I am trying. I have made progress. But, the Joomla post editing and image uploading are not very user friendly. I feel like I'm working with a sluggish elephant.

I don't know yet about template changes. I'm leaving that until the end as I go through the guide I'm using to get around Joomla. It is quite different from WordPress, especially in the beginning. My big break through seems to have been understanding that everything has a category, not just your blog posts, or links. It does add more function to your site, what you can do with what you have. But, it also makes it complicated. When you have a glitch it becomes a real job to find the source because there are so many places to look. As a beginner I'm finding it very time consuming.

Last week I was at the point of giving up and trying yet another CMS. But, I stuck it out. I did find the problem that time but, the same solution did not fix (what seems to be) the same problem on two other sites. 

So far the post editor and image uploader are bugging me every time I post. Maybe some of that will be fixed with a different theme/ template. But, with all the function in Joomla why is it so hard to do the simple things? I'm at the point of disliking using images with my posts. 

Also, I am discouraged about the link thing. I left WordPress because it was becoming focused on commercial sites and web developers with clients rather than individuals building their own site. As I get to know Joomla I see the same trend here. The link manager was taken out of the core CMS. Why remove a feature people might actually like to use? Because web developers don't want anything Google SEO says it doesn't like. Most of Joomla's extensions (plugins, if you prefer WordPress speak) are premium. Sure there are some outdated free extensions, but they tend not to work, or even upload into Joomla 3. Other free versions are so limited the point of them is just to make people realize there isn't any point to doing without the premium/ professional extension. 

I miss having spellcheck when I write a post. I can't even use keyboard shortcuts in the post editor. So I need to open the code editor to cut and paste or add text to any post with HTML. I did look at post editors and related extensions. That was a land of confusion in itself. Most of them combine a template maker into the whole process, as if that will fix everything. But, I did not find any of them which were just post editors which would work with my existing posts in Joomla articles. Two which I might have used wanted to import everything and make second copies for the extension. Then you (I) have to remember to use the extension to make every post I write from then on. Well, what if something goes wrong? What if the extension is abandoned, dies with some fatal error, etc? Where would that leave me and all my posts, not quite in Joomla but sort of in Joomla? 

I have yet to find a way to schedule posts. Everything has to be made a featured post in order to show up on my site. Then every new post is either published or not published. There is no way to schedule a date for it to post. Yes, I can leave posts sitting outside of featured but I would really rather not have to remember to post them, or need to be online in order to post them. (I do like to get away the odd time and leave the electronics behind).

I think that's everything bugging me. Possibly more will come to mind between now and now when I post this. 

If I hadn't bought two books (print) to help me figure Joomla out... If I hadn't spent money on 3 premium Joomla extensions (and not found any of them to be what I had hoped)... If I hadn't spent months migrating and renovating my sites since leaving WordPress (late last year!)... I think I would stop using Joomla at this point. But, there should be a point where you don't go back and stick with your guns, right? 

Anyway, what else would I try? I've been through almost a dozen CMS since last year. I do know, I am not going back to WordPress. The problems with WordPress are still there. The time of the independent web publisher is getting tougher, but not drying up yet. However, I am watching for that big chunk of meteor rock falling from the sky.

You may not be inspired by this trek through my bookmarks, the ones with linkrot. But, I hope it has some inspiration, interest and something for those who like history too. Of course, they have all of those for me. Why else would I have kept the link?

Foodie Pen Pals had a lot of rules, but they were exchanging food through the mail. A terrifically interesting idea. It even had a branch in the UK (also closed/ abandoned now).

Here’s a detailed explanation of the program:

-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.

-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail.

-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!

-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)

-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you have a blog, feel free to post about your box whenever you receive it.

– Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada! ***If you’re in Europe, please contact...

Foodie Penpals Terms & Conditions “By signing up to participate in Foodie Penpals, you are hereby agreeing to the following terms and conditions:

– Condition 1: You will contact the person you are matched with withing 72 hours of receiving your match to discuss dietary needs, allergies and food preferences.

– Condition 2: You will make an effort to meet the dietary needs of your penpal- ie not sending animal products to vegans, dairy products if your match tries to avoid dairy or junk food if they ask for healthy snacks.

– Condition 3: You will mail your box by the 15th of the month. It is HIGHLY recommended that you purchase delivery confirmation/get a tracking number for your package. It is very inexpensive and can be used to prove that you sent your package in the event that it gets lost. If your match does not receive a package for the month, you will receive a warning. If it happens two months in a row, you will no longer be able to participate in the program

– Condition 4: In the event that you do not receive a package, Lindsay and The Lean Green Bean blog cannot be held accountable. By agreeing to participate in FPP, we cannot 100% guarantee that you will receive a package. The mail gets lost occasionally and your partner may fail to deliver.

• Condition 5: Using the foodie penpals email list to send out personal or spam emails promoting your blog, giveaways, etc is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Doing so is grounds for immediate dismissal from the program as it is a violation of the other participants’ privacy. Failure to comply with these terms and conditions is grounds for dismissal from the Foodie Penpals Program.”

I've had so many ideas and from those ideas I spin off into making them reality and find even more options. More than I can keep track of. Software, it's advances, limitations and quickness to become obsolete/ unpopular, changes how you end up doing things. 

I wanted a web directory. But, keeping links became unpopular due to the SEO/ Google fanatics. WordPress and Joomla both stopped including their link management plugins/ extensions in the core software for the CMS. In the case of WordPress you can still download a plugin, Restore Lost Functionality, to bring back links and other features.  Joomla still offers Web Links as an extension, but further development seems very limited, if any.  

