IllusoryThrall's Sims 4 Hub
- Challenges, Tips & Stories
I started this WordPress Blog back in 2012. At the beginning, I assure you, I had no idea what I was starting. I posted a few things… but it wasn’t for several years that my blogging really took off. I dabbled in a few Sims 3 stories (which are still accessible on this site – just check my retired & completed simlit section). By August 2016, however, I was well and truly hooked on blogging, although at that point, I was still waffling between Sims 3 and 4. The waffling didn’t take too much more time, though, before I was thoroughly addicted to Sims 4. Once I hit this point, I’ve never gone back. I still had (and have) periods of writer’s block and inactivity, but I always come back.
Sometime in 2023, this blog really tripled in traffic. And it did so on a very consistent basis. Which made me really start seriously considering the thoughts and ideas for it that I’d had in the back of my head for YEARS. The host I was on prior to this one, wordpress.com .. was great. It was cheap, it was reliable, and it was easy to use. However, the amount of customization and control I had over the website design and add-ons was, well.. very very low. And even if I doubled the cost of the plan I was on, it was going to remain virtually the same…. which is exactly the opposite of what this growing blog needed. With my challenges gaining in popularity, and my livestreaming, I really wanted to be able to upgrade the graphics, layout, and things that the website offered… By October, it was clear my blog was getting 25,000 to 30,000 hits per month on a very stable basis – so when I noticed that my two year subscription to wrodpress.com was ready to renew on the 26th, I decided, spur-of-the-moment, that there wasn’t going to be a better time to upgrade. So I immediately started looking for a way to pay for a new webhost, and researching where I wanted to go, as well as finding out exactly what upgrades I wanted and needed for the site. Originally, I was going to do a fund-raising stream for the money, but a very lovely friend of mine kindly donated the full amount I needed to pay for the next THREE YEARS of hosting. When that’s almost up, I will certainly be looking for ways to raise the money for the next web-hosting fee, but that’s a problem for future me. (If you’re interested in helping to support this site and my streaming, check out my Support Me page. 100% of donations will go to the website and my streaming.)
All that being said, I do try to be pretty transparent on the effort that goes into this website – the background work, the time for upgrading, the work involved in moving the site, as well as what it takes to keep my challenges updated. I’m also in a long process of adding a knowledge database to this website to share the Sims 4 knowledge I’ve accrued over the years (expect that to start happening by January 2024 – I do have a few other major things on my list before I start devoting a ton of time into the toolsnlinks section, but it’s coming.) This transparency led to the need to have a page devoted to collecting the posts about website news and information…. so that’s where this page comes in. Obviously, there’s no real reason to go back to the news I was posting at the very beginning of the website, but it’s there buried in the archives if you’re ever curious!
Today begins the final push to get the site launched. I still plan to launch next Sunday, so I will not be streaming this week, I will just be working on the website.
After today, I am at 720 posts (of 1000) completed, which means that I’m close to 3/4 of the way done with that chore of a task. For reference, the reason it’s a chore – is because each post takes 5-10 minutes to check and fix and update, and has to be double checked for accuracy. Which, when what’s happening is largely just copy paste the links, upload the featured image, then save the whole thing, and finally fix the links on the pages the post is linked from… is boring and mind-numbing. Thank goodness for music in the background.
Beyond that, the site is really starting to come together. It looks GOOD, and I’m really quite proud of how things are turning out. I can’t wait to open it up (and ultimately, troubleshoot whatever goes wrong when that happens) for all of you to enjoy!
Continue reading →Another day in the books.. and I’m up to more than 650 posts (out of the 1000ish) that are complete. Which means I’m now more than 2/3rds of the way done with the site (including the other stuff I’ve done). Definite, measurable progress is being made. Which is super exciting. I didn’t fully complete today’s to-do list, but I’ve got time. I did, however, get everything finally set up for streaming tomorrow, so I’ll be back to streaming in the morning. I do have the next day off of website work, so if I have spare time, I can work on the to-do lists items I wasn’t able to get to today then!
Continue reading →Finally managed to get back to work on the website today. I assure you, I had not forgotten.. however, so much has happened since I was last able to work on it. I will have it up before the beginning of December – current target is November 26th. But… back to what I was saying. So… I have a new computer now. Built by my hubby and myself (luckily we had help!), and it’s really quite nice. My old one was almost 7 years old, so I was definitely overdue for an upgrade.
