Welcome to Self-Hosting! You Idiot…
Posted on June 28, 2008 - Filed Under Blogging, Just For Fun, adventure, blog gods
Did you ever wish for something, daydream about it and get those nice warm fuzzy feelings at just the thought of having it? Then by some miracle it actually happens and then find yourself in a constant state of Gobsmackedness by how it really goes? Gone are the gossamer images of the perfect life and skipping across the perfect, still lake like a happy little stone.
Welcome to self hosting. Cripes! Until I started the whole self-hosting adventure, I considered myself to be an intelligent person. Quick on my feet, able to multi-task and always prepared with an answer. Well, I can forget all that, now that I own this blog. Suddenly, all of my complaints about Wordpress don’t seem so valid anymore. Truly, I took for granted what they offered and how easy they made it for anyone with an opinion about anything to publish to the world at large.
Are you thinking about self-hosting? Wanting to break out on your own, maybe make a little money, create your own brand? Well, despite all the thousands of Ebooks floating around and the bagillions of cheap hosting companies, it’s not quite as easy as you may think. In fact, without the help of several friends I’d never have gotten this far.
First of all, you have to get a domain name - easy you say? Well maybe…but if you have an even remotely familar name it’s probably taken - Writer Chick dot com for example was taken - so we had to add the talks on the end of it. Not my first choice but my first choice was taken by someone who basically doesn’t really have anything more than an advertising site. Bummer. Then there is the hosting. Too complicated and unconfrontable for me, so once again, Moe to the rescue. I do have the information, sent in an email, but the need for translations is vital and desperately needed.
Then we move onto the software - luckily you can get it from wordpress, so the format is familar and things are similar…but have you heard of Filezilla and ftp files and can you read CSS, edit themes, widgetize themes, download plugins, know you API key code? And does anybody out there know why Google Analytics refuses to work on my blog? Then of course we move onto adsense (which by the way, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense) affiliate programs, adbrite, turtlewax and cake recipes… So much to learn so little time. Once again, without friends to guide me, I’d be suicidal by now.
So, okay by some miracle it gets all set up but after a few days I don’t like the theme, which btw, I spent hours going through thousands of themes to find - and it has some weird little bugs that are making it difficult to do the simple things - like post a video for example, change headers, blah blah. So onto another theme, tweak, tweak, tweak. Nah, not really crazy about that one either. Okay, let’s peruse another thousand themes just for fun. Oh thank god, they created a pretend site where I could fiddle with this stuff - oh crap this theme make the widgets go psychotic, that one just disappeared my blogroll, that’s just butt ugly. Okay, let’s check again. Finally, we find the theme we are looking for, it works like a charm, I can see my blogroll again and people can actually read it. Yay! Still, Google analytics won’t work no matter wtf we do. Screw it. Who needs it? Not, I, apparently.
Oh and by the way, what happened to my page rank? Gone, you say? I’m starting over so Google is making me start over? Ditto Technorati, every blog directory you’ve listed with and also lots of your readers are still going to the old site where you haven’t posted in weeks. Current page rank for new blog N/A - yup, not even a zero yet. Great!!!! I’m really loving this whole self hosting thing, big time. Kind of like being Ebenezer Scrooge at the boarding school around Christmas time. A little lonely. “But I’m still here,” I chirp to massive echoes and no one there. *Whistling* *Playing Solitaire* Helloooooooooooooo?
Hundreds of emails swapped, late night google chats, hours and hours of figuring out how to find that dang plugin you read about 6 months ago. Yep, we’re having fun now.
Okay, so you’re probably wondering why on earth I decided to do this, given all the stuff involved. Well, first, I didn’t realize all of the many things that were involved, which was probably good because I probably wouldn’t have leapt. So, in this case, ignorance was bliss. Though despite all that and the above, I guess the real answer is that I wanted something that was just mine. Maybe that isn’t a good answer but it’s my answer. It’s a hard thing to explain but I suppose like home ownership, sometimes you just want something that is just you through and through, where you are home and nobody and no thing can do anything without your approval or agreement. Where you are free to create anything that your heart desires and where you can make a true reflection of yourself, good, bad or ugly. Despite the frustration, tears, anger and insanity, I don’t regret it. I revel in it. The possiblity for creativity is endless and I revel in that too. True, it’s not for the faint of heart - but it’s an adventure and sometimes that’s only thing that matters.
