Ree’s musings

Roy asked, "Out of curiosity, for those of you are still using Tabulas ... why?"

Maybe I'm taking the question more seriously than it was meant, but my immediate reaction was that I should think about this. I'll try to give a considered answer.

I initially began using Tabulas as a way to crosspost to LiveJournal and Xanga. Semagic wasn't a good option for me because I wasn't always using the same computer, but a web-based crossposter was perfect. Unfortunately, Xanga never appreciated crossposting and often made changes that broke crossposting to Xanga. I've long since given up on posting to Xanga, although I continue to crosspost most of my entries to LJ. The majority of my blog comments are made on my LJ crossposts, no contest, which is why I continue to make them. But back to Tabulas.

I like Tabulas because it's sort of self-contained. Want to edit the CSS of your layout? Sure, go ahead; you don't need any offsite web host for that. Want to show off pictures of your last party? Go ahead and use your own personal gallery; it's there and it's free. Blogroll? Just add the bookmarklet to your browser and click it when viewing your friends' sites. They don't even need to be on Tabulas and you don't need to know any HTML. Profile page? It's part of your personal site and uses your chosen template, unlike profile pages on LiveJournal or Blogger.

When I use LiveJournal, I feel like I've been given permission to use a fixed area: no content pages, no image upload unless I pony up, ads all over, my profile in the site's layout rather than mine. On LJ, I must do things LJ's way. Meanwhile, my Tabulas feels like freedom: to design, expand, and rearrange just as I like, with a minimum of exceptions (I must always leave the grey navigation bar visible and usable, which is exactly the way I want it anyway; it's half the size of LJ's equivalent and at least twice as useful). Don't use the gallery? Then remove the link to it. Want your blogroll on its own page instead of your sidebar? Easy as pie. LiveJournal wishes it had that feature!

I also like helping the Tabulas community. I figure megalithic sites like LiveJournal have a wide user base and any number of experienced Support volunteers sharing their knowledge, but Tabulas, being smaller, has fewer experienced users to assist, and I seem to be one of them.

For example, I've sort of slipped into the role of wiki moderator. Why? Because the spam was getting a little crazy and someone needed to keep it under control, or it would start to reflect badly on Tabulas and make it hard to find real information. Wikis make it easy to revert spam, but nobody else has done it yet. So I did.

And, well, all the improvements that have been going up lately and are still to come! Communities, template sharing, interests, user directory, filtering for friends-only entries... I'm just pulling these out of posts on my friends' page rather than looking for anything in particular. But this? This is what happens when Tabulas brushes its teeth, combs its hair, and starts picking out the perfect dress shirt. This is Tabulas pulling itself together.

I wouldn't dare miss it.