I’m going to hang around at base camp for while, getting used to atmosphere of Web World and practicing with the software /equipment.

In the mean time I’ll be building up my writing stamina and technique. It’s going to take some time but I’m hopeful you’ll see the improvement over time.  I’ve got plenty content to get down already, I’ll start by getting something down in the other categories. 

The  number of things I’ve got to do is a bit daunting,  good start is always a list so here goes.

The IdoStuff to do List

• Learn how to use and adapt WordPress
• Learn how to structure a website using Dreamweaver
• Consider and research how to bring in some income
• Write some other articles for the other categories I’ve set up
• Learn how to write well and practice.

That’s the easy bit, writing the list. Now to motivate myself and get it done.

Which neatly leads me on to the “I do Personal Development” category. (note to myself: figure out how to put a categary link in here) (another note to myself: don’t get distracted on that now)

“What I’ve got, how I choose it, how I got it, why I think I need it and what I know about how to use it”

I’ve got Dreamweaver- “Probably the best web design software in World” please can someone define what “best” in this context means?

how I choose it and how I got it – I’ll roll these in to one. Dreamweaver is, as far as I know,  the industry standard web design package. It’s got all the bells, whistles and knobs to everything the most dedicated web/phone app designer could possibly need. It is vastly more than what I need, however I’m on a project to learn and skill myself for the future. 

I had the Adobe CS2 package this was after working my way up “Pagemaker” running on Windows 2.0, if I remember right, around 20 years ago.  Having missed out on the upgrade to CS3 I made the decision to shell out the £2k ish to get upgrade to the Master CollectionCS4. Exceedingly expensive for some one just starting out but I use InDesign, Photoshop, Premier, Illustrator, After Effects on a commercial basis and Flash on a thirty day trial that had just run out.  The Adobe Master Collection CS4 comes with the upgrade to all the software I use and all the Web publishing software, DreamWeaver included.

Why I think I need it –Quite simply I don’t  need it. Not for now anyway, I’m sure I could achieve what I need for iDoStuff with cheaper, easier software.  The ulteria motive is to constantly drag myself and my skills to a valuable level. I’ve got another 20 years until retirement and the future is on-line.

What I know about how to use it – Anyone got a postage stamp for me to write this on. It was a couple weeks ago that I made home page so by now, I’ll have forgotten how I did what I did. So far I’ve:

• set up the FTP and uploaded and updated content
• pulled up a template added some content and saved it
• Fiddled with the CSS. – WOW advanced stuff
• made text links
• added a graphic.

Things I need to figure out next,

• Now to structure the site and contents locally, within Dreamweaver and on the server
• How to create and use templates for additional pages

That will keep me busy for a while but I recognise, having the structures in place now is a good “stitch in time”.

“What I’ve got, how I choose it, how I got it, why I think I need it and what I know about how to use it”

WOW, this WordPress is something that ticks my boxes

Why I think I need it– Briefly touched on in the previous post, in more detail. Blogging gives the interactivity that I think I need. As I’m planning to record a lot of the stuff that I do, blogging is great way to get the ideas down and build up content. I’ve found from using Blogger, as long as I’ve got something useful to say I can get some traffic (my DIY Loft conversion Blog, with very little effort is getting about 1000 hits a month). My idea is to get the bones of stuff down as I’m doing it and flesh out the information in a more structured fashion later on the actual website.

How I choose it –After reading up a bit about the “Blogosphere” it became clear that blogging platforms like Blogger are quite limited and restrictive, you are on anothers  territory and you have to obey their laws.  WordPress can be tinkered with and moulded to what you need, if you host it yourself you are king of the content and can make your own rule. Or as I am at the moment, exist in an anarchic world, the rules and structure will come later. Best of all it’s free!  The downsides are a complete unknown to me. (Please feel free to comment if you know of any)

How I got it –Another upside to the eUKhost package is a part of the cPanel called Fantastico that installs applications for you. A few clicks, another logoin etc. and there it is, WordPress and its database set up and ready to go. I’ve read, it can also be downloaded directly from  WordPress.org and installed easily on any hosting space that can handle a database.

What I know about how to use WordPress – Hey I can post, you’re reading this so there’s the proof. It does look incredibly powerful though and, I dare say, much of it I haven’t even considered yet. I do know it possible to apply templates contributed by users from around the world, the  whole look of it and the navigation can be altered to fit in or even match a website. I’ve got a long way to go but for now the “as is” will do so I can get the content down.

