Did you see my crazy blog? On Friday and Saturday, my website looked awful. Little by little, a bug ate up all my posts, pictures, and even my header, replacing them with random images. (A tire? A pine cone?!)
I try not to bore you with talk of technical difficulties on my blog. After all, you’re here for the recipes, not for a lesson in computers. But today I feel it needs to be addressed, since so many of you have recently been reporting 404 errors when you click on a recipe link. Please accept my apologies for all the trouble, and know that I’m doing everything I can to fix it as soon as possible.
When Good = Bad:
I’ve had to upgrade server packages four times in the last two months! But there’s a downside to this growth: a person needs to know quite a lot about technology to manage all the wild things that can happen to a high-traffic site. I’m struggling to learn it all as fast as I can. And every time a reader sends me an email addressed to my webmaster, I have to laugh. Webmaster? Unfortunately, I’m the only webmaster for chocolatecoveredkatie.com… and that’s a scary thought, considering I didn’t even know what HTML stood for until last year.
(Honestly, it’s amazing my site runs at all!)
C-panels, dedicated servers, caches… who knew running a food blog required so much technical knowledge? I really appreciate your patience as I try to fix all the craziness with my blog. And if anyone has an idea as to why people are suddenly getting 404 errors on pages that DO exist, please let me know! I’ve tried so many different ways to fix it—and nothing has worked.
For your patience in sticking with me, I promise you a really yummy post tomorrow.
Question of the Day:
Are you good with computers?
Or are you clueless, like me? Actually, to be fair to myself, I’m not clueless anymore; I’ve learned a lot. But oh my word, was I ever clueless when I started this blog!
Also: Is my site working ok for you now? Or are you still getting error messages?
Mariel says
we definitely understand Katie! i know how you feel! I am so bad with computer stuff tooo. i really need to figure out some stuff on how to fix errors in the HTML and all that. it is so hard. i wish i had a computer tech wizard with me at all times!
Jami says
I am not good with computers but my husband is a web developer/programmer and trouble shoots all of our computer issues. I am blessed because I’d never be able to make it without him.
Rebecca @ Naturally Healthy and Gorgeous says
Working great now and think of all you are learning! 🙂
Sophie says
Very understandable Katie!! The web can be quite frustrating and complicated! Please don’t stress out about it too much 🙂 We all understand! And hooray for the high traffic!
How did you host your blog now? Do you use wordpress or something else?
That cute little cake picture looks YUM! Im excited about tomorrow’s post 🙂
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Yes, it’s a wordpress blog :).
Lisa says
My husband was a computer science major in college. Enough said. I don’t touch the computers. haha
Jodi Theisen says
Hi Katie, your emails are coming through and your home page looks like it should it be today – haven’t tried clicking on anything else yet. As far as “webmaster” goes, my husband has his own business, he’s a computer engineer so maybe it’s time for a big chocolate-covered vacation to Australia and he can fix your blog whie you and I go out into the sun and eat chocolate! Chin up sweet girl 🙂
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Oh don’t tempt me! I’ve always wanted to go to Australia!
Jennifer JCD says
Hang in there, Katie! I have only a basic general knowledge of computers… so I can’t help you much. However, my brother and both of my parents are computer geniuses… and thank goodness for that because whenever my computer does anything funny I deliver it to them with a pretty bow and a note offering cookies in exchange for a fixed computer. 🙂
I wonder if you can find a webmaster and bribe them with fudge babies, chocolate, and other goodies to fix the random errors??
For the record, you blog worked fine for me all weekend, and I was here more than usual looking up yummy recipes and making them. What else is a girl to do when temperatures dip to -32C with a wind-chill of -40? Make CCK recipes, of course! (I had to buy a whole case of chocolate just for this cause!)
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
What else is a girl to do? Hide under a million blankets, like a bear, and refuse to come out until summer!! That’s what I would do ;).
