in page views at MLB.com for Feb. 24, as people are buzzing over 16-year-old Brewers blogger Curt Hogg, who broke news. No. 1 is MLB.com Braves beat reporter Mark Bowman and No. 2 is From the Corner of Edgar & Dave.
We’ll have the next monthly MLB.com Blogs Latest Leaders up next week, so never too late to make sure you are doing all the right things to promote your own blog. Be sure to comment on as many other MLB.com Blogs as you can and always leave your full URL wherever you go. Will Plushdamentals have enough time to rise to the top of the Fan category?
Who’s going to be at Spring Training and who’s going to be blogging about it? Let us know here so we can keep an eye out for new posts and hopefully help with some promotion. I’ll be in Arizona next week with the MLB Fan Cave panel and 30 finalists so holla.
Speaking of Fan Cave, in case you missed it, our friend Erik at Counting Baseballs took the time to critique all 50 of the Fan Cave finalist videos when that voting began. He came up with his own top 10, so you can crosscheck and see whether they advanced.
Jim Kaat’s first Spring Training with the Washington Senators was in the 1950s. We’re happy to say that Kitty Kaat is going strong and this week posted a new entry about 2012 Spring Training – where he is helping the Red Sox pitching coach at Fort Myers. Please leave Jim some comments.
Check out the WordPress.com Photo Carousel to easily jazz up your pictures and create slideshows. Like this one…
Calling fans of the defending World Champs: Got a question? Leave it on Jen Langosch’s blog By Gosh, It’s Langosch, because in addition to all of her coverage on cardinals.com, she is doing a Question of the Day on her blog from Cardinals camp. Question, Jen – how do you find time to do such a great job on your MLB.com Blog?
Welcome back to Redsox Nation and Pittsburgh Peas – keep it going!
With all due respect to those other games, The World Will Be Watching THIS on March 23. And I even read all three books.
Why do you blog? Tell us.
Make sure you use the social media widgets in the WordPress.com dashboard and use Twitter and Facebook to support your latest MLB.com Blogs posts. You should create your own Facebook Page to match your blog and encourage others to Like your FB page. Those are no-brainers for promo and we make it very easy to incorporate all that here.
A good example is the author of gojays. And a nice job using polls as well.
Keep leaving comments here with your blog’s full URL so we can help people find you. Happy Spring Training.
Dealing with problem comments
A lively comments section is every blogger’s dream. But what about when unwanted comments from unwelcome guests become a problem? Fear not! MLBlogs is powered by WordPress.com, who provide bloggers with all the tools you need to make your comments a troll-free zone.
A first layer of defense comes from WordPress.com’s spam filter. Should any spam messages make it through, you can mark them as spam to remove them from your visible comments and add them to the spam filter. Additionally, every blogger has the ability via your blog dashboard to customize comment approval under Settings > Discussion. You can open things up and automatically publish all comments in real time, require all comments to be approved by you before they appear on your blog, or choose from a wide variety of customizable options in between. Should you encounter an unwelcome commenter, you can blacklist both by email address and IP address — preventing them from returning to the blog under a new account.
Make sure to mark posts as “Spam” as that helps our system learn and catch similar spam posts better in the future.
Finally, consider is closing comments for old posts; WordPress can do this automatticially after a certain number days, under Settings > Discussion.
As always, WordPress.com’s Support section is a great resource. Here’s a link to their support page on this topic for more information.
Status update on photos and storage
All or nearly all of the photos on fan MLBlogs have been restored, a final step in the conversion process as outlined in previous posts. Thanks for your patience.
We have made sure that you have enough storage space to continue posting photos on your blog. This was very important in advance planning, as you can look through our Latest Leaders and see many examples of blogs that have great photo usage, like Crzblue’s Dodger Blue World, Rockpile Ranter, MLB groundskeeping guru Murray Cook and Cook & Son Bats’ Blog.
The default storage limitation on WordPress.com is 3GB, standard for their many millions of bloggers. To check your current storage status in your dashboard, go to Appearance –> Media. This was not an issue for all but a small handful of the thousands we converted.