After skimming some of the tutorials and advice on the WordPress site, I’m confident the level of  guidance I need is available and I should progress well with it.  One minor niggle I have found is, the spell checker is a bit thick and with my level of dyslexia it can do my head in, I can live with that though.

“What I’ve got, how I choose it, how I got it, why I think I need it and what I know about how to use it” 

Why I think I need it – Hosting, yes this where I cocked-up a tiny bit.  I’ve been mulling over the ideas for this site for few months, I know I wanted to include blogging and integrate it with a web site. Blogs look, with my novice eyes as the easiest, pre-packaged way to include elements of interactivity.  It didn’t take long to realise WordPress would be the way to go – More in the next article. I mention it here, as the specification for WordPress requires Host with a least one Database.  

Why did I need my own Host? Why not some freespace?. Apart from being a megalomaniac and wanting total control, I discovered – 1. It’s easier to be found if you are at the top level of a domain, so major SEO advantages and 2. Google Analytics didn’t work unless the tracking code was at a root level. (might have changed now ) 3. When iDoStuff gathers momentum It’ll need space and bandwidth.

How I choose it-I’m already a customer of “123-reg”, having bought the domain name from them and with another site hosted there, they where my first port of call.  At the time I looked, the Database was going to be a expensive optional extra. (Just had a quick look, it still is dear but things might change, let me know). So some searching later and much time spent on review sites, I ended up at eUKhost. 

What I’ve got –The choice was a bit of a stab in the dark as I don’t know anything about half of the specifications and the widgets that come with it. I choose a Hosting Package called ” cPannel Linux Bronze” for £39.99 a year. It has unlimited Databases, 500MB  disc space and 5GB Monthly Bandwidth.  I don’t know if I’ll need that much but what the hell!

How I got it – Easy just get the credit card out again and fill in some details.

What I know about how to use this hosting package – 99% next to nothing. My previous experience, with the 123-reg host was just to FTP the site through from inside Adobe GOLive and Bobs mi Uncle, nothing else to it. (Maybe there is more there but I’ve never seen it). The hosting from eUKhost  has this CPanel interface that gives a bewildering array of options, facilities and add-ons, nothings ever simple is it!  Diving it in to it I can see there’s loads of things in there I might need at some point but first things first. Break it down in to simple steps, and plod on, that’s the way to climb mountains.

I’ll feel like I’m getting somewhere if I can get a home page for iDoStuffup there. (creating the page is for another post). After following the instructions to FTP the page using a temporary host name I hit a brick wall. Climbing over it by trying everything I could think of with logins, user-names, addresses etc., I eventually made it. The first page of iDoStuff was born unto this world.

A few more hours spent on cPanneland I had set up an email address and had configured my Outlook express to pull them in.

That probably makes me about 95% ignorant now.

Anyone spotted the little cock-up? …. The domain name was with 123-reg.  I think I could have forwarded the name to point at my host but it started looking like a level of complexity I could do without.  Some more head scratching and searching and I ended up transferring the name from 123-reg to eUKhost and got billed £12 for it. I felt diddled ” A fool and his money are easy to part ” hey ho, I might as well stand on my head and tell a few jokes while I’m at it.

In the last post I mentioned I was at Base Camp, I better explain what equipment I’ve got, how I choose it, how I got it, why I think I need it and what I know about how to use it.

I’ve got– iDoStuff.co.uk , my domain! In this domain I’m the all powerful ruler. I must admit I like the word “Domain” its my bit of this universe, I’ve bought the rights to it and I can do what I want with it. It can be really big but for now, vast as I imagine it can be, it’s just a patch of desert lacking  sand and sun. Only a handful of other people know it exists, there’s no roads in and I’m the only one here.  I could have bought a bottle of snake oil and a treasure map at the same time, the man with the banter said I’d be a fool not to.  I’ll follow my DIY ethos and make my own, thank you very much. 

How I choose “iDoStuff”. Easy! just sit down for a couple of hours, think about what the site’s about and come up with a name… then wake up. 

