In April I wrote a post called Having Fun In The Web Design Sandbox. I was getting brave messing around with HTML code, aiming personalized URLs to blogs I had on other sites, and getting a little more control of my SteveCoxsey.com site. This week I’ve been getting dirty all over again!
It all started because the end of the month came mid-week, and when I was going over the budget – yes, it’s boring sometimes, but it’s also really important – I noticed I was about to pay my annual hosting fee again for my SteveCoxsey.com site. I hadn’t done much with it besides changing the template and making a few tweaks to the text since I learned how to play around with it back in April.
I wanted to redo it completely and take down the “Contact Me” form. Those forms were probably a good idea in the past, but the internet vultures have found a way to use mine to send me several messages a day that are either garbled nonsense or the worst version of SPAM I’ve ever seen. I wanted that form gone. I wanted to have full access to the control panel. I wanted the ability to screw it up in any way I possibly could!
So I transferred the hosting from my web guy, to whom I am very grateful for getting me going on training wheels, to the hosting company where I have my two blog-zines. If I were on top of things, I would be an affiliate of the company and I would have just put an affiliate link in this post. Boy, I can see how I should “Always Be Selling,” but I can’t quite make it happen.
I was wiped out with a virus Thursday and Friday, and I had just enough energy to go to my younger son’s soccer games on Saturday before I had to stop and rest. Sunday was my older son’s game, so by the time I was feeling nearly well on Sunday evening I was way behind on first of the month tasks for my small business.
Of course that was the perfect time to focus on playing in the web sandbox. I purchased the hosting and messed around with redirecting my e-mail. I had to stay up late to get it to work, but I finally managed to have the e-mail routed through the new hosting company. Good thing, since that’s my business e-mail address. The site was a different story.
I had to place a call today to the hosting company to have an error message removed every time I tried to access my site. The customer service rep helped me out and made sure I had access to install files for my new site. I looked at a lot of templates and then decided to install WordPress. I spent way too much time choosing a theme and then customizing parts of it. I’m nowhere close to done yet, and I may change it completely, but I’m feeling connected to my site again.
I also managed to take a lot of steps reformatting Chasing Wisdom, but the changes won’t show up for a while. I’ll be rearranging the articles to make the site easier to navigate, and then I’ll start publishing more issues of that blog-zine.
There were times when I was looking at templates or WordPress themes and thinking I was wasting time, maybe even goofing off. But then I remembered I’ve been wanting to make significant changes to both of these sites for months. It takes time because my approach to choosing a design layout is “I’ll know which one I want when I see it.”
I still take a lot of time making changes to the layout of a theme once it’s installed because I have to experiment with different things on the stylesheet to see if what I’m doing is making the right changes on the page. I haven’t mastered these skills; I’m still struggling to learn them.
Fortunately, struggling to learn them is a lot of fun.
May You Know the Joy of Sharing Your Gifts,
Steve Coxsey
Showing posts with label web sites. Show all posts
Showing posts with label web sites. Show all posts
Monday, October 6, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Having Fun in the Web Design Sandbox
Look out world! I am armed with pass codes and HTML!
For those of you whose eyes glaze over when talk turns to the internet, I offer a disclaimer. My big accomplishments this week are all web-related. But be heartened! One scenic turnout in the road led me to a good idea for technophobes.
First, biggest, happiest, and best accomplishment – I learned how to edit my SteveCoxsey.com web site! My web guy is actually a programming and database expert, so websites are a small profit center to him. I like to make little changes here and there, much faster than we could work out. He got brave, and I got brave, and he decided to show me some basics with Front Page last night. I can edit and reformat and change themes and colors and completely screw things up now!
My other accomplishments might seem small by comparison. It was such a little idea I just let it float around in the back of my head for a while before deciding to act. I got three new URLs. I redirected two of them to my blogs. My “Anything But Marketing!” blog on TypePad can now be accessed at AnythingButMarketing.com. This “Twisting Road Travel Log” on Blogger can be accessed at TwistingRoad.com.
Why does this matter? In part because it’s neater and a little cleaner. When I reference a blog the name is the URL. This looks nicer in my e-zine, which I send out in simple text format. That’s the use for my third new URL. I set up a basic free page at OnTheTwistingRoad.com for my e-zine. Eventually I’ll build a “squeeze page” that gives a better enticement for people to sign up. For now there’s something functional at that address.
What’s the point? I can focus on creating a free offer and design the squeeze page to give a free report or free audio or whatever I come up with to people who sign up. It’s another step to building my list, with many more to follow.
Other technical accomplishments weren’t as important. Unless you consider the lighting store adventure I wrote about in Wednesday’s edition of “Anything But Marketing!” Finding those halogen replacement bulbs was a huge accomplishment when you consider the effort it took!