Heather @ Better With Veggies says
I always thought I was great with websites and computers until I started my blog – there is so much I don’t know how to do! I can’t imaging having to upgrade servers and such. Transitioning to self hosted was such a huge ordeal and ate up an entire weekend, ugh! Good luck!! =)
Jess says
At least the bug didn’t mess with your recipes themselves ;).
Holly - InspirationBeauty says
When I clicked onto your link to this post, I thought the picture was of a dog bowing its head in shame. I thought to myself “aw, no one can be mad at Katie now!”
But with that yummy looking new recipe in the post, I think everyone will forgive you!
Thanks for caring so much about what we think 🙂
jenn says
omg I have been needing a cornbread recipe for my chili. can’t wait!
Veggie V! @Veggie V's Vegan Adventure says
I swear you need a phd in comPuter programming to have a blog. I don’t have any traffic and use the free site, and it’s still a struggle! You really need someone to help you. Or, go Back to school and get a degree in computers 😉
Ali @ Peaches and Football says
I work in IT so know quite a bit about the trials and issues people can have with technology. Looks like your site is working fine now, for me. Looking forward to the recipe tomorrow!
Sarah the offical CCK drooler says
Oh, the site is fine now. Yea, i was wondering if you wanted a design that was more nature themed 🙂 But i am clueless with a capital C when it comes to computers. Join the club.
libby says
Its working for me…I am one of your newcomers too and love your blog. So I am guessing you are going to keep on growing and growing!!!
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Aww thanks, Libby!
Aja says
It seems to be working. I know nothing about computers. I learned some basic HTML back in middle school but I don’t remember any of it.
Good luck getting it running perfectly and keeping it that way.
Sam says
You’re doing great girl, no worries!!
Love your blog and this temporary inaccessibility made me value your recipes even more 🙂
Thank you for working so hard on this little piece of fine vegan bakery art!!
Jemma @ Celery and Cupcakes says
I’m so awful with computers. I’m making progress slowly though,
Kim says
I’m actually a CS major. Though, I’m not that familiar with HTML and PHP (assuming that is what your blog runs on).
Julie says
The recipes page wasn’t working for me last week (404 error) but it looks good now!
Ashley says
lovelovelove your site so I more than willing to work around a few glitches 😉 I’ve been getting 404’d today for the first time :/ good luck!!
Lena says
Haha, I’m actually a system programmer. I’d offer some help, but web engineering is not my study of expertise, unfortunately. But don’t worry about it, really! Your recipes are well worth the effort of getting a hold of them, haha. Plus maybe enough 404s would give me the push I needed to find the time to go through all your recipes and make myself a CCK Cookbook…
Lisa says
Katie! I am so pleased to hear about your growing audience and the success of your blog (even though this has led to more technical difficulties!). Honestly, your opting to pursue blogging as a career has been a real inspiration and I am looking forward to your continued success in the years to come. In actuality, you have become somewhat of a small-business-owner, contending with the problems of presentation and daily upkeep, the developing and execution of new ideas, and the management of web site financing. I would LOVE to hear more about this side of your life and job. Would you ever consider posting something about the “behind the scenes” working of the site? Would you ever think about taking more classes in web design or technology? Any thoughts about heading the culinary school?
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
I can definitely put it on the list for a future post… Maybe like a day-in-the-life post? I know a lot of people think full-time bloggers are lazy and don’t work hard, but that’s definitely NOT true! 🙂
Julie H. of Spinach and Sprinkles says
I’m soooo bad with computers! Wishing you lots of luck and easy fixes to these problems!
kiz says
I missed all the crazy images! When I first got wind of this over on FB I came over here and I didn’t find anything wrong. But then again maybe you’d already fixed it by then.
It’s working fine for me now 🙂
Being your own webmaster is tough. My husband manages a few high-traffic websites and something always goes wrong. The technology changes so quickly he sometimes has trouble keeping up with it. I applaud you for wanting to learn what’s involved AND develop your recipes ♥
Katie @ Peace Love & Oats says
oh goodness, haha I hope my blog doesn’t get too big because I do not have the knowledge nor the time to learn all that stuff!