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17 Responses to “Welcome to Self-Hosting! You Idiot…”
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Change is scary. The “unknown” is scary. Learning new software is like learning a new language. When I started html codes 5 years ago I was intimidated. But slowly it began to click, and I just took off like wild fire. Before I knew it I was mastering new programs and speaking the language.
Be kind to yourself. Anything new is hard at first. You’ll get the hang of it and you and Moe will come up with more gidgets, widgets, and gadgets to add on. It’s never ending but fun at the same time.
Your blog was so unique that it needed it’s OWN domain. For sure! You are doing a great job Annie and it looks really good!
Hey Bella,
Thanks for the encouragement - lol, I really need it. So, how did you learn all that stuff? Did someone teach you or did you just read a bunch of books or…???? I’m thinking I’ll check to see if my local library has Wordpress for Dummies. I don’t suppose it could hoit.
Annie
Been giggling all the way through this Annie cos I know JUST how you feel!
Welcome to my world in December last year! You’re coming ahead in leaps and bounds honey…you KNOW how to upload plugins, activate and configure them, the same with themes..
CSS is like algebra to me..makes no sense, but I get there, and so will you…if someone {anyone} had told me last December that within 6 months i would know enough to set up blogs from scratch, I would have laughed myself senseless! Yet, look what happened..
Yeha, it’s a lot of work and angst, but to know you OWN it? That makes it worthwhile in the long run. Inside 6 months you’ll be changing the admin password because you don’t need me in there anymore…JQ is right..you needed your own domain..your words needed a permanent home and somehere to be themselves, not just one of millions on the dot com..and you have a place that is just “you”…that was the object of the excercise…I smile every time I look at it hon…
You’re gonna be just fine…I’ll be asking you for help inside 12 months, wait and see…
Hey Moe,
Yeah, I remember last year when you first started self hosting - it was quite the roller coaster ride, wasn’t it? And you’re right, I’ll get the hang of it. It’s just the learning curve is so uncomfortable right now that I travel between drunk with confusion and tears of agony. LOL. Yup, it’s mine - that is the one thing that can’t be denied. Thanks, for all your help - and of course you know, whenever you need me, I’m there. No bones about it.
Love
Annie
AHA! yep, see, I know too much - I KNOW what I don’t know! this was fun to read and… let’s not forget that wonderfully inspiring quote that I’m going to butcher here: the mountains are so much sweeter after tredging through the valleys. no pain, no gain. What else? You never appreciate the good until you’ve seen the yuck?
The good and yuck? Yep, that just about covers it. LOL C - you’re about to have some fun yourself with this stuff. Hope your new client is a good one.
Annie
Change is good .. and this, this site was a damn good change for you Annie. I love it, and Im sure your other readers do as well. The possibilities are endless for you now and isn’t that a great feeling!!
Codes are difficult if you dont know what you’re doing, or how to read it, or how to make it work. Most folks don’t know/do codes .. your lucky to have the help you had/have!!
Im still trying to decide whether or not I want to self-host. Do I have that sorta commitment in me? I dont know. We’ll see.
I think you’re doing an excellent job, Annie. I hope a lot of good comes out of this adventure!!
Thanks for the encouragement, Red. I think you might like self hosting. You love blogging and your blogs - true it’s a committment, but the time will come when you may be willing to take the leap. Also too, you can consolidate or host other blogs under your domain - something to consider when you multiple blogs.
Annie
Hi Annie,
I have some of the skills you mention
Several of them I learned in order to make our blog work. Fortunately, I like that sort of thing.
As to Google Analytics, we had the same problem. In our case, the cause was one of our plugins didn’t get along with Google. You can test this by deactivating all of your plugins and checking to see if Analytics starts working. Activate the plugins one at a time, checking Analytics after each, until GA stops again. Then check for updates to that plugin, install the latest version and see if GA works again. If not, then you have to choose between GA and the culprit add on.
