Website coding and learning backwards

Well, most of you have probably had a chance to check out my site's new look. (If you haven't yet, please go take a look!) I am prouder than I probably have a right to be, partly because I did nearly all of it myself.

Basically, I took the free template that this blog uses and changed everything: the background color and graphics, the header layout and graphics, the width, the fonts, etc. And although it took me most of a day, I'm proud to say I did it myself...and it was fun.

The next day, I also changed it even more to make a site for selling my doll stringing instructions.

For me, coding is all about being able to learn backwards. The only HTML I ever learned frontwards was the simple stuff: codes for paragraph, font, and special appearances. The rest I've all learned by taking templates (free myspace layouts and blog templates) and a lot of Google searches and trial-and-error. A little bit of coding knowledge (and the ability to Google) has enabled me to figure out what various coding means.

It's done me pretty well, I'd say.

Blog changes

I was sick of my Blogger cookie-cutter blog template, so I spent a good deal of time last night and today looking for a free Blogger template. I didn't like most of what I found, but I fell in love with this one!

It took a while to put all my changes into the blog, but I finally finished it. The only thing I can't figure out is how to get the number of comments to show up at the end of each post - I managed to modify the template to show the comments when you click on individual posts, but the code I copied and pasted from the old template didn't fix the main-page problem.

(Yes, I cheat when I code. I know just enough to look through the template code, locate the code that controls a certain feature, and copy and paste it into my new template. I designed my myspace pages like that, too.)

Anyway, when I don't have deadlines to neglect I'll try to come back and fix the comment problem. I also intend to replace the header - the part that says the blog title - with a custom jpeg. The hearts are just too girly for me...

In other news, I'm also having my logo redone. Stay tuned to see the new looks as they roll out! I'm in makeover mood!!!

Website changes

If you browse through my website, you may notice some changes have been made. For one thing, I got rid of my Guestbook and Getting Personal pages. This is partly because the guestbook was a Doteasy feature, and since I transferred hosting it wasn't going to work anymore. I'm sincerely sorry that I lost all of those delightful comments that people left, particularly after my article ran in Writers Weekly, but I'm afraid it couldn't be helped.

The reason why the Getting Personal page is gone, and why I didn't look for a way to create a new guestbook, is because I want to make my site a little more business-oriented. I rewrote a lot of the copy to deliver a little more of a sales push, deleted some of the superfluous stuff, and eliminated the poorer examples of my work from my portfolio.

My contact forms have also been replaced, since that was also a Doteasy feature. I'm trying out a free outside service to see how I like it - if you feel like sending me a message, I'd love to know what you think of the system!

Back at last: My domain transfer experience

After several days of being out of commission, my site is back! The domain transfer is complete, and my site is now hosted by GoDaddy instead of Doteasy. However, the situation isn't yet resolved - and the story will probably be quite interesting for anyone who is contemplating a domain transfer themselves.

Quite frankly, I hope I never have to do that again. It was a miserable experience. The GoDaddy site said the transfer would take 5 to 7 days, and they were right - sort of. Here's how it happened:

Day 1: I put in my order with GoDaddy and initiated the transfer. Later that afternoon, I discovered - oops! - I needed my website authorization code in order to truly start the process! I emailed Doteasy, my original hosting provider, to get it. Unfortunately, although GoDaddy has a very prompt customer service team, Doteasy's sucks.

I also manage to set up my outgoing mail to go through GoDaddy's server, thereby fixing my blacklisting problem.

Day 2: I finally get my authorization code from Doteasy and give it to GoDaddy. In the meantime, I'm trying to find out how to set up my email to go through GoDaddy before the transfer takes place. Somewhere around Day 2 or Day 3, I requested that Doteasy change the MX and CNAME records on my site so that I can start using my GoDaddy email accounts without any ridiculous interruption of service. You'll see in a minute how that turned out.

Day 3: I think this is about when my site goes down. It's still being hosted by Doteasy, since the transfer hasn't completed, and my traffic quota has been exceeded. Right about now I think it pertinent to mention that for about half of what my Doteasy hosting cost, GoDaddy gives me 125 times the traffic quota I was getting.

Day 4: Doteasy sends me a form email saying that they've received a request to transfer my domain. The letter says to contact them if the request is not genuine; otherwise they'll approve the transfer in three days. If I might point out two things here: 1) I'd told them on Day 1 that I was transferring my domain, so this ridiculous form letter wasn't even necessary, and 2) it took them three days to send out the form letter after GoDaddy contacted them for approval.

Also on this day, I find out that emails others send to me are bouncing back intermittently. I contact GoDaddy, who I believed was now handling my email, to find out what the problem is.

Day 6: Email still problematic. I find out from GoDaddy that my MX and CNAME records have in fact not been changed. I email Doteasy regarding the problem.

Day 7: Doteasy tells me that because my hosting plan went over, my email was reverting back to the original settings. They resubmit the record changes.

