I tried to make it as unalarming as possible, but still, we've probably gotten over 300 emails from Shabby Bloggers who are a tiny bit...shall I say freaked out? Hang in there, lovely people. It's going to be okay! I promise. Here are the candid answers to your most frequently asked questions:
What the heck is going on???
A few months ago we switched servers. We used to host all of our images on Photobucket. Photobucket, however, started to really not like the bandwidth we were using...so they began charging us...a LOT. Since late this past summer, I have personally been paying around $800 a month to Photobucket to cover the expense of the bandwidth used by Shabby bloggers. Unfortunately, Oprah and I don't have the same salary to work with. So, we began looking for other options...better options. (Shabby Blogs did, I mean. Not me and Oprah.) We found a much more feasible alternative, switched our image locations over, and rewrote the code for our backgrounds, buttons, and blinkies. The code that is currently on ShabbyBlogs.com is the code you should be using.
How do I know if I have the new code or the old code?
If you've got the new code, you won't have the above image on your blog. Instead, it will be the usual white, chippy wood tag that simply says "ShabbyBlogs.com." If you have switched to the new code, but the above image is still there, you haven't deleted the HTML gadget that contains your old background. Make sure you either replace your old code with the new code within the existing gadget or, if you create a brand new gadget for your new code, delete the old one.
Do I have to update anything besides my background?
Yep. I know this isn't ideal, but it's what we have to do to keep Shabby Blogs a free site...and we truly don't anticipate ever having to do this again! You also need to update your buttons and blinkies.
I don't see my background at ShabbyBlogs.com anymore! What gives?
You're sitting down, right? Take a deeeeeeep breath. Okay. Some of our very early designs have been...retired. Eeeek! Sometimes (okay, one time) digital scrapbooking designers change their terms of use or become difficult to work with. We ADORE the insanely talented and sweet designers we currently work with and feel so blessed to know them. In fact, we may use their products to recreate some of our more popular retired backgrounds in the future. We are constantly looking for new designers and adding to our already vast collection of backgrounds. While I know many of you have become very attached to our retired backgrounds, I hope you understand.
What happens if I don't change my background by the end of January?
Shabby Blogs isn't the type to send brutes with gold teeth and hockey sticks to your house. Good news there! The bad news is that instead of sporting a lovely SB background, your blog will simply display an error message from our friends at Photobucket. That's all. Nothing too exciting, but there you have it.
I hope that answers your questions! I realize this is a bit of a pain, but we have to do what we have to do to ensure that we will always be able to offer you the absolute BEST blog goodies free of charge. Thank you so much for visiting our sponsors, making donations, sending us super sweet emails, and being so patient and awesome during our recent changes...and always, actually. I know I always say this, but we seriously have the most outstanding fans and followers on the planet. We genuinely love and appreciate you!!! It is because of your support that we will be able to launch the brand new and even more fabulous ShabbyBlogs.com next week! Eeeeep! We are so excited about the direction SB is heading and we are sooooo looking forward to all of the upcoming awesomeness in store for 2011!