My other announcement.. Is that – I GOT APPROVED FOR THE EA CREATOR NETWORK!!! It’s pretty much a dream come true. I originally applied right when they first opened up the applications, and I’ve been stuck on a never ending “pending” notice since. Almost 2 years of it. Then, a couple days ago, I got the big email.. and screamed so loud hubby thought there was something seriously wrong with me. HEHE. Anyway, that’s my big announcement.
Back to the website news journal.. I am now officially up to about 90-95% of pages links completed, and 580 posts completed out of 1000. So .. slowly, very slowly, it’s getting done. Goal is to squish in another 9 or so days of work into the next two weeks and finish my to-do list for relaunch. I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s faint, but it’s definitely there. Well, tomorrow is another day of website work, so time to wrap this up for today!
((On a related side note… why is it when you really don’t have time to write the moment that you’re the most inspired??))
Continue reading →I’m sorry I went a little AWOL for a few days. Thursday, Bruj and I had to say goodbye to one of our precious pets, and it’s hit me a little harder than I expected it to. (Emil, one of our rats, had a vet emergency, and had to cross the rainbow bridge, unfortunately.) So, for my own mental health, I had to take a step back and take a break from the website migration. I will be getting back to it in the next couple of days, but I don’t think I’ll be getting it ready on time. I apologize, but you do what you must when it comes to mental health and emergencies. I will still be working to get it up ASAP, but I definitely needed some time to myself to recover from the sudden loss. I’m feeling much better now.. and it hasn’t been all bad, I’ve started a new project for Youtube, and may have SUPER good news coming soon!
Love you all, and don’t forget to take time for yourself and stay aware of your mental health. It really is SO important!
Continue reading →Day 20… already? Yikes. In some ways, it feels like it’s been forever, in others.. like I just started. Ten days to go until official launch. … and I still have SO much to do!! In other words, it’s time to get down to work!
Today, I need to get through a whole bunch of posts to try to catch up on what I didn’t finish yesterday so I don’t get behind again. Best-case scenario is I get through yesterday’s spare 40 as well as today’s 70. But.. we’ll see how far I get! Thank god for good tunes in the background!
Almost time for stream now, and I’ve gotten through about 40 posts. Sigh. I still have a whole bunch to work on later. But that’s later.
(as in tomorrow)… I’m just too tired to do anymore tonight. Brain has thrown in the towel at this point. I’ll find something else to do tonight. 🙂 Remember, everyone, you’re the only one who can take care of you.. so it’s your job to do it! <3
Continue reading →Awake and ready to get some more work done. Got quite a bit on today’s list, as I mentioned yesterday.. so I guess I better get down to it.
Today… did not go as planned. I ended up struggling with a plug-in that wasn’t working as intended, and had to re-do some templating and find a new solution to the problem. I did, eventually, get it taken care of. Mostly. But it did take so much time I didn’t get any more than 30 pages done of the 70 I needed to get done. Sigh. Oh, well. Tomorrow is another day.
Continue reading →With the templating done, I had planned on working on the forums and membership plug-in today, getting everything working and getting myself to the point that I understand HOW they work so I can manage them better.. but after the templating, I need a break before starting in on that headache. So, I moved that until later this week, and will spend today on a couple of pages that need writing, as well as another 70 or so posts that need links and featured images fixed. Tedious, for the most part, but it still needs doing.
Fast forward 12 hours.. I got all 70 pages for the day done, and set up my schedule as a google calendar embed so I don’t have to constantly change things on my website, I only have to maintain one calendar. All in all, a VERY productive day. Also fixed those couple of other pages that needed help with spare time.
Tomorrow: 70 more posts, and seeing what I can do with some of the butt-ugly tables from the previous site. Plus a bit of link button adding for the overview pages. Hopefully I can get all of it done tomorrow. Top priority is, obviously, the 70 pages. Because that’s just time spent working as opposed to actual “work.” And it’s time itself that’s running out slowly but surely, so the stuff that takes the longest needs to be the highest priority, clearly. Anyway, see you all tomorrow! <3
Continue reading →Monday & Tuesdays from Oct 23 – Oct 31: Megaquarium’s new Deep Freeze DLC
Wed, Oct 25: Sebbymama’s Asylum Night
Monday, Oct 30th: November collab shell challenge (w/ SmokyGlo) launches!
