Since I last blogged, Adrian informed my that my sidebar had been spammed.

I was using an old version of WordPress, so I decided it was time to upgrade for security reasons. Upgrading the software is a bit of the hassle, one of the joys of running a blog off your own webspace.

Everything was going well. In fact, the new version was already installed.

For some inexplicable reason, I was presented with a screen with only one button. It presented me with a username – admin – and a password. I clicked the button and…

I was presented with a brand new blog!

Posts, comments, everything… gone.

So, I did something I’ve never done before – rolled back my blog from a backup. I didn’t know whether this would work. Thankfully, it did.

Went through the installation again, just to get back to the new square one. I took the opportunity to get rid of old plugins and install new ones.

And play with sidebar widgets.

But my installation-loss-reinstallation experience brought something back to mind – a blog backup.

You see, when I pass on, I want my blog to persist.

Unfortunately, my domain and webspace only exist because the living me continues to pay for it.

When I go, this blog goes. Not good, eh?

I searched high and low for an elegant solution.

Nothing.

Either not future-proof or clunky.

The only thing I knew that was I wanted to cross-post to http://acroamatic.wordpress.com/.

For now, the solution is something I’ve resisted for a long while because I am so used to online posting. I like the Dashboard (especially with the Leopard Admin plugin shown at the top). I like WordPress’ online interface.

I have to forgo the Dashboard for an offline blogging application. This allows me to cross-post to another blog more easily than having to log in to two different blogs online.

It’s still a manual process though.

For now, it’ll do.