Learning how to do it

I was sick so was slacking off in terms of updating, but now I'm back to the Internet land and trying once again to figure things out.

So as mentioned previously I want a website, but I want a website done right. I know some HTML and am savvy enough to be able to fiddle with some code in other languages, but not to write things myself. So I want something reltively simple, but with loads of potential to grow and expand things. And naturally I want my own domain name.

Here is what I decided to get: Fatcow
This place has loads of very cool features, is pretty cheap and allows the user to either have a very simple site or a super fancy one. Here is a full list of features they ofer.

What I also like is that they let you upload things via FTP access. So for example you can create a fully functional site on your computer and in one swoosh upload it to Fatcow and have it up and running.

My next concern and reason for another long search was the fact that I might want to have a document management system on my site so for example people could upload documents to me or have a personal account. I know that this is on the fancy side, but I'd like to have the potential to be able to do it if my business idea takes off and I feel the need for it. This means that I needed a Content Management System (CMS). Once again Fatcow is great because it lets the user pick out of several. Drupal sounded good, but all I read about it said that it's quite complicated to learn, which would mean that my site building adventure would really take forever....

So Joomla it is. Joomla is now my next "search adventure". The site construction seems very much module based and so far has not required any coding on my part. There are also loads of free templates available for download and additional Joomla plug-ins to expand the capability of the System.

I have found numerous other Internet services that I believe could be of great use to anyone working on establishing their presence online, but that will be in my next update =)

Picking a Blog

I have decided that one of the first steps on my way to greatness should be the creation of my own professional looking website. The more I research this matter the more issues do I run into though.

Todays issue of the day is called "Picking a blog".
The idea is that in order for my site to have some following and some traffic I need to provide people with something to look at. Since it's a work related site, the work portion of it will be mostly self advertising and therefore static. The blog that I am planing to attach to the site will be THE thing that updates quite regularly and *crossing my fingers* be interesting enough so that people would want to come back and read it when I update it.

There are several services that do bloging pretty well that I have taken a look at.

Wordpress

• Things I do like about it:
  
• - Integrated stats system
• - Anti spam measures
• - Tags have potential to drive traffic to the site (Tag surfing)
• - Side bar widgets
• - Comment reply tracking system
• - Can has multiple authors for 1 blog
  
• - Can create a whole website using Pages function
  

• On the other hand:
  
• - Makes the user pay money to be able to customize the code
• - Uses CSS (which I am not that good at)
• - Uses MY blog to place THEIR google powered advertising (unless the user choses once again to pay to have it removed).

Considering I want a blog that plugs into my site in terms of both functionality and design and that I want to have a design of my own versus a template, this did not sound too good to me. As is I plan to pay for the domain and hosting + hire a designer to have it be pretty. Wordpress' restrictions would then have me design my site around their CSS template to make the final product look homogeneous or I'd have to once again pay for something. Why do so when I can go somewhere else and have it for free?

So this was an easy no.

Next I took a look at Tumblr

• Pros:
• Loads of designs to chose from that you have the freedom to modify on the spot
• Offers the ability to import blog code into your own site and have it use your own CSS style sheets
  
• Easy posting of any type of media
  
• Do like the "Reblog" function
• I do like the "Follow" function
  
• Love the ability to push updates to Facebook and Twitter automatically if one so desires
• Cons that I ran into while giving it a shot:
• I admit I am not a programmer. I know HTML and that's about it, although I can read and oftentimes successfully modify code. Tumblr templates have an amazing rigidity to them. Adding the twitter widget on the right hands side next to the updates ended up being an evening worth of an adventure, which was resolved only when an actual web-designer got involved. I am all for skilled labor doing things, but adding a widget that was already pre-written for you should not be rocket science!
• Now I have plans to add more things like AdSense for advertising or extra buttons and links. If i have to suffer that much for each of them, I'll give up before even trying. Or once again hire someone to do it, which means once again additional expenses.
• Finally. I want comments. Silly me I want people to be able to reply and comment on my posts. I think it's possible on Tumblr in theory, but in practice I haven't yet managed to make it work. I did find DisqUS, which is an online service that allows anyone add comments to anything, but once again I ran into a formatting issue trying to specify the placement and the design of the "Comments" link.

Finally now, I am trying out the service that initially I thought I was not going to use: Blogger

• So far here is what I like:
• Adding widgets is a snap. Well no, 2-3 button clicks.
• Arranging where things go is a matter of DRAG AND DROP! I don't even have to look at the code!
• Same thing about color. One gets to pick it by clicking on swatches of color and see it update in the preview window. I will still have someone do layout modifications for me, but that's because I want to have a design of my own both on the site and the blog.
• It autosaves as I am typing this! Now that's a brilliant idea!
• It lets me save the post and then publish it separately when I am done.
• I get to place my own advertising and chose where and how it will look.
• Cons that I am thinking of so far: 
• I wish it had the same Facebook and twitter update feature as Tumblr. But then again there is the Share button, so I can't complain too much. 
  

So from the way it looks I am choosing Tumblr because I am thinking that my blog is going to be mostly links. Also I am getting better at modding Tumblr templates, so design might not be an issue after all. Or at least not as big of an issue as i originally thought. Then again I might do something with Blogger too because in essence the more ground your posts cover, the more people you end up reaching.

Soon I shall be everywhere...
Now if only I could get paid for it too...

Hello World

Like most computer things this blog too has to start with this simple phrase - “Hello World”.

I have not had a blog for the longest time. The last one I had was a LiveJournal page used mostly to vent the usual teenage angsty things and mope about the unfairness of life. This time around I’d like to make it something that other people might actually want to read and might have a use for.

About a year ago I have graduated with a Masters Degree in Translation and Localization Management and have therefore been dumped into the “real world” where one needs a full time job with a steady stream of income, because bills and loans are due no matter what state the economy is in and whether you have a job or not. Ever since then I have been doing my best to stay afloat in this wavering economy while pursuing my interests and continuously exploring new opportunities. Watching my friends graduate in their turns I realized that every graduating student ends up going through the same “omgtheyallhatemeicantdoanythingright” freak out moment and then somehow it all magically turns out ok. Well not magically… It requires time, effort and especially persistence.
Thus my blog.

Yes, considering my profession this blog is doomed to have a slant towards IT, languages and cultures, but I feel that it would still end up being applicable to most.

In the end as most things I write for me. I write for those who’d be interested in the wide virtual universe that is the web. And who knows, you might end up liking this blog too ^_^

Time will tell.