Kristin @ STUFT Mama says
There’s still an error message on the sidebar. I know NOTHING about computers. I can’t imagine how crazy it gets with as much traffic as you get. Hang in there- hopefully it will all get fixed soon!
Kristal says
Well I know not much… sometimes I think I need to know more but there is just not any time. I was just on your blog yesterday and all was good… still looks good today.
Ally says
Katie – we love you no matter what (technical difficulties included)! As far as I can tell, everything is working perfectly for me now 🙂 I will always be a devoted reader/follower…regardless of little technical glitches. Can’t wait for tomorrow’s yummy post! 🙂
K says
Hey, no worries about the technical difficulties. Its amazing how much you do for the blog and can do with technology. I honestly don’t even know how to print from my laptop Ok, well, now I do, but not until recently…
Albizia says
I am just good enough with computers to survive. I am better than most of my friends but much worse than I wish I were. Almost all of my knowledge I owe to my brother and a year of html at high school.
As for your blog, I almost always read new posts via Google Reader so I don’ even see the header and the menus. The most important part – the posts – is here so I don’t care at all what appears on the header. And the cone wasn’t that bad. Especially if you imagine it was made of chocolate 😉 . I only get a little disappointed when the blog eats my comments but it doesn’t happen often and you receive hundreds of comments anyway so it is not a big deal. Just keep on cooking and sharing!
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Ugh I hate when blogs eat comments. If it ever happens, let me know! I love pulling comments out of spam ;). And just because I get a lot doesn’t mean I cherish yours any less. (Sounds dumb, but it’s true!!)
lisa says
hey katie! your blog has been working fine for me today. thats awesome more people are discovering your chocolate covered genius! maybe you could take a computer class at your local community college to help you run your blog with less technical headaches?
Lori Z. says
Sorry you have been having all these problems. I have not gotten an error message yet and it all looks good to me…
Gina @ Running to the Kitchen says
It looks to be working fine right now 🙂 Blog technical problems are the absolute worst. I feel like I’ve learned a million technical things in the 7 months or so I’ve been blogging and I bet that doesn’t even touch upon what you’re probably dealing with. There seriously needs to be some sort of technical support that you can actually call for independently run blogs! haha
Jenny@HealthyMOChick says
I actually work for a computer repair business so I know quite a bit…sometimes enough to be really dangerous 🙂 I’m learning about website design and such now so this could be fun. Google is always your friend when it comes to looking up fixes!
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
My problem is that I’m afraid to implement fixes I find on google for fear of accidentally doing it wrong and making things worse! 😕
Kristin says
Your site worked on and off Friday-Sunday. There were a couple of recipes I wanted to try and I had no trouble finding those particular posts (Fudge Babies and Flourless Chocolate Chip Cookies; both delicious!).
I’m HORRIBLE with any kind of html, coding, or website work. I’m in the process of having my own site redesigned by a pro..it’s worth the money to me!
Lauren @ What Lauren Likes says
It’s working fine for me! 😀
Kathy says
The site is working perfectly for me!
Sorry for the bad bug on the blog (can you say that 10 times fast?) though :\
I’m somewhat good with computers. I can dig around a hard drive and such but not that much.
I also learned how to create a website (nothing fancy, just more like a file that can open a webpage but was very VERY plain)
Ashley says
It is working for me! And I am terrible at computers, so more credit to you for figuring out all of the technical issues!
Lindsey @ Why Just Eat says
Your site looks great! We all have issues from time to time – it’s just part of blogging. No big deal, though you were greatly missed! As a side note, my husband is a professional computer geek (also known as a webmaster, among other things) and would be happy to help you out. Let me know if you want his contact info – he’s cheap 🙂
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Aww sure! Does he do wordpress? Would he have any idea why people might be getting 404s on my site on pages that still exist and that others can still see?
