Today is only Yesterday’s Tomorrow!

Anybody miss my muse? Attempting to build a website the last few days reminded me of one of my programming classes in college. Maybe you can relate dealing with the tenured faculty member who only gives you 15 minutes of his time and manages to disappear until the last few minutes of class. Your only hope is the student sitting next to you is willing to assist you with questions.

Those situations always made me wonder why I was paying for class and the instructor was getting paid. It seems it should have been the other way-around. Oh well!

No, it wasn’t that bad until I forgot how to access the help forums due to forgetting where to find my email box for the application. After registering again, I still haven’t received the email message with my new password. So, I turned to my best friend- Google and eventually found a solution to the problem.

It turns out the drop-down menu option wasn’t part of the theme I purchased. I found a plug-in to download that should avoid learning how to change the code in the template. It worked for awhile, then; it suddenly stopped working. I didn’t know what the actual problem was so for hours and hours, I deleted pages and rebuilt the menus. I changed relationship fields hoping something would work.

I thought perhaps I changed some setting without understanding the relationship to the database.  

Over and over, I tried to no avail. Searching the forums for hours, I read where it was advised to deactivate all the plug-ins one by one to rule out a plug-in or a theme being updated could cause the failure. Once that didn’t work, I deleted the plug-in for dropdown menus and re-installed it. Bingo- it was fixed.

I recalled all the times at college when you become frustrated and the solution is apparent but you become so fixated on resolving the issue, we become blind. Unable to see the forest through the trees!

After the menus and drop-down menus were built I attempted to test a post on one of my dropdown pages. A (big) problem became apparent when the posts didn’t appear under the sub-page! This was easier to resolve by deleting all the beautiful drop-down pages and rebuilding the pages as categories under the main menu. Walla- works like a charm!

I learned quite a bit and hopefully won’t make the same mistakes again. After working all night and yesterday on the issues I was really frustrated. I give my wife credit for bearing with me. My frustration level was at a peak. Lack of proper sleep didn’t help my cause.

Technology is fun when things go smooth. Letting issues get the best of you certainly doesn’t have to happen. Walk away, relax and take a deep breath. Some sleep always helps too.

After all- Today is only yesterday’s tomorrow!

Until We Meet Again,
 Jim Carver

Author: The Legacy of David A. Wells- The Lexington High School “Band of Gold”
Something Meaningful that Matters!
www.successthroughmusic.com

http://jimcarver.blogspot.com/

Disclaimer- Books and links on this website contain affiliate marketing sources between Jim Carver and third party companies. I only recommend products, brands and businesses that I strongly support. Photos used on this site are used courtesy of the original authors and in no way endorse The Rust Belt Chronicles or my work. Thank you.

Building or Buying a Web Platform?

Do it Yourself?

I’ve spent much of the last few days working with many free WordPress themes for my new website. I was up all night tinkering with Gimp (this poor man’s version of Photoshop) attempting to add another image into a header banner photo. After hours of trying to figure it out I actually was able to add the second image.

My time has also been spent searching for plug-ins to add the capability necessary to have the site look like I’d prefer. Plug-ins are frustrating. After a simple install of the plug-in I’ve discovered several possible problems.

1.   The appearance isn’t what I hoped for.

2.   Many of the free plug-ins did not meet my expectations.

3.   The setup requires keys or details without an easy explanation of where to find the information to continue the setup.

4.   The setup is easy, but to get the full features I prefer, an upgraded plan is available. ($$$)

I received quite a bit of information through Google queries, but the best plug-ins require a subscription (AWeber, ChimpMail).

Another Option or 2

For an actual theme I have been considering using Genesis Framework with one of the StudioPress themes. Of course both products are available as a separate fee.

After realizing the yearly fees add up and my website isn’t profitable yet, I am thinking it’s smarter to purchase a theme that offers as many good plug-in features up-front as possible. Why pay for or have the stress of trying to setup a plug-in if it could be included in the theme. Many of the StudioPress themes have some built-in features.

But which one do I use?

Then it hit me. Why not look at someone else’s website I admire and try to imitate it myself with free features. Jeff Goins website is one I’ve enjoyed with its clean look. That’s how I’ve spent the last couple of days.

The Results

Given free tools to work with and seeing how I don’t build websites from scratch, I was somewhat able to imitate the look of goinswriter.com. Realistically, what I created has nowhere near the professional look of Jeff’s “Tribes” theme created by Martyn Chamberlin.  While I gained some knowledge of working with plug-ins and Gimp (for a header image) it would be easier to purchase the Tribes theme. Of course it requires using Genesis Framework just like the custom StudioPress themes, so there is an additional fee.

One More Choice

I love the look of Michael Hyatt’s website. I recalled Michael was working on developing a new theme, so why not look into it. Michael is scheduled to release the new theme- “Get Noticed” near the end of the first quarter of 2013. Michael has the new theme decked out on his page, it looks busier than Jeff’s page, but; it also has a clean look.

I like the widgets offered on the sidebar and footer. Once again, why pay for a plug-in if you can purchase a theme with the “extras” possibly included. Get Noticed appears to offer the most widgets up-front that I need without paying for yearly add-on subscriptions. Pricing for the new theme has not been mentioned yet.

Conclusion

So my grand experiment has ended and I am still torn between purchasing Tribes or Get Noticed. I am hoping Michael Hyatt’s- Get Noticed theme gets released soon. I may even seek someone to create a custom header. Gimp is still a disaster to work with for me. Photoshop CS6 is available for a trial period, so I could possibly tinker with Photoshop to tweak my own header.

On the other hand, purchasing the products you require minimizes time wasted on building a website in order to to obtain a professional look. Building a platform properly is what will be needed to be successful, so I’ll leave the foundation to the professionals; which allows me the time to build-up the platform.

In the end, it’s the platform and content that matters.

Until We Meet Again,
 Jim Carver

Author: The Legacy of David A. Wells- The Lexington High School “Band of Gold”
Something Meaningful that Matters!
www.successthroughmusic.com

http://jimcarver.blogspot.com/

Disclaimer- Books and links on this website contain affiliate marketing sources between Jim Carver and third party companies. I only recommend products, brands and businesses that I strongly support. Photos used on this site are used courtesy of the original authors and in no way endorse The Rust Belt Chronicles or my work. Thank you.