Hi folks. Tim here, with a quick notice about the visual changes to the site that cannot have escaped your attention.
The data from the old site has now been cleansed of spam and successfully transmogrified to WordPress format.
The WordPress format is now live site-wide, and all old pages should redirect to the new versions as of now.
This site will be using IntenseDebate to make conversations easier for all concerned, and I know from experience that there will be a significant delay between activating this plug-in and all comments appearing through it. So, if you see any old posts where the comments appear to have disappeared, please do not worry, they will all return in an easier-to-follow format within a few days (or perhaps weeks).
(The only comments lost permanently apart from spam and any replies to spam; roughly 700 casualties from the 1800-comment epic debating 9/11 conspiracy theories. Yes, of course it was an accident. Why are you looking at me like that?)
I hope to open the site to accept new comments from Monday.
Cheers all.
Tim
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UPDATE – Some truncated posts have been spotted. The relevant importing error has been identified and addressed, and a fresh import will take place over the weekend.
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UPDATE (Monday 28th) – Thanks to readers who spotted errors (and some remaining spam). A fresh and hopefully final import will be staged today. All but the latest two posts may disappear in hour or so this will take.
Good job Tim
Mark (G)
I'd just like to say thanks to those involved in the process of transferring Craig's blog and removing all the spam accumulated in the archive. The comments section has been greatly improved by the introduction of moderation. I hope that dissent will still make it through, however, so long as it''s on topic and not just obviously deliberate trolling. While I have found the views of some past contributors distasteful, or even downright repugnant at times, I hope the blog will avoid becoming a forum only for the like-minded. Back in 1992, a naive acquaintance swept aside my reservations and asserted that Kinnock was absolutely certain to get elected because "All the people I know say they're going to vote Labour". I make a point of watching Fox News occasionally, just to keep abreast of the unfair and unbalanced views of Glenn Beck et al, which regular viewers are so prone to regurgitate. Those who prefer to deny opposition the "oxygen of publicity" should remember that some particularly poisonous ideas, like bacteria, are anaerobic and will continue to spread, nevertheless, whereas they may perish when exposed to fresh air under the cleansing scrutiny of sunlight. While it's a very welcome addition, the trouble with moderation is that it leaves something of a question mark regarding the potential for bias. Perhaps I should copy and paste a few comments from the Torygraph in response to the same news topics, or a similar selection from the right wing blogosphere, just to see whether they get through……
The feed at http://craigmurray.org.uk/feed/ as referenced by the link rel="alternate" seems to work fine but the old index.rdf and, more importantly, the http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/atom.xml linked by the feed tag at top right of the pages both exist but seem to be abandoned and frozen. I'd suggest correcting the link at top right and deleting, or ideally adding a "moved permanently" for, the index.rdf and atom.xml URIs. I only noticed this blog was active from Twitter which I only look at intermittently.
Doh! Now fixed. Thanks.
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