Web Site and Blog Creation 101
For years now people have been asking me questions about where to go, or on how to find cheap tickets, or how to get around and I have always been more than happy to give some insight. It occurred to me that in addition to having a single repository for all my travel logs and photos, I could also put together several helpful hints and tips for the most common of these questions and this was another motivator for me to put together this site.
For years now people have been asking me questions about where to go, or on how to find cheap tickets, or how to get around and I have always been more than happy to give some insight. It occurred to me that in addition to having a single repository for all my travel logs and photos, I could also put together several helpful hints and tips for the most common of these questions and this was another motivator for me to put together this site.I had been meaning to get a web site together for the past 3 or 4 years now, but my lack of familiarity with HTML, and the various back end tools kept me from making much progress beyond the content organization I did on my home computer that only I had access to.
Well, finally with the time off from work I decided to take the plunge and more forward on getting a web site together and my good friend and successful web business creator Doug Hecht (Digitaria.com) pointed me in the right direction and the rest, as they say, is history. What Doug suggested and what it took me a while to convince myself of was that I really needed to start not just a site, but a blog, or a wesite organized around journal-like dated entries. I had not really gone deep into the blogging world, but the more I learned the more I realized that it was precisely the type of content management system I needed to add journal updates and photos within a simple and secure interface from out on the road. Yep, a blog was just the ticket….
Having now gone through the learning process from the beginning I now realize that with all the great and well established open source (free!) web content tools available along with well documented support that creating a web site was not nearly as hard as I expected and I would now advise anyone with an interest and desire to go ahead and take the plunge, regardless of technical competency level.
The following are suggested steps to get any blog newbie started on their site:
1. Settle on a short, catchy and unique domain name
The first thing you need to do is come up with a catchy and unique domain name that will be easy to spell and memorize for your viewers and that you know will not be taken. I wanted a domain URL that would give an obvious feeling to readers about the content of my site prior to having ever visited it and I also had a challenge finding something free that used a variation of travel concepts as the travel industry had already taken almost every English word combo of ‘travel’, ‘explore’, ‘world’, ‘earth’ and ‘journey’. So, taking a lesson from college Marketing 101, I devised to create my own term that I knew would be free and so vagabum.com was born!
2. Obtain Web Hosting (w/ free domain registration)
I settled on Blue Host for web hosting and once the host-based domain search listed vagabum.com free I signed up with them and they did the automatic domain registration ($90 for 1 year domain and hosting). I recommend Googling some combination of “web hosting” and “review” for research purposes and then comparing those listed to your needs (prices, bandwith allowance, storage allowance, tools, and support). In the reviews I read for the USA Blue Host got excellent reviews and was at the top of a few hosting lists. If you wish to use a different hosting provider, make sure they support Java, MySql, PHP and Ajax (you do not need to know anything about those, just check they are listed in the hosting site basics).
Here is an example list of Blue Host features which show the tech limitations and bandwith/storage allowances for reference:
Blue Host Hosting Features.
3. Settle on a content Management system (CMS).
Read up on various CMS options to get an understanding of the basic concepts. A good source for basic info on several Web Content Management Systems including WordPress is this Wikipedia CMS Comparison I read up on several of the open source CMS alternatives before deciding that Wordpress is best for free open source tools (because of the strong plugin development community that adds huge functionality and customization potential).
If you do go with Blue Host, they have a content management bundle in their user accessed control panel (the hosting admin page) that has WordPress and can automatically install it for you. As I said I think is the best Open Source (FREE) blog tool out there, with literally hundreds of extended page tool and interface plugins that are open source as well. WordPress has been around for 5 years or so now and is very well developed by the open source community to automate most all of the blog setup work.
4. Download and Install an FTP Client program
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocall (I think) and it basically allows you a window-like interface to transfer files to your web site that will be read when a browser points to that address. There are several FTP shareware or freeware programs that you can see at Download.com when you search for ‘FTP Client’. [I was using Smart FTP 2.0, but now I installed the Fire FTP plugin for the Mozilla Firefox Browser (I am not sure if a similar plugin is available for Internet Explorer).]
5. Install Wordpress via FTP
Blue Host and many other hosting services have built-in access for WordPress (it is an external tool, but Blue Host has a very simple auto-install which saves you several complex install tasks). If you go with a different hosting company, you can check whether they have bundled software for WordPress 2.0+, or else go to WordPress.org to download the tool and follow the instructions to install. Many web hosting services also have some web-based FTP tools, which might be okay for basic tasks such as installing WordPress and editing/transferring single files, but a dedicated FTP Client is recommended for larger quantity file transfers and for faster transfers.
6. Browse and Select 1 or more Wordpress Themes and/or Plugins
A WordPress Theme is the visual layout and style of the Blog (2 vs. 3 columns, colors, menu styles, header style, etc. You can pick a theme layout from here and then you need to download and install it using the directions listed (basically copy it to your hosted wp-themes/ dir, then activate it from within the WP Admin web site. Once you have activated a theme (or decided the default is good enough) you are good to go, or you can customize one from there. I spent 80+ hours or so customizing and trying out plugins, but that is not required. WordPress plugins are quite simple to install and run and add immensely to the power and visual appeal of your blog. I have scoured through hundreds of free plugins and have settled on a great set of those that work best for my web site needs (see this up-to-date Vagabum.com Plugin Reference).
I am using a Theme called Random Image, which is based on the Wordpress 2.x Default Theme and does the work to randomize the loading of the header graphics taken from my travel photos that I added using Photoshop. There are literally hundreds of Themes to choose from, but those based on the Default Theme will be easier to customize and edit (since they will not become obsolete so quickly with future revisions of WordPress).
7. Settle on a Gallery Tool or Plugin
I am still setting up a fancy web gallery for all my photos, but one of the best is a $20 shareware plugin for Macromedia Flash called SlideShow Pro (www.slideshowpro.com). You need a copy of flash (check the bit torrent sites if you need a “review” copy), but do not get frightened by that one only needs minimal flash and XML skillz (all of which are documented in theiir manual). For an example of Slideshow pro, visit my Gallery Page, or click the Gallery navigation link at the top of the page.
For free Gallery Tools without using Flash, there are several plugins and external gallery programs available from the Wordpress site. Check out WordPress Plugins and WordPress Themes. Also see this external plugin site
8. Start Writing Posts.
You need to add periodic content to keep readers interested (at least as often as every 2 or 3 weeks).
9. Advertise Your Domain URL to Your Intended Audience
Decide if you want to have a select audience, or one that is entirely open and announce your new blog address and site description (via email, or by registering on blog posting sites or search engines). Note that the culture of blogs tends to encourage open access and that is what you will have unless you install tools to reduce access (which will severly inhibit readership).
10. As you learn more, you can add plugins or themes to further customize your blog
In total I have spent a good 150+ hours getting vagabum all set up and customized, but a lot of that was reading up on HTML primers (Google can point you to several good ones, or check out this Great HTML Primer) and trying out many themes and plugins within wordpress. You do not really have to know HTML with WordPress, but it helps if you are trying to integrate graphics within text blocks, etc.
With the above info. you should be able to reduce the learning time down by 66% (90% if you use a standard theme with little or no customization).
Other useful blogging tips:
Blog Content Tips
Blog Traffic Generation Tips
WordPress Tips
world Kit World Mapping Tool
Let me know if you have any questions.
Happy Blogging,
~ Vagabum Mike