Wed, Nov 1: morning – Diablo 4 Season 2 starts on Bruj’s channel;
evening: Shell tours/Sims building or gameplay?
Sat, Nov 4: morning – D4 saturdays restarts on Bruj’s channel;
evening: Website official launch at 8 PM
Monday, Nov 6th: regular schedule resumes with Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Planet Zoo, and Assassin’s Creed. Megaquarium will move to friday afternoons.
Tues Nov 7th: ESO with Bruj restarts!!
Wed, Nov 8th: SmokyGlo’s Asylum Night
Wed, Nov 15th: TheAwfulGaymer’s Asylum Night
Wed, Nov 22nd: Swe3tP’s Asylum Night
Wed, Nov 29th: Retrolark’s Asylum Night
Fri, Dec 1: Advent Challenge 2023 launches
Wed, Dec 6th: Collab shell tours with SmokyGlo
Sat, Nov 25th: ESO Saturdays on Bruj’s channel restarts!
Thurs, Dec 28th: Thrall’s Birthday & 3rd Affiliate anniversary celebration subathon!!
Ten days left. No panicking allowed. .. YET. I’m back on time now. Provided I can fix and finish the templating mess up I made and get the site’s “looks” and design finished by the end of day. There’s way too much to still work on to have the design still unfinished – it makes it very hard to see the changes to the pages without having the templates completed. I have pulled up a collection of tutorials to help me fix what I screwed up… and even though I hate it, I’m willing to sit through them to attempt to find out how to fix it. So.. I’m wishing me luck.
Fast forward 12 hours.. and I have the templating fixed. All of it. Archive pages, single posts, single pages, overview pages.. EVERYTHING. and as a bonus, I got the forums templating and styling DONE – which was not technically on today’s list. My head is aching and I took some Aleve, but I’m done. There are a few random pages I haven’t finished, but they will use already existing templates, and they, quite frankly, were not on the list to do today.
Also of note: I am, once again, extending the time that I’ll be launching the site by a couple of days. Simply due to scheduling, the day that I had planned to launch is NOT a good day of the week to do it, as I have some dr. appointments or are on stream during the time I planned to launch. Whoops… So .. at 8 PM on November 4th, the site will officially open. The countdown on https://illusorythrall.com/ is up-to-date, and will track correctly for when the site goes live. I still have a LOT to do, so things are by no means complete… but the hard parts are mostly done. Which is a huge load off my shoulders. (This also means I have 13 days left, not the ten I had at the beginning of this post – so I can spread out the work a little bit and take some more pressure off, as well as scheduling in a couple of breaks – which is fantastic news for me.)
Continue reading →Today.. I feel much better. Just finished breakfast/lunch, and am ready to work. *grin* we’ll see how much I can get done.
It’s almost 9 pm.. and, other than during bake-off, which means I have to pay attention and not work.. I got SOOO much done. Barreled through not only the posts I was supposed to do yesterday, but also the ones scheduled today. Or maybe not barreled, because it took me ALL DAY… but I got more than 100 posts fixed, bringing my total of posts complete to 370. (about 37% of total posts needing to be done)
I also got some other things checked off, too.. like finishing the contact me page, and installing the Forms plug-in that makes that work. Also sat down to do some research on … exactly.. how to fix the templating I have, somehow, messed up. Found some tutorials that will help me on fixing it…. which is on the list for tomorrow.
Bottom line, I killed it today. And I am no longer a day behind on my schedule.. I’m actually right on time. *whew* (And I even have some free time tonight to recharge for tomorrow!)
Continue reading → 
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!
Chapter One – Starting Anew
November 2025 Dev DiarySuperSweetBot Commands for Mods & BroadcastersOctober 2025 Dev DiaryProgress Report!Hacking Situation ResolvedHey all…
Welcome to my new webhost!!
Progress Report on Not So Berry & TimelineExtended Not So Berry 2.0 is coming!!
OMG A Thrall Post?? What?Not So Berry Updating
Jaynie’s Gems: By-The-NumberToday