I tweaked my DiscoveryLookout.com site so it is more consistent and flows better. Playing with the little bit of HTML code I’ve learned is fun and takes over my time.
Which brings me to the idea for technophobes. Coaching colleagues will talk about needing to set up a web site but having little knowledge, or they’ll talk about the price of hosting and having a web master design a site for them. Many don’t have a point of comparison and it seems like a lot of money to invest for a basic informational site. A few weeks back I talked about this to a friend who helps a couple of businesses maintain and update their sites. She got back in town this week and was able to give me some ideas yesterday.
She doesn’t have the expertise to design a web site from scratch, but she works very well with templates. She doesn’t know extensive HTML coding, but she knows enough to customize parts of templates and add things the business owners need. The technophobe-friendly idea is to purchase a templated site for a reasonable fee or buy template software. With the free help of a friend who knows a little HTML coding, or the affordable help of someone who is not a web master but can do web maintenance and updating, a technophobe can set up a site fairly quickly for just a little money.
The best part is that this approach lets you learn little steps and be comfortable gaining skills and mastery. The second best part is that it lets you have quick access to and control of your site, which you’re going to want. Trust me!
Technophobes of the world, take heart and move forward into the ominous world of web technology. Technophiles of the world, step up and guide us into the future! And teach us while you do it. And only give us as much as we need each time, and only charge us for the little bit we need!
You may now de-glaze your eyes.
May You Know the Joy of Sharing Your Gifts,
Steve Coxsey
For those of you whose eyes glaze over when talk turns to the internet, I offer a disclaimer. My big accomplishments this week are all web-related. But be heartened! One scenic turnout in the road led me to a good idea for technophobes.
First, biggest, happiest, and best accomplishment – I learned how to edit my SteveCoxsey.com web site! My web guy is actually a programming and database expert, so websites are a small profit center to him. I like to make little changes here and there, much faster than we could work out. He got brave, and I got brave, and he decided to show me some basics with Front Page last night. I can edit and reformat and change themes and colors and completely screw things up now!
My other accomplishments might seem small by comparison. It was such a little idea I just let it float around in the back of my head for a while before deciding to act. I got three new URLs. I redirected two of them to my blogs. My “Anything But Marketing!” blog on TypePad can now be accessed at AnythingButMarketing.com. This “Twisting Road Travel Log” on Blogger can be accessed at TwistingRoad.com.
Why does this matter? In part because it’s neater and a little cleaner. When I reference a blog the name is the URL. This looks nicer in my e-zine, which I send out in simple text format. That’s the use for my third new URL. I set up a basic free page at OnTheTwistingRoad.com for my e-zine. Eventually I’ll build a “squeeze page” that gives a better enticement for people to sign up. For now there’s something functional at that address.
What’s the point? I can focus on creating a free offer and design the squeeze page to give a free report or free audio or whatever I come up with to people who sign up. It’s another step to building my list, with many more to follow.
Other technical accomplishments weren’t as important. Unless you consider the lighting store adventure I wrote about in Wednesday’s edition of “Anything But Marketing!” Finding those halogen replacement bulbs was a huge accomplishment when you consider the effort it took!
I tweaked my DiscoveryLookout.com site so it is more consistent and flows better. Playing with the little bit of HTML code I’ve learned is fun and takes over my time.
Which brings me to the idea for technophobes. Coaching colleagues will talk about needing to set up a web site but having little knowledge, or they’ll talk about the price of hosting and having a web master design a site for them. Many don’t have a point of comparison and it seems like a lot of money to invest for a basic informational site. A few weeks back I talked about this to a friend who helps a couple of businesses maintain and update their sites. She got back in town this week and was able to give me some ideas yesterday.
She doesn’t have the expertise to design a web site from scratch, but she works very well with templates. She doesn’t know extensive HTML coding, but she knows enough to customize parts of templates and add things the business owners need. The technophobe-friendly idea is to purchase a templated site for a reasonable fee or buy template software. With the free help of a friend who knows a little HTML coding, or the affordable help of someone who is not a web master but can do web maintenance and updating, a technophobe can set up a site fairly quickly for just a little money.
The best part is that this approach lets you learn little steps and be comfortable gaining skills and mastery. The second best part is that it lets you have quick access to and control of your site, which you’re going to want. Trust me!
Technophobes of the world, take heart and move forward into the ominous world of web technology. Technophiles of the world, step up and guide us into the future! And teach us while you do it. And only give us as much as we need each time, and only charge us for the little bit we need!
You may now de-glaze your eyes.
May You Know the Joy of Sharing Your Gifts,
Steve Coxsey
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