So, I could use Web Links with Joomla, I did upload and install it. But, I can't use it to import my links from WordPress. (I've noticed WordPress does not work well with other CMS). Also, there is no bookmarklet which I would have used to make keeping the web directory supplied with new links as I find them while using my web browser. Anyway, I spent a few days banging into road blocks with this and then I got the idea to change software. 

I did have PHPLD (PHP Link Directory), paid for it a few years ago. But, the support forums are gone. Possibly the software is no longer supported as I could not import my links even when I finally did manage to create a CSV file (which was frustrating in itself). There is an option to pull links in from ODP (but dmoz/ ODP is gone) and Google. This feature had an error and did not work. So, I have now ruled out PHPLD.

I've tried other web directory software, even considered other premium (not free) software. But, so many are old and seldom updated or lacking any support at all. I did upload, install and try several but they all had errors. Some would not even install at all. 

Now I'm looking at the idea of just creating pages of links. Not my preference, but, you have to work with the software (unless you know how to create your own, or can afford to pay someone to do it for you). 

There are page builders. I looked at lots of them when I was still using WordPress. Joomla also has a large amount of them. But, I'm not sure which are page builders, template makers, page editors, or something else similar with a different name. They seem to meld together and use the same description even when they say they can work as add-ons to each other. It's confusing. I don't like being confused. I think of myself as being an experienced web publisher. But, I am confused. 

Of course, none of them really have anything special for links. So, I can't say I'm eager to install any of them. It's a bit make-do at this stage.

A chance to learn some new words. I like the opposite of deja vu, jamais vu. When would you ever use it in conversation? But, it is interesting to know.

What's the opposite of disgruntled? Chances are you're thinking the answer should rightly be gruntled_{but is that really a word you recognize? The problem here is that disgruntled, alongside the likes of uncouth, disheveled, distraught, inert, and intrepid, is an example of an unpaired word, namely one that looks like it should have an apparently straightforward opposite, but in practice really doesn't.
Words like these tend to come about either when a prefixed or suffixed form of a word is adopted into the language while its root is not, or when the inflected or affixed form of a word survives, while its uninflected root form falls out of use. This was the case with disgruntled, which derives from an ancient Middle English word, gruntel, meaning "to grumble" or "complain," which has long since fallen from use}although the gap left by disgruntled has led some dictionaries to list gruntled as a modern-day back-formation.

2. ANONYMOUS
Anonymous literally means "without a name." Its opposite is onymous, which is typically used to refer to books, legal papers, artworks, musical compositions, and similar documents the authorship of which is known without doubt.
3. AUTOMATON
If an automaton is a machine capable of moving itself, then the opposite is called a heteromaton<sub>a device that relies solely on external forces for movement.
4. CATASTROPHE
If a catastrophe is a sudden, unpredictable, and devastating event, then an equally sudden or unexpected event of sheer joy or good fortune is a eucatastrophe. This term was coined by Lord of the Rings author JRR Tolkien in 1944, who originally used it to describe a sudden or fortuitous event in the plot of a story that turns around the protagonist's chances or prospects, and brings about the resolution of the narrative.
5. DÉJÀ VU
Over the years, psychologists have identified a number of different phenomena similar to déjà vu (literally "already seen" in French). Among them is presque vu ("almost seen"), the tip-of-the-tongue feeling that you're about to remember something you've forgotten; déjà vécu ("already experienced"), a particularly intense form of déjà vu that makes it almost impossible to discern the present from the past; and déjà visité ("already visited"), which describes a person's surprising foreknowledge of a place they've never actually been to before</sub>like unthinkingly knowing your way around a foreign town or city while on holiday. The opposite of déjà vu, however, is usually said to be jamais vu ("never seen"): so if déjà vudescribes the eerie sensation that something new has actually taken place before, in the case of jamais vu a person believes that a situation that is actually very familiar and has happened before is entirely new.
7. EUPHEMISM
If a euphemism involves the use of a politer word or phrase in place of a more distasteful or objectionable one, a dysphemism is the deliberate use of an impolite or unpleasant term in place of a perfectly inoffensive one. Dysphemism is often used for rhetorical effect, in order to shock or shake up an audience, or simply for comic effect.
10. POSTPONE
To bring a date forward in time rather than postponing it is to prepone it.

See the full list at the source: 11 Words and Phrases You Didn't Know Had Opposites | Mental Floss

Several things may be driving you crazy but, if links, text files and bookmarks are one of them, I have some help for you! (Little things help a lot, right?)

After spending a lot of time trying to import my old WordPress bookmarks into Joomla I found the best way was to create a text file with just the links, all code scraped out. Then create a new file with Notepad using the code I have cut and pasted in a screenshot below:

Screenshot from It Still Works.

Cut and pasted the text also, because I've seen how easy images disappear, wander off and generally get lost. I want to remember how I finally got this far, no doubt I will need to do the same again with other links from my other sites moving from WordPress to Joomla. 

If you feel confident with HTML, you can create a bookmark file from scratch in Notepad. Begin the document with . Then, enter the title asand the header as

Bookmarks

. Then, begin a list with the

tag. Each item of that list should be denoted by a

tag. Then, describe the link via an tag. For example, if you wished to create a bookmark link to http://www.google.com, your tags after

would look like this:

Google

. Finish the file with a closing

tag.

So, maybe this will help you, or you may just wonder why someone would do things this way and spend so much time on links few people will actually look at anyway.

Keep wondering, it's good for you.