For anyone who will require further space, the first tier of paid storage is 5GB. The next tier is 15GB. See the Space Upgrade page for more details, part of the FAQ for MLBloggers you were presented here after the relaunch was announced on Monday. And reminder to go here if you need MLBlogs Support.
Did you see what Prose and Ivy or Yankees Chick or By Gosh, It’s Langosch have done with their MLBlogs?
Will approve all constructive comments on this community blog. Thanks for all the feedback (also for those who commented on Paul’s post), and please keep it coming. Also please do share in comments any tips you feel are useful for your fellow MLBloggers in utilizing the new functionality. It’s cool to see so many people enjoying the infinitely upgraded capabilities, and we’ll have the April Latest Leaders up asap, probably later tonight. Be sure to check and see if you ranked among the most-viewed MLBlogs, and also see to the right here about how to have your MLBlog spotlighted in this space over coming days!
Conversion to WordPress is under way!
The move to WordPress is under way! Thanks for your patience as we interrupt service to convert many thousands of fan MLBlogs from Movable Type. Here’s what you need to know:
First and foremost, you’re going to love using the WordPress dashboard and top blogging tools. So please pardon the dust while we (a) bring something very cool to MLB.com’s blog community and (b) bring our MLB themes to the entire WordPress population!
The switch began at 10:30 a.m. ET on Friday, as previously communicated, and you will not be able to access blog software nor view your blog until the conversion is complete. We are projecting 5 p.m. ET on Monday (May 16) for service restoration and will provide any updates on timing here.
Anyone trying to access your fan MLBlog during that downtime will see an “Under Construction” page and will be referred to this community blog. I will respond here to comments throughout the downtime and update this post as needed along the way.
Everyone will receive a WordPress Activation Email that will contain very important details on how to access your new WordPress dashboard, and WordPress is going to email the address that is currently associated with your MLBlog. All users were asked to update that email.
If you have trouble receiving your activation or account information emails please check your spam/junk email box. If you have an option to unblock specific email addresses, try allowing *@wordpress.com (all emails from the domain) and/or no-reply@wordpress.com anddonotreply@wordpress.com addresses.
If you did not heed our warnings to publish any unpublished drafts before the downtime, then those unpublished drafts will be vapor when you get your new WordPress blog. There is no exception.
If you get the urge to write during this downtime, write it in a text editor like Notepad (PC) or TextEdit (Mac) and save it to copy and paste into your new blog when the next system is targeted to be online on May 16. If you post every day and are worried this ends your streak, no problem, just backdate your posts and publish them once we’re all live on WordPress.
If you encounter any missing content after the final conversion, it should show up shortly afterward. Please note that your old profile pic from Movable Type will not convert to WordPress. You’ll want to get to know your Gravatar options. Way cooler as with everything there.
PRO MLBlogs are not affected. Those were migrated over as a test last month to ensure that the mass of fan blogs are converted as smoothly as possible.
The community blog will respond as needed to comments on that blog during this outage weekend and will let you know when the final changes are completed, signaling your return to blogging in a brand-new way using the latest blogging software from our WordPress friends.
Once the conversion to WordPress has been completed, all Blog Support will be handled by the very capable WordPress support team – NOT MLB.com customer service or any other source. WordPress has extensive support documentation at http://en.support.wordpress.com and can be contacted directly at http://en.support.wordpress.com/contact
As always, this community blog also will be a help resource on any issues that are representative of a collective need, but this will not be a technical-support blog.
You are going to have access to the three types of themes you’re used to (per MLB and Club), plus the impressive volume of WordPress themes. In turn, this is going to drastically expand this community, because hundreds of thousands of WordPress bloggers will have access for the first time to MLB themes. We’re also gaining the capability to add a wide variety of widgets to the blog sidebar, as well as complete customization capability for the sidebar. Fun is coming.
Your blog’s URL will remain the same, for example http://tommy.mlblogs.com and not http://tommy.wordpress.com … and did you know that Tommy Lasorda posted the first-ever MLBlog? He’s going strong and now using WordPress.