Alex@Spoonful of Sugar Free says
That’s awful, Katie! ughghhh…..good luck fixing it. I would have no clue where to begin! (That’s what computer geniuses are for 😛 )
Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga says
Sorry you’re dealing with all this crap…ugh! I went thru massive issues about 4-6 mos ago, as I shared with you on email and have had lots of behind the scenes stuff, too.
I agree, blogging is learning on the job when it comes to computers. Funny, we start out as cooks, but become photographers…and computer programmers in the process!
Lindsey says
The site’s working great. Thanks for your work to make this such an oasis of creativity and tasty treats!
Claire says
No worries – will wait for chocolate. 🙂
Amber K says
I wish I knew more! That’s why my blog still looks so lame, because I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. I do enjoy blogging, so I keep it up, even with the lame look. But I feel your pain!
BroccoliHut says
I am so NOT good at computers. Everything I know I’ve learned through trial and error while blogging. It scares me to think of all the ways things could go wrong on my site!
Michelle @ A Healthy Mrs says
Yikes — sounds complicated! It’s working fine for me though.
Also, “A tire? A pine cone?!” Ha! I wish I had seen those 🙂
Hope you get all the kinks worked out!
Melissa says
I’ve been co-administrator on some .php based game sites with medium, concentrated traffic (probably 50-75 regular daily users with only 5 or so signups a week on average) and dealing with some of those bugs were just awful! Even I have trouble with it, and I went to school for it 😀
If it makes you feel any better, I wanted your chocolate recipe SO BADLY that when I saw the link/blog had broken, I copied the recipe link and went to google and searched it…the post came right up in the results, had already been indexed, of course (google indexing spiders are FAST these days!) so I hovered over the arrow with the result, then clicked the blue “Cached” link in the window that popped up on the right…BOOM there it was. Worse comes to worst, google caches are to blogs as revision histories are to google docs!
Oh, and the chocolate? DIVINE. <3
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Awww :).
I’m so sorry for the trouble, though! If you ever can’t get to a recipe, email me and I can copy/paste it. But thanks for the tutorial on how to find cached pages… I might need it someday in the future if my blog goes crazy again!
Kit-Kat says
My granddad is a whiz, and my older sister took a computer literacy class at our college (she’s very good with computers now, too). I get impatient if my computer act up, and I’m pretty careless with Macafee and Norton when the warning signs appear.
I KNEW something was up when I saw weird images on your site on Friday. At first I thought you had a new header or something. Guess I was wrong. 🙂
I’m glad everything is okay now. You still have all your other photos, right?
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Sorry, I’m confused… what photos?
Anna@ActiveFingers says
I am okay with technology…as long as it works 😉 I am slowly figuring things out and I will admit that it takes a lot of concentration to read through the tutorials I have found. As soon as I start reading it all starts blending together.
I am happy your site is working again. It is a good problem to have so much traffic 😀
Lauren @ Chocolate, Cheese and Wine says
That is SO fantastic that your blog has grown so much to have these kinds of problems…. Unfortunately, I cannot help you though, sorry.
Pure2raw twins says
oh girl we feel your pain!! we have been having issues with our blog too, two months ago it just stopped showing up in google reader. for about two weeks till people starting saying stuff. so we looked into and have no idea why it happened. still have no idea why. we spent a good month trying everything in the book to fix it. and we couldn’t, so we made a new feed for our blog. so having to start from square one with our readership. it sucks, so many people have no idea we are still blogging. crazy, but the joys of technology I guess.
best of luck to you and if we come across anything we will let you know!
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Ugh oh my word that’s horrible!! Did you ask any tech-savvy people if they could figure it out? Do you know Cory, of zestycook? He is always SO incredibly helpful to me!
natalie @ southern fit foodie says
It looks much better! I totally understand (I don’t feel clueless, but I know I am haha). Looking forward to the next recipe!
