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!
The last couple days, I took a much-needed break from website working, and did some catch-up on sleep and streaming. I’m feeling much more solid and ready to continue work this morning. On today’s List: digging back in to working on the posts that need re-linking. At the start of this morning, I’m at 263 posts complete… out of around 1000. So there’s a LONG way to go. Best case scenario for today is getting about 30-50 done as a start. But we’ll see.
17 posts to go for the day before I move onto other tasks. But first.. a break. I’m hungry. Well.. break turned into a “stop for the day”. No worries, I have time tomorrow to catch up.
And, of course.. I forgot to publish this yesterday. So here you are!
Continue reading →First thing I need to announce.. for my own mental health, I’m going to delay launch by a week – hence why the count on the post title has changed. My new site will officially open November 1st. I am pretty sure there won’t be any interruption in service, but.. if there is, I whole heartedly apologize. As I’ve been working on the website, I have a massive to-do list I’ve been whittling away at.. and it’s come to my attention that there’s really no way I can get it all done correctly in time with my sanity intact by the 26th. That being said, I did go from 3-4 days behind to only 1 day behind yesterday, so I did get a ton done. Progress is still being made, it’s just slower than I expected.
Also, sorry this wasn’t posted last night. I was honestly to exhausted I completely forgot about hitting “publish” on the journal entry. Whoops.
Continue reading →So.. yesterday was by far the most frustrating and depressing day yet of this migration.. which is why I didn’t get yesterdays’ post up before bed. I had grand plans to finish the website graphics.. and somehow it got to the end of the day – and I was at the same place I had been at bedtime the day before. Only the day before, the website had been broken in mobile, but I didn’t realize it until the next day. Which required a lot of trial and error and fixing…. which made for a long, and frustrating day. I’m realizing that the site may very well not be completely ready by the 26th… and I hate it. I’m going to continue to do my level best to get it there, but the task I set for myself is hugely daunting and exhausting.. so, I may very well take the day off today to rest and recuperate from all the work, and get myself in a better mood for the next big push to complete stuff. I heartily appreciate all the people who are supporting me in this endeavor… you have been amazing. And I know that nobody will be mad if I don’t have the site completely ready, but I hate website down time and would hate to have to have you guys wait at all between sites. Gonna have to play it by ear, I think, though… and just do my very best. Love to everyone who takes the time to read my blog! You guys keep me going! I will not post again today, even if I do end up doing some more website work.. so I will talk to you all again tomorrow evening to let you know how things are going!
Continue reading →So I realized in the middle of the night last night that I had completely forgotten to do my website journal before bed last night…. whoops. I know some of you have been really enjoying it, so I wanted to put yesterday’s write-up on the blog ASAP this morning. Yesterday, I worked pretty much non-stop on the side, and almost all of it was working on programming the graphics. I have 4 of the 8 menu systems complete now, and they are all reactive so that they are just as functional on mobile and small screens as they are on desktop large screen. You will lose the epic rainbow tabs, but the menus will still work so you can get around the site if you’re needing to find info while on a tablet or mobile. Picture below shows what the menus do in desktop mode when you switch sections…. Not to toot my own horn, but it’s brilliant.. and perfect.
I also did quite a bit of work on the forums styling, so that they match the website. Which took so much time to figure out. They’re not 100% functional and turned “on” yet, but I’m hoping to have them ready for launch in time. Along with the membership feature. You can also see, I’ve begun getting the sidebars set up for the content pages, as well – although they’re not done yet.
Then, just before bed…. I started working on the overview pages. Which stumped me for the longest time. I couldn’t get them to do what I wanted them to. But it was bedtime, so I stopped, saved everything, and went to bed frustrated. Which may be why I woke up in the middle of the night equally frustrated, but with an idea for how to make it work. So I had to get up and try to fix it before I could go back to sleep again. From this shot, you can see that I haven’t finished writing some of the new pages… but you can see what the “child” pages on the front page overviews will look like.
Also.. one final note.. I also added some reaction buttons (pictured below) with the posts and pages, as well as share buttons, and the standard “like this post” thing yesterday.
Then, before going back to bed, I reorganized my todo list and plan, trying to figure out how to have enough time and organization to finish up the website in time for launch…. I think.. maybe.. it’s possible? … We will certainly see. But, anyway.. so much more to do today… but I’ll get to that write-up when the time comes. Have a wonderful day!
Continue reading →So… today has been interesting. I have gotten a ton of stuff done, but I’m not sure it’s exactly what I had planned for the day. I did about 100 posts (which was super helpful), then I did some writing of pages that are missing (of which there are less an less over time).. Then.. I bought and installed the program that I’m using to do the actual theming for the site, and templating. Which may or may not have been a mistake.. because after installing it, I got very little done other than graphics. HOWEVER… I do have a sneak peek to show for it!