Once you have received the activation email from WordPress, we recommend bookmarking your WordPress dashboard at that point to save time and logging in there. You also will be able to log in from a link at http://MLB.com/blogs or simply WordPress.com.
Conversion to WordPress starts at 10 am ET today – fan blogging availability expected to return Monday
We appreciate your patience as we begin the process of converting thousands of Major League Baseball fan MLBlogs from Movable Type to WordPress! Starting at 10 a.m. ET this morning (Friday, May 13), your blog will not be available for updating nor will it be visible to the public. We tentatively expect the process to be completed by 5 PM ET ON MONDAY (May 16).
Anyone trying to access your blog during that downtime will see an “Under Construction” page and will be referred to this community blog — where we will continue responding to comments and keep you updated on progress.
Here again are two VERY important steps to take in advance to help ensure a smooth transition:
EMAIL UPDATING. Make sure a current and reachable email address is in the profile of your MLB.com registration account. Everyone will receive a WordPress Activation Email that will contain very important details on how to access your new WordPress dashboard, and WordPress is going to email the address that is currently associated with your MLBlog.
This means if you created an MLB.com account (and thus your blog) using a dummy email that has no inbox, or if you never check that email you used to create an MLBlog a long time ago, you will not be able to receive the Activation Email and won’t be able to access your converted blog on WordPress. It’s easy to log into your MLB.com account on top of the MLB.com homepage and edit the email address to include one that has an active inbox that you will be checking after this transition is done.
* NOW IS THE TIME TO DO THIS * as it will not be possible after we return from the weekend downtime.
If you have trouble receiving your activation or account information emails please check your spam/junk email box. If you have an option to unblock specific email addresses, try allowing *@wordpress.com (all emails from the domain) and/or no-reply@wordpress.com anddonotreply@wordpress.com addresses.
PUBLISH ANY DRAFTS OR LOSE ‘EM. All content from your current blog should show up just fine after the migration. Exception: blog posts with a draft/unpublished status WILL NOT be converted, so you either need to save those elsewhere or publish them by Friday afternoon if you want them to be in your dashboard going forward. If not, they will be lost, with no exception. If you encounter any missing content after the final conversion, it should show up shortly afterward.
MORE IMPORTANT INFO:
Plan on not having access to your blogs and dashboards after 10 a.m. ET today (Friday, 5/13/11). If you get the urge to write during this downtime, write it in a text editor like Notepad (PC) or TextEdit (Mac) and save it to copy and paste into your new blog when the next system is targeted to be online on May 16. If you post every day and are worried this ends your streak, no problem, just backdate your posts and publish them once we’re all live on WordPress.
The community blog will respond as needed to comments on that blog during this outage weekend and will let you know when the final changes are completed, signaling your return to blogging in a brand-new way using the latest blogging software from our WordPress friends.
SUPPORT: Once the conversion to WordPress has been completed, all Blog Support will be handled by the very capable WordPress support team – NOT MLB.com customer service or any other source. WordPress has extensive support documentation at http://en.support.wordpress.com and can be contacted directly at http://en.support.wordpress.com/contact
As always, this community blog also will be a help resource on any issues that are representative of a collective need, but it will not be a technical-support blog.
THEMES AND WIDGETS: You are going to have access to the three types of themes you’re used to (per MLB and Club), plus the impressive volume of WordPress themes. In turn, this is going to drastically expand this community, because hundreds of thousands of WordPress bloggers will have access for the first time to MLB themes. We’re also gaining the capability to add a wide variety of widgets to the blog sidebar, as well as complete customization capability for the sidebar. Fun is coming.
BLOG URL: It will remain the same, for example http://fantasy411.mlblogs.com and not http://fantasy411.wordpress.com
LOGIN: Once you have received the activation email from WordPress, we recommend bookmarking your WordPress dashboard at that point to save time and logging in there. You also will be able to log in from http://MLB.com/blogs or simply WordPress.com.
