What Simply Works!

Most of my friends who have computers at home own a blog. It is not surprising though because there are a lot of free hosted online journals nowadays. But for me, nothing beats a self-hosted blog using the awesome platform, WordPress.

At first, it can be intimidating for a non-technical person to dive into the world of self-hosting. But with ample time devoted to research and seeking advice from other bloggers, managing your own blog or website can be a pleasant experience. For web host requirements, Fat Jack Hosting is a reputable company that offers shared, dedicated or private web hosting, 24/7 support and domain registration.

What I like about the company is that they offer CPanel, the best front-end configuration application there is. They are also in partnership with big companies like IBM, Novell, McAfee, among the few. This only shows that customers are in good hands with this hosting company.

When I started blogging in 2004, not many of my peers have their own domain. The free hosting services offered by the likes of Blogger or Bravejournal were enough to share anyone’s thoughts to the world. These days, almost everyone who owns a blog, has their own domain. Aside from the price, both techie and non-techie people prefer the flexibility found in self-hosting. And what better way to start than by doing a bit of research on the ins and outs of hosting.

Webhostinggeeks.com is a good resource to start with. The site has a whole lot of fresh, updated information on domains, web hosting companies, user reviews and web hosting ratings (to name a few). If I had learned about this site at the time I started the groundwork of my websites, I would not have gone through a couple of mistakes in choosing the right web host.

True to the intent of the guys behind EntreCard, I have come to enjoy EC dropping. I have seen a few blog sites I’m interested to re-visit although some were just not visitor-friendly. What do I mean by that?

Well, if the blog site takes minutes to load, maybe due to the tons of widgets posted on the sidebar or the template is just image-heavy with flashing colors that can trigger a migraine (no kidding!), then I’ll be quick to leave the site if I don’t see the EC drop button upfront.

I know there’s a whole gamut of nice plugins and widgets out there but for the love of your visitors and would be readers, please refrain from making your site look like a circus. My blogs are far from the ideal, with my writing leaves much to be desired, but at least I try not to shoo-away my visitors by ‘scaring’ them with how I present my blogs.

Early this week, I started “working” on my EntreCard accounts. I have three blogs enrolled and since I started with EC three months ago, I never actively “dropped” ECs on other blogs. But I won’t let this month pass without clearing my Inbox.

So watch out my dear EC droppers, I’ll be visiting your blogs in the coming days!

For non-technical bloggers like me, it is pretty helpful to bookmark sites that provide reviews, tips and tricks in setting up a website. Web Hosting Geeks do just that. They provide very exhaustive information on hosting reviews, templates, domain names and a lot more.

If you’d like to self-host on a budget, there is page dedicated to the best budget hosting company for the year. The features, host ratings and customer ratings will be very helpful when deciding which company to get.

Also, if you prefer free domain name registration to go with web hosting, there is about 21 companies listed to choose from. I really admire the geeks behind this very helpful website. They really know what they’re talking about!

I wasted two precious hours surfing the Internet for a suitable replacement theme and found zilch. I downloaded at least four and hoped that one would at least meet my requirements but all of them needed major tweaking, which of course I don’t have time to do!

So much for “adding colors” to my supposed new template. I’ll use this neat black and blue theme for now and schedule another day to look for a final theme. Caramba! Why is it so difficult to look for a wordpress template?!?

I have tons of ideas for my new blog. I want it to be a gallery of sorts for my favorite photos where I’ll add my favorite quotes and verses. I will not use it for photo memes or to write personal thoughts.

As soon as I finished my to-do list, I will work on this photogallery slash blog of mine. I’m excited!