by Tom Shafer
September 24, 2020
Well, there has been quite a bit of activity on my blogsite in the last couple of weeks, with many of you asking lots of great questions, especially those of you who are bloggers or bloggers-to-be, and I will try to respond to as many as I can with this post. Those of you with very specific or technical queries will receive a direct response from me in the coming days.
And, I very much want to thank the many kind comments I have been receiving from you. This being more a labor of love – and certainly not something that is filling my savings account – I appreciate those thoughtful words and praises for my work. Of course, this being a legacy website of sorts, my mission has been to raise some awareness for my father-in-law’s original blog while trying to entertain and inform with my own original writings. Your plaudits indicate that I am somewhat succeeding on both fronts.
And, I apologize for my delay in responding. I am two weeks removed from the second of two total hip replacements, and last week, on top of recuperating from that, I suffered some sort of virus that knocked me down for several days. Unfortunately, I spent most of my time sprawled out on a recliner, suffering and trying to distract myself with books and the boob tube. I am feeling much better – and stronger – now, and am able to sit at my computer so that I can answer you.
So, many of you asked about setting up my blog, how I went about it, and what platform I use. After doing quite a bit of research, I selected bluehost as the host for my site and WordPress as my platform. Many options for both exist out in the ethernet, so you might want to search for combinations that will meet your specific needs. Bluehost and WordPress are quite collegial, which I think is an important consideration for obvious reasons.
Because my blog would be utilizing many different mediums – from writings to pictures to videos to music – I knew that any platform I might choose would need to handle these options easily. WordPress meets and exceeds this standard for me. Now, I have to confess that I experienced many growing pains along the way, but through tutorials and YouTube, I was able to figure out how to navigate each step in the process. And no, you don’t have to be a computer genius to operate WordPress and its various applications. Answers to any questions or problems you may have are always readily available. On the birth day of my blog, it took perhaps three or four hours to have the site up and online with my selected WordPress theme (so you don’t have to create one from scratch), a handful of writings that I had already completed, and approximately fifty pictures in an album set in a widget area (which is not as complicated as it sounds).
Some of you asked about cost, which is always an important consideration. Now, I can only speak to my experience, but I do know that people can spend a lot of money creating their websites. For me, I am spending $14.99 a year for my domain name and right at $7.99 a month for web hosting. You can add lots of bells and whistles (for additional money) with plugins to your platform as needed, but my site as you see it now does not use any of them (ones that cost money anyway). So, for around $110 a year, you can create a blog that looks like mine. There might be cheaper ways to go, but I was looking specifically for a user-friendly platform that could perform the tasks I required. If you want even more (and better) information about all of this, click here for a link to a beginner’s guide for WordPress.
I also had a couple of questions about subscribing to my website. You don’t have to do that at all. Just bookmark signalhillmusings.com in your web browser and tune in when you want. I try to add new writings at least once a week (sometimes more often depending on my muse), and am constantly adding new material to my Shtuff and Me-Me-Me Meme categories.
Several of you “aspiring” writers asked perhaps the most important question, “Just what do I write about?” You definitely want to write what you know. That’s what I do. Because of my extensive travels for pleasure, mostly history and nature related, I have lots of experiences to draw upon – so I write about them. And, I am naturally inquisitive, so I find that I am constantly searching for answers – to even the most mundane questions – so I must write about those. I also love weird stuff – the weirder the better – so you would be disappointed if I didn’t weigh in on all things weird. My loves of music and photography help dress up the writings, creating an experience that is interactive and – I hope – interesting. I have to admit that I do like the look of my website. So for you, draw on your interests first, then expand and stretch the reach of your writing by taking on new topics. You should always consider exploring the explorable!
And those of you who already have established blogs and want to “share” our collective works, please reach out to me again and we can discuss that potentiality. I know that exposure in lots of places can drum up more interest in our writing. I am intrigued by this networking possibility.
Well, I think I addressed all of the larger and more general questions and requests. If I didn’t, I do apologize, so please reach out to me again. I am a teacher at heart (well, and was in real life!) and love sharing information that will help others reach their potential – even while I myself am still learning new and better features in the WordPress platform.
Again, I want to thank you for reaching out with your queries – and even more for your kind compliments. Every writer is seeking some semblance of validation for his or her work – both good and bad – because none of us want to think that we are operating in a vacuum. Or in a vacuum cleaner. Now that would be weird! Thanks again!!
