Getting Started

Getting Started: Deciding

Today it’s all about Deciding. I understand the unease of trying to learn and decide and not wanting to make the wrong choice. In my humble opinion, simply read & do your research – then decide. then start.

I hope what I share here helps you learn what you want to do. I hope it helps you in your deciding. My personal recommendation would be:

I decided to use InMotion Hosting for my hosting service. I’m so thankful!
I decided to use WordPress.org to use the CMS on my self-hosted site. This doesn’t mean I know a lot of the technical behind the scenes stuff. Honest!
I decided to only use StudioPress themes on the Genesis Framework. They keep everything up to best web practices, and I repeatedly have the least amount of problems with them.

There are some who are their own hosting company – I totally don’t know enough, nor do I want to take on the responsibility, to run a hosting company. After a bit of trial and error, I now use In Motion Hosting (affiliate link) for hosting all of my websites. InMotion Hosting is the only company I recommend for hosting. <- I honestly find them this good, for real. I have used them for several years now and I’ve never considered switching to another host.

For me, customer service is super important – I know just enough technical information to get into BIG trouble! 😊 InMotion Hosting has 24/7 customer service tech support – and they’re great!

Important Notice: Just like owning a car or a house, when you “own” a website, at some point something will go wrong.

There will be times your site goes down – this is real life. The internet is no different.

When it comes to the background workings of your site, using InMotion Hosting (affiliate link) is the only way I’ve stuck to the whole self-hosting business.

Getting Started: Your Best Plan

By Dot&Ink Designs

Today we are talking about making YOUR best plan. Someone else’s idea of what is best, may not be the best for YOU. My best may not be your best. You need to have an idea in mind of the overall plan on how you want to use your space on the web.

A bit of background: When I started my personal blog in 2007, the purpose was to stay in touch with out-of-state family. I started it on Blogger, it was free. However, in 2010 when I transfer’d to a self-hosted site using WordPress for the CMS, it didn’t go as planned and I still haven’t fixed the photos. The text moved over from Blogger, the photos did not.

… Someday, maybe. But it hasn’t happened yet. …

All my rambling is to reiterate to you the importance of a plan. Even with a plan – for as much as I Google searched before starting – I still changed my mind after the fact and wished I’d done things differently. 😊 Part of my mind changing was based on simple misunderstandings…so, I’m going to share what I learned here and hope it helps someone else.

I moved my personal blog from “borrowing” to “owning”. What I mean by this is – I started a free blog on Blogger; then a few years, many posts, and hundreds of photos later I decided I wanted more flexibility with my blog. I wanted to own my content (I’m not getting into the debate of who owns the content – I just knew I wanted to understand and change the backend workings more than what was possible for my current understanding level). However, because I don’t enjoy the tech stuff as much – it’s not overly pretty (and there are still MANY photos missing – they didn’t import when I moved from Blogger to self-hosted WordPress).

Yes, I make do (no one reads those old posts anyway).
Yes, I have continued posting and ignoring the way the older posts look (for 7+ years now, it just hasn’t been at the top of my priority list).
Yes, I could do fix it. But why? This would use time/resources from our family and it’s too personal to build a business from, so I still write there as a (very public) online journal.

Something important to note: while this may be “YOUR” space, never think of it as private. Once something is online, it can NEVER be 100% deleted.

You, and you alone, are responsible for the words you say and/or publish. Just because you can’t see the people you’re “talking” to doesn’t make them any less of a person with feelings.

Please, please, please always remember – you can’t ever really delete something from the internet. Once you post/publish something, you can NOT control who sees it, saves it, shares it, or which database backed it up – this in turn, renders you incapable of EVER completely erasing something.

I don’t say these things to scare anyone – but to encourage you to be cautious and wise with what you publish. There is no harm in writing out your thoughts, BUT just because you write something doesn’t mean you have to hit publish!

Getting Started: Defining

By Dot&Ink Designs

Defining is a first step in getting started. If you don’t know what the words mean in the context they’re being used – it’s super confusing and completely overwhelming! I’m going to “define” some terms I found very confusing when I started. There are so many more – these are just a drop in the bucket. Feel free to ask, and if I know I’ll do my best to help; however, I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination.

One problem I had when starting was the terms meant nothing to me. They were in English, I can read and understand English, but I had no context for “getting” what I was reading. So I’m going to get started by clarifying some terminology. These are words I wish I would have understood better in advance.