As to Google page rank, did you add the plugin, All In One SEO Pack, that I suggested? While I don’t have definitive proof, it does seem to help quite a bit. If you’re not already doing so, run your feeds through FeedBurner. Not only does that help the search engines find you, but they also provide some useful statistics about your subscribers. Finally, which service are you using to notify search engines when you have an update, known as pinging? I suggest Ping-O-Matic. That setting is at the bottom of manage writing.
Any questions?
the Grit
Hey Grit,
For now, I’ve given up on Google Analytics - maybe I’ll take another pass later down the line - after I”ve read Wordpress for Dummies. I did have the All in One SEO but it seemed to be bugged as well, so we got rid of it. And honestly, it hasn’t helped or hurt my page rank as far as I can tell. One day, I’ll have a page rank again - that I can look forward to, right?
Yes, you want to set up a chat about Feedburner? I was there yesterday, as well as previous times and once my eyes glazed over, I left. There is a code in place that pings - can’t remember which - I think it’s the one you are referring to though. Actually, I have several questions - just weird wordpressy glitches and oddities. Any time you would be available, maybe we could do a gmail chat? Just shoot me an email if you’re willing and we’ll work it out. Ironically enough, it’s the stupid little things that drive me up the wall the most. Know what I mean?
Thanks for the tips?
Annie
I’m still trying to figure out wordpress after 8 months. I think I’ll hold off on self hosting.
“but have you heard of Filezilla and ftp files and can you read CSS, edit themes, widgetize themes, download plugins, know you API key code?”
Was that in English? I don’t think so. It’s all computer speak and I haven’t learned the language yet. The crazy thing is I’ve been online for close to 20 years– before Windows, before graphics, when you had to use a gopher to get around. Somewhere along the line technology got ahead of my brain. But that’s OK. I’m happy with where I am. Maybe I’ll decide to catch up some day. Maybe not.
I’m happy it’s working for you even though you have had to work hard to get here. This is a wonderful place to come for a visit.
Oh, I hear you, Joanie - it took me a good year or more to really feel totally comfortable with the freebie Wordpress format. And sure enough, as soon as I felt I had it down pat, they’d go and upgrade and screw up my head again. LOL. I’m all for sticking with what works for a person. For me, I was ready for a change and a bigger challenge. Fortunately, this one is bigger than I expected so I’ll be kept busy for some time to come. Better than playing hopscotch in the street, I expect.
Annie
All that and the result?
A favorite place for many, many folks to come read, laugh, think, sigh and tear up. i love the place and i know you feel the hard work was worth it.
i couldn’t even think about it. i’m barely making it on free-ass wordpress that does everything for you!
Yes, Chica, I do feel the hard work was worth it. I truly do - but I need to bitch about it a bit so I don’t feel so damn assed stupid.
Give yourself a little time - you’ll start thinking about self hosting sooner or later. Much easier to protect your work and copyrights, all kinds of things. If you ever need help with the freebie format though, I’m your girl.
Annie
Believe me, i know the need to vent!
LOL - oh I believe you, I really do.
A
Wow. I did not even know you could host your own site as a blog. It never even accured to me. I didn’t notice it when you switched. Does my ignorance make you feel a lil better? LOL!
Yup, you sure can. In some cases, it seems that self hosted blogs are the ‘new’ websites. And I’m thinking you must have noticed the change somewhere in the back of your mind cuz you’re visiting the new site instead of the old one, right? See, you aren’t igorant at all.
Annie
Your post has me bleeding empathy! I put up a website almost 10 years ago to satisfy that creative and “something of my own” itch. It was so exciting to see how a bit of magical, mystical, cryptic code could make cool things appear on the screen. It was also the stuff of madness to figure out which single misplaced punctuation mark was making the entire display go haywire! Having some idea of what you’re dealing with now, I’ll just sit here and applaud your efforts. Way to go!!
Hey 30,
That ‘misplaced punctuation mark’ comment made me howl. Ain’t that the truth? Unfortunately, at this stage, I’m doing a lot of stuff by proxy (friends helping) and I so long to fly on my own. Yet, I know I’m not even close to being ready to do that. Patience, one of those hard things for me to get a handle on. Although, I am awfully persistent, so I will make myself learn this stuff and hoping, someday looking back, will laugh at how hard I thought it was??? Well, one can dream, can’t one?
