dilemma

I don't know what to do about this blog.

I've been waiting on two things: Talented Designer Guy, who's designing a new look for wmtc, and Blogger beta to accommodate externally published (FTP) blogs, meaning blogs without a blogspot.com address.

TDG is almost done, so I'll soon have my New Look.

A couple months back, Blogger announced that beta could now support FTP blogs, but I was too busy to deal with it at the time. Then, in a weird coincidence, the day I had slated to finally upgrade to beta, Blogger announced they were out of beta. Now there was only old and new Blogger.

I switched.

Then I found out that many of the new goodies I was waiting for in beta/new Blogger are not available to FTP blogs.

I'm really disappointed. I wanted the improved archives, the ability to use labels and sort by categories, and of course, I wanted to publish on the fly, without the dreaded spinner. I did get some other improvements, but not the ones I most wanted.

Investigating this problem, I learned that the new features won't work with any customized template, whether blogspot.com or FTP.

So, what to do?

I'm definitely keeping my URL, that's for sure. And I want the TDG's beautiful design. But I want the cool features, too.

Now I'm trying to decide whether or not to switch to WordPress.

Pros:

All the cool new features of new Blogger have been available in WordPress all along.

WordPress interfaces perfectly with my host, Laughing Squid. WordPress is their preferred blog platform, so theoretically I would lose any potential communication problems.

WordPress says it has import tools so you can import your posts and comments from Blogger, LiveJournal or any other platform.

Cons:

What if the importing doesn't work? That is scary.

I've been using Blogger for 2.5 years. Do I want to start over with a new platform?

The only blogs I know that have been hacked or "harvested" were WordPress blogs. I don't know if that's a small-sample-size coincidence, or a problem with WordPress. But it scares me.

A future version of Blogger will probably support FTP blogs with all the new features. It's not definite, but it's likely. Perhaps I should just wait.

And, complicating all of this, does this effect my site redesign?

I'm disappointed and confused. I also don't want to spend enormous amounts of time re-creating the framework for what is supposed to be an enjoyable outlet and hobby, not a chore.

I welcome any information or opinions you may have on this.

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