Backend: The behind-the-scenes “inner” workings of every website.
Blog: Requires consistent interaction between you and your readers. You can determine the frequency, but consistency is invaluable.
Blogger: A person who blogs; and the name of a hosted (free) CMS, designed for blogging. (I’m not sure if you can sell/monetize a blog hosted on blogger.)
Cloud (in the tech sense): Similar to hosting, but not attached to a personal URL. It’s more of a virtual storage cabinet. (Google Docs is an example of “cloud” based storage)
Content Management System (CMS): How you store all the information on your site and create how it will look to the user.
Domain name or URL: This is your unique address in the world wide web. Similar to your personal street address – where you can be found.
Hosted vs. Self-hosted: Do you want the CMS set up to do everything and the possibility of it being free? Then you want hosted. If you know you’re in this for the long-haul and you’re willing to dig deep and do a small amount of “extra” work? Then you want self-hosted.
Hosted: There are free and paid versions; some you get to choose your domain and others provide a sub of their domain. There are different rules for each, you’d need to learn their CMS and terms and conditions on making money/selling/ads. They take care of all the tech stuff (updates, security, maintaining) for you. I really am not familiar with how these work, or all their options.
Hosting: Where the workings of your website, and all of the information (text/images), are being stored. Similar to the house you live in, the storage unit you store your stuff in.
Monetize: To make money from your blog by selling services, product, or ad space.
Self-hosted: You pay for your hosting and your choice of domain name. You learn the CMS you choose and you do all maintenance on the site. Similar to picking what part of town you want to live in, but you still have to decide if you’ll be in a subdivision zoned for travel trailers, apartments, starter homes, or a mansion – it’s all about your purpose for your site.
SquareSpace: A paid subscription based CMS (includes hosting); can be used for either a blog and/or business website. I’m not sure if you can sell/monetize a blog hosted on SquareSpace.
Website: Space on the web. Doesn’t have to change real frequently, but you must keep it up to date for security reasons, and you do want to make sure it always has relevant information. (such as: current way to contact you, products, important information.) The more current a site looks, the more customers will engage with you.
WordPress: A free Content Management System, CMS; can be used for either blog or business website. While the WordPress CMS is free to use, you have to have hosting to make it actually work. There are two options for using WordPress.
- WordPress.com: The hosted version of the WordPress CMS. Your URL will be a subdomain of WordPress.com (yourdomain.wordpress.com). I’m not sure if you can sell/monetize a blog hosted on WordPress.
- WordPress.org: The self-hosted version of the WordPress CMS. Your URL will be yours only, using the CMS (yourdomain.com). I know you can sell/monetize a blog using the self-hosted version of WordPress.

In my opinion, self-hosted and using the WordPress CMS via WordPress.org, is the best option and gives you the most control over your site. It is as close as you can get to “owning” a piece of the internet.

I believe using WordPress is the easiest way to make a site and keep it maintained, not to mention the least expensive. This is what I know, and is the perspective I will be basing all of my explanations from here on out.

Getting started…

By Dot&Ink Designs

It’s a new year!

I feel like September 1st is more of a new year than January 1st (maybe I just take that long to “get my act together” each year 😊). Random side note: I took those photos in 2014 – the last time I saw fireworks in the dark and my fingers were warm (We’ve only seen them in warm temperatures three times in the last 20 years). In Alaska, we do fireworks for New Years Eve – the last time I tried my camera stopped working because it was too cold.

Seriously, though – my heart & mind are naturally geared for a September 1st new year. I LOVE school & office supplies – every year I get more notebooks, pens, color crayons, colored pencils! It might be because this is when our routine changes each year – and it’s a season change.

So – in honor of the “new year” I’m going to post some basic getting started information in a mini series. I’m hoping this little series will help you feel more confident in starting your new pursuit.

Are you trying to decide whether you want to start & maintain an online space on the world wide web? Or do you know you want a space, you just don’t know what kind?

I will have affiliate links in my posts, but I will only link to something I believe has the potential to truly be beneficial for you. And, just to clarify, affiliate links won’t cost you anything, but when you use my links the company will give me a commission on what you purchase. I won’t see your information though. In advance, thank you for any of my links you may use.

To start your space on the internet, there are some decisions you will need to make immediately. Yes, you can typically change most everything once you get going. However, some of these first questions are ones you really need to answer first – or you may get stuck starting over – or paying more to change later.

I’m going to list some questions for you to think about, then in another post I’ll let you know what/how I decided.

Do you want a blog, a website, or both?
- IF you want both, is there a reason you would not want them together? (such as: you want the blog to be personal, and the website is for a business)
Regardless of which you want, what is the purpose?
- Is this space to be used for an online journal;
- To stay in touch with family;
- Do you just want to be able to comment on other people’s blogs?
- Is it to sell product/s?
- A place online, nothing more than an electronic business card (your contact information only);
- Do you want to use your online space for portfolio purposes?
Do you want to borrow space online or “own” your space on the internet?
- Borrow = you can usually find ways to start for free. This would be like living at someone else’s house – you don’t pay, you’re on borrowed time, it could end at any moment.
- “Own” = you pay to rent your domain name and pay hosting to rent space to house your domain. I say “own” because the internet is not tangible, it’s virtual. You can’t really own it. Also, it’s more like renting a house – it’s not really yours, just as long as you keep paying and nothing changes. BUT, when you “own” your online space, the content you publish remains yours.

There aren’t any wrong answers here. You get to totally and completely personalize this experience! You don’t have to do it a certain way (as long as you’re still following legalities and laws of the land – obviously) – it is up to you and what you want to maintain.