Problem 1. This the first choice that SEO has a hand in, apparently.  If you want too know more about this side of the choice it’s been written about a million times, try a search and spend some time, hours, days, months trawling through the results. My summing up is distilled to – “make the domain name the same as what people are searching for”, thanks for the advice all you regurgitating SEO experts. They don’t mention:

Problem 2. All the good names have gone, either used or parked by speculators. You can buy them of the speculators at inflated prices, use a extension folk wont remember (eg.  .uk.co) or you have to whittle you niche down down down.  If you think skybluepinkwidgetsinlittletown.co.uk will get the traffic or you can afford enough of these to point at a central site then that’s fine.  I wanted something that’s not going to line another persons pockets.

I looked around at what potential competitors where doing, what searches lead to them, what they are called. I went on the domain name search sites trying various ideas and what computer generated alternatives they came up with. Then a weekend with a few beers, a couple of sleeps, everything in the pot at the back of my mind plus a view to what the name can look like. It came together as iDoStuff and the .co.uk was available.

 Even if it’s not ideal for SEO, what would be?  I’m covering so many subject areas. It works on other levels. I had to make a decision, so I did.  Comments and suggestions more than welcome .

How I got it. It’s real easy when you’ve got to money to spend. I went to 123reg as I have an account there with my agbimages.co.uk site, so following a path I’ve been down before. They like all of these sorts of site make it really easy to buy a domain at a good price. They then try up-sell their other services like hosting. I did cock-up slightly here but only when it came to hosting.

Why I need it.  On the practical side I had decided I would need to host my own site and blog, I’ll cover that under hosting. The hosting needs a domain name.  More than that though the name gives me a focus, a flag to rally round in my new land. It will mean more to me than anyone else and help on my motivation front. That sense of ownership and dedication is impossible for me without a name, this could well be something deeply human.

Useing it.RTFM. Its all there, everything you might need to know on the name servers site, blogs, tutorials, info-sites. Do a search and expand your mind with acronyms. Actually it just sits and does nothing until its associated with somewhere, web-space, server, host.

If you’re wondering about the logo based on name, that was from another few hours researching whats called “web 2.0” design. Distilled down, it’s keeping designs simple and building in interactivity. The graphics stuff is an area I’ll not cover Unless Someone Asks, I’m proficient with adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

This is the first post to my new blog,  here goes, the beginning of something big!

My goal is to create a web presence that,

1. Provides valuable information.
2. Plenty of folks will find and read.
3. Will attract quality links that the folks will click on, so I earn a crust for the effort I’ve put in.
4. I will learn a lot from because knowledge is powerful.

So yeah yeah. What’s new about that, me and hundreds of thousands of others wanna make some cash out of the web? 

The difference I’m planning on is, I’m being realistic, I know I’ll need to put a hell of a lot effort in, I’m not after a quick fix, I’m in it for the long term. 

My position at the moment is that, the demand for my services in traditional marketing has taken a big hit with the recession.  My existing clients are looking to me for new solutions, I’m on a journey to find those solutions. 

So I’m here now taking a bold leap in to what  feels at times like a alien world. I  have looked at it through telescope but on the planet surface, I’ve got to learn how to survive and thrive. I’m not alone, there’s plenty of life here but not many rules, evolution is rapid. I’ve heard most of the dinosaurs are extinct, a massive bubble burst and killed them all,  so I’ve got to be careful.  Most of the inhabitants seem very communicative and give sincere but opposing advice. I hear whispered rumours, there entities underground always watching ready with tentacles that can strike at any moment.  Some think they rule this world but revolution bubbles in many regions. If I’m to survive here I’ll have to be open minded, cautious, considered and bold.

Enough of that Sci-Fi satire, although I might come back to it at some time. Here’s a bit about my starting point.

I’ve been a surfer a dabbler, even a designer with traditional “shop front” websites for clients like  Fairport Containers and I’ve built  my own commercial photography site AGB Images.  A couple of blogs  DIY Loft conversion and DIY Sliding Sash Windows have given me chance to see what Adwords is about. I can track sites, paste some HTML, upload to server with FTP and bang my on brick walls of CSS, Flash and break through when I need to.  I might be of the floor and on the bottom rung but I’ve got a hell of long way to go before I can really use these tools effectively.

I’m at the base camp looking up at a massive learning curve. I suppose I could pay for someone to carry me up but my challenge is to experience the journey, make my route, learn from my mistakes. I’ll let you know how I progress, one step at a time.