The top twitch logo is actually responsive, and will show in real time when I’m live on Twitch (and link directly to my stream)… then, the purple bar just below the file folder link-tabs will change color and links it shows (I know, there’s no links on it in this picture.. I’m getting there.. jeez…) based on which section of my website you’re on. The part I’m currently struggling on is getting the middle content to show exactly what I want it to. The footer will look very similar to what the current footer looks like on this site (and yes, I already have that programmed, too).
Long story short.. I got a ton done. And forgot to eat most of the day. (Whoops… thank goodness Bruj has my back!) But, as I said.. it wasn’t exactly what I had planned. Brain needed a break from the links after links after links. I’ll get back to them, I promise..!!
(T-minus about 13 days til launch!!) … Who’s excited?!!
Continue reading →Okay.. so today has been a better day. But let me tell you, these posts are going to make me bald. I can’t let my focus wander AT ALL or I end up with a link in the wrong spot or going to the wrong page.. and that’s a fast way to lose a reader. So getting 200 posts done in a day is TORTURE. And I have 600 posts to get done in the next three days. Plus the 30 I still have to do tonight. And that’s just from yesterday’s to-do list! I haven’t even gotten to today’s.. and it’s 9:30 PM. LOL. And it’s not just links, I am also fixing the featured images that don’t transfer from the server I was on to a new one.. because reasons.. and REASONS are apparently important. Shrug.
However, do I ever have a story for you all. So, I was blithely working on my website last night, installing a “coming soon” and countdown page. And I couldn’t get it to show up. Then it occurred to me, that maybe I wasn’t seeing it because I was logged in as a site admin. So I did what anyone would do, and logged out. Poof. Magic. Coming soon page appeared. Happy with the job I’d done, I had Bruj go ahead and go to bed, said I’d be right in. Then.. Tried to log back in. Typed in my username and password, clicked log in… and BAM. I was suddenly, surprisingly, immediately blocked from my own web page. For 5 days. Being the admin, I was confused.. and followed the directions to unlock my account. Tried logging in again. Same thing. Panic was starting to rise by this point, and I just tried what I’d already tried, and unlocked my account again. Carefully typing in username and password, I tried again. LOCKED OUT AGAIN. By this point, I was past panicking. Thinking something was going wrong with the security program I had installed, I clicked to turn the entire program off … and tried to log in again. INVALID USER NAME. At this point, and ONLY at this point, did it finally occur to me that I’d been trying to log in as IllusoryThrall. Logical, right? .. Well my brain suddenly remembered that when the webhost had set up my account, it hadn’t been called IllusoryThrall. It had had several random numbers and characters after it….. and being a smart person, I had decided that I could change the display name and keep that user name for my admin account because it was safer with the random characters……….. THRALL… you silly, forgetful little… after calling myself three hundred different names, I log in.. with the correct user name and password.. and instantly, I’m logged back in. Immediately, I reinstate the security program – who had, quite rightly so, been blocking someone who was trying to log in with a username that didn’t exist, so it thought I was trying to hack in. Doing exactly what the program was supposed to do. Sheepishly, ten minutes late for bed by now, I set up computer for the night, and went to bed. … WHOOPS. Okay, so it’s funny now.. but I assure you, it wasn’t funny then. (and yes, you’re all permitted to laugh along with me at myself….)
All that being said.. I can now announce. The new website will be at https://illusorythrall.com/ … and there’s a handy dandy countdown for you to see as well as a cute coming soon page. Which is hiding a huge mess of a website that I’m fixing. One slow day at a time. …. While that counter just keeps merrily ticking away. SMH. I will get this done. I swear. And it’s going to be fabulous. AND THEN – I’M NEVER MOVING AGAIN… !!!!
Continue reading →Taking a break to start writing today’s Journal entry. I knew it was going to be a rough day, but this is a SLOG. I’m somewhere in the middle of the first 100 posts I need to fix, which means I have around 150 or less left to do today. Yikes. I am trying to link up the page-post links as I go as well, though, so there is that. Starting to wonder if I’ll get all 200 done today. *frown*… well.. back to it. Thank goodness for good tunes to help me out!
Okay. Half done! Still don’t know if I’ll be able to finish the whole list of 200 today… But getting to the halfway point feels pretty darn good. I started with the oldest posts, so they have to be pretty carefully scoured for links that need fixing and matching them up with the pages that index them. It’s painstaking, mind-bending work – but it has to be done for the website to actually function… Granted, I have a whopping 2 1/2 hours until time to get ready for stream – but let’s hope I can knock out at least the majority of the next 100 posts before then. I will let you know how it goes! (And .. oh, yeah.. I swear, I’m NEVER moving this site again. No way, no how.)