Sonja says
I had no problems while reading your blog during the last weeks. But I have problems with my own computer at the moment ans I’m clueless about it! So I really hear you! 🙂 I’ll try your chocolate chip blondies now. Yeah!
Maria @ Beautiful Busy Bee says
I saw it all messed up a few days ago, but looks good now! I know nothing about computers. What DOES html stand for?
Emilia says
I’m pretty sure all your readers understand how hard it can be to manage a popular blog, just be thrilled that you have so many readers who enjoy your yummy-healthy recipes! I don’t really know much about computers, though I pretend to sometimes… 🙂
Heather @ For the Love of Kale says
I was thinking about this all day yesterday! We must have ESP. 😉
The number one thing that surprised me about blogging is just that – how much TECHNICAL stuff goes into it! Like yourself, I’m clueless with computers. Thankfully, we can research topics and how-to’s. Congrats on your increase in traffic, though, Katie! That is really amazing and you absolutely deserve all the success that comes your way! <3
Eva says
Hey,
I just discovered your site a while ago and I decided to read ALL your previous posts! and now when I got to June 2010, there are a few links that don’t work for me (I get the 404): the post from June 18th (3-ingredient Coffee Ice Cream) and the one from the 11th (Your Perfect Diet Plan).
Now I don’t know if these link normally work or not, I just remembered this post about errors on the site and thought I’d post it just in case.
I really love your blog by the way, when I read food blogs I tend to bookmark 1-2 reciped but with your blog I basically bookmark them all (it only happened ONCE before yours)!!! 😉
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Uh oh… so you can’t see the following link: https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2010/06/11/vegan-chocolate-covered-banana/
Yup, that’s not supposed to be the case. I still see those posts :(. Thanks for letting me know! And also, thank you for such sweet words!
Eva says
Actually, after I posted the comment I tried again and they worked. Both of them. Now there’s one that doesn’t work: “Peanut Butter and Honey are sooo over”, from Sept. 2010. So I guess it’s not always the same links that don’t work, it’s always different ones… It’s one of those weird computer problems I never seem to understand…
Hege says
Katie,
I didn’t take the time to read through your 70+ comments, so this might be a repeat. BUT isn’t so awesome where ideas and passion take us sometime? What we learn in the process? New people we interact with and new skills we learn? Life is amazing and it is even better when we grab it by the horns (like you) and reach another level!! Great job running this blog, my family (4 small, 2 big) love all the things we have tried!! Keep on growing and creating!!
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Agreed! It’s so funny that one of the classes I most dreaded taking in high school (a course to fulfill a technology requirement) turned out to be the course I use every single day! Be open to learning new things; you never know when you might need the knowledge, even if it seems pointless at the time! 😉
Sarah @ blueeyedbarbie.blogspot.com says
I dont know how you keep up! Im horrible with computer and technical stuff.
Sara says
Love your site! First time on it, saw it through facebook from a friend. I attempted at a blog before so I know what you’re talking about! You should put some ads up in here. (adsense by google) since I’m sure those server packages aren’t cheap, unless you’re using wordpress as your host which in that case, you should definitely get a new host. 🙂 Good luck on your blog!
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Thanks, Sara! 🙂
I actually do have ads– there are foodbuzz ads on the side of my blog.
Melanie says
Hey Katie. Morphomel here…hoping to get that oatmeal raisin larabar recipe. Thanks!
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Here you go! Sorry for the trouble 🙁
Oatmeal-Raisin Cookie Larabars
A new addition to My Gluten-Free Recipes.
1/2 cup raisins (80g)
6 T quick oats (30g)
1/2 cup walnuts (40g)
1/8 tsp plus 1/16 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pulverize the oats in a food processor, then add all other ingredients and blend very well. Form into balls or bars. (If you want, you can portion the dough into plastic bags before smushing the bars, so your hands don’t get sticky.)
This recipe makes a little over three Larabar-sized (45g) bars. I like to double the recipe—the bars last at least two weeks in the fridge. They can also be frozen.