Annie
Some say that good URLs are like hot girlfriends- the good ones are all taken, but you can still get a cheap one from overseas.
DT!
Now, that’s a quotable line!
WC
First of all, you are not an idiot.
And secondly, I’m so glad this post ended the way it did.
For all the tweaking and frustration, I too love the fact that my place is MY place.
I’m learning to be happy with a theme for much longer than when I was at wp.com
No longer a theme junkie, I spend more time doing what brought me here in the first place: writing.
I’ve told you time and time again, we have to be patient. Google and Technorati will eventually catch up. Maybe by then we’ll be published?
~m
Well, okay - I’m not a total idiot - but I’m definitely an idiot about this stuff, at least for now. Are you sure you aren’t still a theme junkie? Cuz there are still thousands out there that you maybe haven’t seen yet.
Screw Google and technorati - they’ve now become the status quo and something about that irritates me. You’re right, just focus on the writing and forget the rest.
Annie
HAHHAAHHAHHHAHA! ~wiping tears~ Oh I so feel your pain. And to think I PAID to know so little. OY!
Darla,
And to think I PAID to know so little. OY! This made me howl too. Yup, you got it. Exactly how I feel. LOL.
Annie
i’ll leave the self hosting to you guys. you and smoke and Mum are doing some awesome stuff. i can’t even figure out how to do a signature
Hey Reggie!
Probably the reason you can’t figure out how to do a signature is because it requires a plugin - something the freebie wordpress blogs don’t get as an option. There might be a widget out there that can do it for you though - when you have time, check around. As long as the code isn’t javacript - then wordpress will probably let you put it on your blog.
Annie
i think you have done an awesome job with the self hosting and really secretly deep down doesn’t it give you a thrill knowing you did it yourself. i remember when i first started blogging, gosh … five !!! years ago this month, i was handcoding and tearing my hair out trying to figure out html but it gets much easier as you go
and the bald spots grow in, lol …
Hey D!
Well, actually, I had a lot of help - but yeah it does give me a bit of thrill. The coding, the pulling the hair out - yes, I can definitely relate. LOL.
Annie
Hi Annie,
You have my email address. Ask away.
The Grit
Okay, thanks, Grit. I just need to get my list of questions together. Which could take a while.
Annie
I love this new place Annie, and admit that I have been lurking a bit.
Self hosting rocks. I jumped straight in at the deep end in February. I had never had a blog before but heard some horror stories of moving more established blogs over and decided that I didn’t want any of that to deal with. I was lucky cause I had someone to set my blog up for me pretty much. But the rest I am learning from trial and error.
Check your fear of the unknown at the door, sit down in front of our blog and go for it. Go into your theme editor, copy it all and paste into Notepad and save it so you know which part of the theme it is. Then go in and change things and see what it does. You know that you have the original that you saved in Notepad and that’s your backup.
Usually people fear what they don’t know and with computers its not knowing how far they can go before they “break” something. So backup everything and then you know you don’t have to worry as much.
And you will learn, it may take longer than you would like it to, but it will happen. One day you will have a conversation with someone and start saying things that a few months before you had no idea about.
Be patient with yourself too. You’ll get there and the new place is looking fantastic.
Gawd, this has turned into an essay. One other thing, every couple of weeks go and do a post over at the old place linking to the new one. I Have heard that this can make a difference with Google PR too.
Oh and let me know if you want any help setting up Feedburner. That was the first thing that I did on my own and it worked
Hey Gem!
Wow, you’ve give me so many ideas and suggestions here. Actually Moe did set up a place where I could mess with things and I like your suggestion of wreaking havoc with stuff just to see what it will do. I may give that a whirl.
And I think you were smart to just go straight to self hosting - though when I started out blogging I figured it would just be a little segue for me which I would grow bored of in a few months. I didn’t realize I’d still be doing it after two years. I have learned a few things and sometimes it’s exciting and challenging and other times I just feel overwhelmed. This weekend, I’m reading a tome about html and css. That should be exciting reading. LOL.
I do like that idea of posting something at the old place every couple of weeks though, it’s something to consider. Thanks for coming out of the shadows and saying, hey. Good to see you here.