Author Journey (April 15, 2024)
It’s all fun and games until the Jetpack Stats vanish behind an absurdly expensive paywall! Thanks for that! [Sarcasm!] I put the sign in case they see this and want to give themselves a hearty pat on the backs…
Author Journey (April 15, 2024)
Favourite Moment!
At the beginning of last week, I finished watching The Witch and the Beast and thoroughly loved it. That was an incredible series and I can’t wait to put together my season review. Then, I picked my next show from the Winter 2024 schedule to catch up on… and would you believe it… it was also fantastic. That show was The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic. I would have rather reviewed any of those shows weekly over Chained Soldier (which I did enjoy, just nowhere near as much). This has got me thinking about other shows that I loved but haven’t reviewed on here, some don’t even have a season review. This is something I shall be looking to rectify in the near future. I want to talk about the shows I love rather than the ones that are average or worse.
Writing!
Currently, my personal life is in a period of upheaval. There’s a lot going on and changes are coming from every angle of daily life. Writing had become even more of a priority for me which had led me to change up some of my schedule for the future. There are a few things I need to finish off and then, I’ll have more time to dedicate to this. And just as I had started going again. At least, I know I can when I need to.
Anime!
As I mentioned earlier, I finished The Witch and the Beast and watched the entire series of The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic. Plus, I had some seasonal shows to squeeze in. As a result, I managed to fit eighteen episodes in.
Catching up on my To-Watch List
Valentine’s Special (NSFW)
Winter 2024
Manga!
I only managed to fit in two volumes, which is more than a little frustrating because I want to be able to steam all the way through Gleipnir. It’s a much easier read than Yuuna as there’s more action and less dialogue. Yuuna could probably have been twice as long had they not squeezed so much text into every page.
| Tasks | Goal | Completed |
|---|---|---|
| Anime Watched | 6 Episodes | 18 Episodes |
| Manga Read | 3 Books | 2 Books |
| Posts Scheduled | 10 Posts | 7 Posts |
| Words Written | 5,000 | 0 words |
| Artwork Completed | 1 Piece | 0 Sketches |
Aspirations for the week!
Part way through last week, I discovered that Jetpack had stuck its statistics behind a paywall. A paywall that is dependent on the volume of monthly views. That’s a fairly frustrating cash grab if you ask me and it’s not like their stats were even that reliable. They were good for a quick glance to see if a post was performing, but they want me to pay more than $200 a year when I can get it from Google for free… I’m disappointed in Jetpack because their rules make it almost impossible for anyone to access the free version. Even the most casual blogger will want to see their stats but if they ask for donations or link to a product they can forget it. As such, I’m busy putting together a workaround with the Google data so that I can produce my own dashboards since that is what I do for my day job. The worst thing about this is that they didn’t give anyone any warning so all the previous data is now locked away. Luckily, I export fairly regularly, but I’m sure everyone isn’t in the same boat as me.
So, I’ve got more shows to watch from the Winter 2024 schedule and some to keep up with from the Spring lineup. Plus, I have a new life routine to work on. Busy, busy, busy! Anyhow, thanks for reading.
Glad you enjoyed The Witch and the Beast and The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic! I enjoyed both; kinda wished I would have picked one of them to review instead of Metallic Rouge.
“And just as I had started going again. At least, I know I can when I need to.”
That’s a good way to look at it!
“Luckily, I export fairly regularly, but I’m sure everyone isn’t in the same boat as me.”
You won’t see me in that boat. I had no idea the paywall thing was coming either. I’ve been a Jetpack customer for years. I’m brutally disappointed they didn’t do all of us the courtesy of telling us this was coming.
Well, as you said, there’s Google Analytics. It’s more detailed and, based on what I think I’ve seen, significantly more accurate. At the same time, it’s harder to find some stuff.
Well, they have my money for the basic professional license, because otherwise, I won’t get exposure in WordPress Reader. But given recent changes to the editor (must they make my workflow more time-consuming with _every_ release?), my faith in WordPress is at an all-time low.
Good luck on your “new life routine!”
Yeah, it’s always a gamble when we pick our shows to cover. I did all right with Frieren and Solo Leveling so I can’t be too bitter, plus I’m going to put those shows in a table or high ranking shows that I’ll revisit at some point.
I hope it will be that easy!
I’ve been a Jetpack customer since the infamous website vanishing act of August 2021. They do my backups and let me know if my site goes down at any time. It also gets me into the WordPress Reader search results. I’m pretty disappointed about them removing it to beginning with, but more so that there was no notice.
I’m in the middle of removing a load of old affiliate links that no longer work so I’ll try to get on the free program for a while. Might give me enough time to grab some more data.
And thanks. Lots of changes coming at me thick and fast. Hopefully things will calm down soon. I’m sure I’ve said that before…
I didn’t think I would enjoy The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic, but it ended up being one of my favorites for the season.
Yeah, I’d rank it as one of my favourites of the season for sure. I’m even tempted to search out the manga now.