Okay, so my day didn’t stay good on a personal level…. However, I still got some more done. Brain is no longer cooperating, though.. so 116 posts completed is where it’s going to stay for now. Instead, I’ll begin working on my to-do list from tomorrow, and work on the rest of today’s posts.. tomorrow.
Verdict: I did get a bunch of stuff done. Was not necessarily on list, but it needed to be done anyway. So yay! Tomorrow, as they say, is a new day.
Continue reading →Okay… feeling much better about this whole move now that I am back on track. This morning, I managed to finish the links that were messed up, and also completed the rest of yesterday’s to-do list (which involved adding all but the last few pages that were missing, as well as finalizing the website hierarchy and set-up needed for the new menu to work.)
Which means I feel comfortable enough with where I am to actually stream again this afternoon as scheduled. After stream, I will continue working on today’s to-do list (I started on it last night as a break from link fixing…), and, obviously, finish up this post with what was done.
I wish I could give you guys some sneak peek teaser images, but the graphics – as I said earlier – won’t be ready for sneak peeks until next week. However, what I CAN say is some of what I’ve been working on… I have plans to add a whole section about me, a way for other generous folks to help support this website in the future, a better way to contact me with questions, a website news area, as well as re-organized everything, a page about my Assassin’s Creed Series Playthrough, and just today started adding a whole section devoted to my shell challenges – both past and present. I’ve also done quite a bit of re-organizing my stories and challenges, hopefully making it easier to find what you’re looking for. The tools and links area is fully ready for expansion – although that won’t be happening until after this re-launch – as well as the updating of the rest of the challenges and pages that need updating for the newer packs. There is also a new challenge (an updated, adapted challenge that I am adopting from its’ original author) that will be coming to my website in the weeks after this full re-launch, it’s already about half done.. and Misery2Mansions will be getting it’s full rules launched, as well. And, finally, something else that’s on my to-do list in the next couple of weeks is adding something this current website has never allowed me to do: forums for people to chat about my challenges and ask me questions. So, yeah, lots of exciting stuff coming. (And that’s just an overview of the highlights!!)
Part 2: So it’s been a productive evening. I got so much done. I even finally got around to making the graphic for my October Challenge:
Beyond that, I finished setting up the Shell challenge pages on the new site (for those who are interested in seeing what shell challenges I’ve come up with in the past)… and got them all linked in to the gallery with their photos and infographics. It looks pretty good so far!
Also started work on the about me/home section.. there’s a long way to go on it, but it’s at least a start. Tomorrow I begin work on the real “meat” of the moving chores… fixing links, featured images, and categories on the nearly 1000 posts. Goal: getting approx. 200 of them done tomorrow. (Yikes!)
Continue reading →You know those days that start out as if you shouldn’t have ever gotten out of bed? .. Yep.
Today started out all sorts of wrong when I suddenly realized that ALL the work I had done on link fixing on the pages needed to be re-done. And I mean all 200 ish pages of links…. which I had already put more than 14 hours of work into. ….Backing up in the story a bit, when I started this website moving, one of my major intentions was to do some work to shorten some of my links. And it had occurred to me while getting ready for bed last night – that I had completely forgotten about it. So now.. not only did I have to do the work to shorten the links.. and do what was on the schedule for today.. but I also had to RE-DO pretty close to everything I had done the two days previous. Depressing and demoralizing to say the least. … Which is why I took the day off of streaming in an attempt to knock out as much of the work of re-doing everything as possible.
The good news is: I did get most of it finished (approx. 70%). I’m down to the last three pages of links to fix, and all the shortening of links is complete. I also got a good portion of the pages that needed adding.. added.. and re-worked the entire site hierarchy to match what the new menu is going to need. Bad news? Well.. I still have those three pages left to do. And brain says break time for now, if not just stop for the evening. However, those last three pages shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours.. I hope.. because most of the work is done, I just need to do some targeted copy-pasting. So… all that being said, I should be able to get back to streaming tomorrow. Especially if I can talk my brain into cooperating after a dinner break and knock out maybe another page or two before bed…. Wish me luck?
Continue reading →Okay, so today started with me finishing up what I didn’t finish yesterday. Which means, all the page links to other pages are complete. And the featured images are are fixed. It only took me four-five hours. Page links to posts are still borked, but they come up later on my schedule, because – quite frankly, I need a break from link fixing. It’s monotonous, it’s painstaking, and it’s annoying. But it still needs to be done. So, all EXISTING pages have page links fixed. (It only took me most the day to complete the last bits of it.. ugh.)
Now, it’s time to start adding new pages and morphing the existing site into the new taxonomy and planned new menu…
After adding a few pages, and doing a bit of planning, I called it a day and gave myself a pat on the back. Well an truly on my way to a new and improved site!
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