KEY ACTION STEPS for you to take by 10 a.m. ET today (Friday, May 13):
– Make sure the email address you are using for your blog is updated to one that you can access and that can receive email. Crucial.
– Publish all draft/unpublished blog posts or copy and paste the text into a text editor.
None of this applies to those members of the MLB family who maintain the MLB PRO BLOG theme. Their blogs already have been converted to WordPress as a successful first step toward the full migration.
MLB & WordPress latest update & what to expect
:: Updated with new dates ::
All of our blogs will be migrated from Movable Type to WordPress tentatively starting on Friday, May 13, with expected completion late Monday, May 16. That was just pushed back a week from May 6-9 to allow more time for a smooth conversion for fans.
What you need to know:
DOWNTIME: You will not be able to access your blog software or view your blog during that scheduled May 13-16 service outage. Anyone attempting to access your blog then will be redirected to this community blog, which will keep you updated on the status. I will respond as needed to comments here during that weekend and let you know when the final changes are completed, signaling your return to blogging in a brand-new way using the latest WordPress blogging software.
Plan on not having access to your blogs and dashboards after the afternoon of the 13th, with exact times to come. If you get the urge to write during this downtime, write it in a text editor like Notepad (PC) or TextEdit (Mac) and save it to copy and paste into your blog when the next system is online on May 16.
EMAIL UPDATING: It is imperative that you take the opportunity in the meantime to make sure a current and reachable email address is in the profile of your MLB.com registration account. Everyone will receive a WordPress activation email that will contain very important details on how to access your new WordPress dashboard, and WordPress is going to email the address that is currently associated with your MLBlog.
This means if you created an MLB.com account (and thus your blog) using a dummy email that has no inbox, or if you never check that email you used to create an MLBlog a long time ago, you will not be able to receive the activation email and won’t be able to access your converted blog on WordPress. It’s easy to log into your MLB.com account on top of the MLB.com homepage and edit the email to include one that has an active inbox that you will be checking after this transition is done.
Having already migrated over hundreds of the PRO blogs authored by members of the MLB family, trust me that this has overwhelmingly been the main problem area. Avoid that issue at all costs so you don’t lose a lot more important blogging time after the downtime. NOW IS THE TIME TO DO THIS as it will not be possible after we return from the weekend downtime.
CONTENT: All content from your current blog should show up just fine after the migration. Exception: blog posts with a draft/unpublished status WILL NOT be converted, so you either need to save those elsewhere or publish them before the service outage if you want them to be in your dashboard going forward. If not, they will be lost. We are spending the days leading up to the full migration constantly testing and looking for bugs. If you encounter any missing content after the final conversion, it should show up shortly thereafter.
SUPPORT: Once the conversion to WordPress has been completed, all Blog Support will be handled by the very capable WordPress support team — not MLB.com customer service or any other source. DO NOT contact MLB.com customer service about blog issues. WordPress has extensive support documentation and can be contacted directly. As always, this community blog also will be a help resource on any issues that are representative of a collective need, but this will not be a technical-support blog.
THEMES AND WIDGETS: You are going to have access to the three types of themes you’re used to (per MLB and Club), plus the impressive volume of WordPress themes. In turn, this is going to drastically expand this community, because hundreds of thousands of WordPress bloggers will have access for the first time to MLB themes. We’re also gaining the capability to add a wide variety of widgets to the blog sidebar, as well as complete customization capability for the sidebar. Fun is coming.
The next update with more specific times and any further news will come shortly, and feel free to post any comments here in the meantime.
KEY ACTION STEPS for you to take before the scheduled downtime:
1. Make sure the email address you are using for your blog is updated to one that you can access and that can receive email. Crucial.
2. Publish all draft/unpublished blog posts or copy and paste the text into a text editor.
We’ll post the April Latest Leaders at a delayed date once the conversion is finished and sure everything is going smoothly. And on another note, we’ve changed the name of this from “MLBlogosphere” to “MLB.com Blogs Central” – same blog, new title. Thanks.
MLB.com Blogs Central 