I am referring to my garden of websites. I have planted quite a few through the years and some of them were not growing. They just took up valuable space in my little plot of the Internet. Now it’s time to cut out the dead wood and allow space (and my time) to helping the good plants grow.
An old weed was one was my BBS websites TEDEX and renamed POSTEX. All it was doing was attracting flies to its dying branches. I tried a revival several times, even a name change, but now I have pulled it out and thrown it on the mulch pile. I know how to plant a new one if I ever have to but I think its day in the sun is over.
I have closed several of my workshop blogs too. They were variations of a theme that already existed in my other websites. All I was doing was making more webmaster support issues for myself. There are a couple more websites that I am scrutinizing and they will soon come under the ax too.
Most of the duplicate effort was created because I was trying out new content management systems (CMS). I just used topics I was familiar with but let them continue to live on their own. Unfortunately I created more work for myself by not decommissioning them when I was done. I am fixing that. It will also reduce the cost of unneeded domain names. Some of my test sites are in sub-domains so no savings there but the work still exists.
I may soon have an opportunity to do a very complex website for a client, and I promised myself that if it does come up, I had to clear all the dead wood off my webmaster work schedule before I start anything new. I am supposed to be retired after all.
I enjoy planting the seeds and watching them grow. If something doesn’t get enough of my attention, then it is my fault if it withers and dies. But I have now learned not extend my work beyond what is manageable. I know I can cut back and still smell the best roses.