As I mentioned last week, all week, I went and took a big step. I moved the web site I had for my business together with the blog “the tax guy” all to the same server. All went well, so far as the blog. Something I contribute 100% to WordPress .com / .org. These are two different things. This blog was at WordPress.com. When I went to my ‘all on one server’ (I won’t plug them, not yet, it is still a work in progress), I needed to use the software from WordPress.org. It was very easy to move all the pages from one to the other. (Although I am not posting over there anymore, that sight will still run, for a while, to make sure everyone makes the move to here.)
I would advise anyone who wants to blog to start at WordPress.com. Of course if you have a http mindset and know all there is to know, WordPress.org is probably more your speed and you probably already know this.
The server I was using for my web site on the other hand, not so cool. The pages/website didn’t make the move, the old server in fact deleted those pages when I announced to them I was moving. I give them credit for waiting until the date I had chosen, but I guess in India, their days are earlier than ours because I lost it all very early in the morning. And there (from what I can figure out) is no hope of getting those back.
At first I was really taken back (pissed off is more like it) by the whole ordeal. I mean over 60 pages of information being viewed over 500 times a week, gone, “poof”. But after a few days I came to realize that this wasn’t such a bad thing. It is, but it isn’t.
It is a bad thing in that there are a lot of people not getting the information I was putting out. Mostly about the stimulus, but also how to’s. I had a price guide for Fair market value of items donated, worksheets to help calculate different things, a buffet of links to more information, and now the reason I started the site was to get the information out, is gone. I Even had started building an Organizer to help everyone prepare for their preparer (or self preparation). A college of mine mentioned that the whole thing really sucked because it was apparent (to him anyways) that I had put a lot of work into the site.
I did do a lot to get that site going. Luckily most everything I have saved as a MS Word file. Most everything.
After I stopped being mad at the whole thing. I realized a few things. First and foremost, the information was there but it was noticeable to me and to others that the site had been built in a hurry. Thoughts jumping, sentence structure not up to par (well, I am human I guess) from an English teachers point of view. A lot of other things that just made it, well, off kilter I think.
So it was a good thing that his all happened in that I can now create a better site, one that is easier to read and a lot easier to navigate. Of course this created a new issue. How to build the site? There is a lot of site building software out there too. I was hoping for a WYSIWYG platform. In my mind a lot easier. Through the week I tried a lot of different kinds. Only one looked like it was workable. (I created the last site using that services provided building tool – my first ever). But I still wasn’t the happiest with it.
Then from my friends at Our Fourpence Worth via Twitter, gave me a few more ideas and I really liked what I saw from their suggestions. (New friends are cool, even better are ones from around where I grew up.) And it was through those suggestions I found Joomla.
A lot of information to read. But I have decided that this is what I would use. I have it now, but I am still very new to it all and I have a lot to learn. The best part of it is there are spectacular step by step directions on the various things to do. Like wordpress it is very spectacular and can grows with the site builder.
The first thing is I need to do is upgrade it. Then the real fun begins. Getting started. Luckily Joomla as a visual tutor to help guide me. I may eventually break down and have to buy the guide book, but I am going to see what I can do with the tools I have available.
The whole process took over a week. Had I found something I liked sooner, I would have had my site up by now, or at least a good portion of it. Instead it is a bit empty. Okay a lot empty. But I feel I have the tool I need to make a quality site, that all will find useful.
I invite you all to follow along as I learn and build. I would also truly welcome your suggestions as this goes along. After all I do it so you can have the information. Follow along at http://lrtaxprep.com. Just don’t expect much in the beginning. I will keep updating my status on the project but not in such length here anymore. Look for the updates to fall at the end of my Passing the week post on Sundays.
© 2008, Bruce Mc. All rights reserved.