Later this night (Monday night), my email fails completely. I can send email out, but nothing gets in at all. This time, I think it's GoDaddy's fault - even though the MX records have been changed, my email accounts at GoDaddy still say "awaiting MX."

I also find out that my website is back up, even though the transfer hasn't completed. I think it's because my monthly quota at Doteasy was being reset.

Several hours later (about 2am Tuesday morning) the transfer completes. I spend half the freaking night uploading my site to the new servers, as well as working on changes to the site (which I haven't posted yet, not having finished them).

Email still problematic.

The end... Well, not quite. I'm still waiting (rather impatiently) for the email problem to be fixed. (Hel-lo... it's my livelihood, people!!!) I'm also still working on the changes to the site, which I hope to post later this week. And, having neglected my work all evening, I'm finally about to go to bed.

I'm transferring my website!

Well, I've had it with Doteasy. I received an email from them this morning stating that they thought Hotmail had fixed the problem. Well, for one, no they haven't - I checked - and two, it's not Hotmail's problem... It's Doteasy's problem, as it's more than just Hotmail blocking my emails!!!

That was the final straw for me. Instead of giving it until the end of the week, as I had originally planned, I initiated the transfer to GoDaddy.com. The prices are better (I got a whole year of hosting, two years of registration, and an upgraded email plan for about what six months of hosting alone would cost me at Doteasy). Best of all, according to what they told me they have a system in place to help prevent their servers from getting blacklisted, and to correct the problem quickly if it should occur.

With the transfer initiated, it's important to warn you that my website may go down temporarily sometime in the next five days. The transfer shouldn't take more than five days, however, and I will be monitoring the situation closely so that I can upload my website to the new server immediately upon completion of the transfer.

Once my website is transferred, it may take me a few days to reconfigure some of the special web forms that Doteasy provided, such as the contact forms. (Unfortunately, I'll lose the entire guestbook.) If anyone needs to contact me during that time, they can reach me at KatharineSwan -at- Yahoo.com.

See you on the other side!

Website hosting woes

I'm rather fed up with my website hosting company, Doteasy. I've had more email problems with them than I think I should have with a service I'm paying good money for.

For the last few months, I've noticed my emails are frequently getting flagged as spam. Now, when I'm selling something on ebay, there's an alternative way for the recipient to contact me (and let me know the problem), but it worries me that prospective clients may simply never be receiving my resumes.

I emailed Doteasy about the problem, and they basically told me that I should set up my email to go through my ISP's SMTP server. Excuse me? I'm paying you to provide me with email access... Now make it work!

I've been dealing with Doteasy for a couple of days now, and I haven't received a response since that initial one. In the meantime, I contacted MSN and AOL to find out whether my problem is because Doteasy's servers are blacklisted, or because my domain had a private registration. (I have since turned off the private registration, because both MSN and AOL's sites say that they will automatically block any email with a private registration.) MSN got back to me tonight with a message to give to my email provider. So, again, I am waiting on Doteasy to take the initiative and do their freaking job.

This might not be such an irritation for me if I hadn't have had the problem with Doteasy before. It used to be that my emails were bouncing back to me from Yahoo and Comcast email addresses. That problem was fixed, but only after several annoying months of difficulties communicating with clients.

My patience is wearing rather thin. Because my business is conducted primarily via email, I simply can't afford to have problems contacting people in that manner. So yesterday I started looking into alternative website hosting services. I found some that are less expensive than Doteasy, but realistically, that is not my first concern: I want (and need) my hosting company to be reliable.

Whether not I transfer my website will depend on how Doteasy handles the situation now that I've relayed MSN's customer service message to them. I'll keep you posted. If I have to transfer my website, hopefully it won't be down for very long.

Livre du Jour and other changes

For several of months now, I've kept a blog on myspace reviewing my "Book of the Day" - whatever I'm currently reading. As myspace is quickly losing its appeal to me, I decided to transfer my blog to Blogger. Livre du Jour will tell you what I'm currently reading, what I think of it so far, and provide you with a link in case you're interested in checking it out for yourself. If you like what you see, be sure to check back frequently - I tend to finish a book every 2-3 days, sometimes less.

I've also made a few changes to my existing blogs. I've put a picture and link in the sidebar of each so that you can see what I'm reading now without visiting Livre du Jour, if you'd prefer not to. (Of course, to see what I have to say about it you'll have to visit anyway.) Also, I'm going to try out the Blogger search banners - I don't usually care for them, but as large as some of my blogs have gotten, I think it might be convenient for my visitors to be able to search for a specific post.

I'd love to hear from you - please comment and let me know what you think about my new changes!

A new standard of site traffic

My article running in Writers Weekly has introduced a new standard of site traffic. With exception of the first few days after my article ran, during which my site traffic went through the roof, since the article's publication I have maintained a steady rate of about 300 hits on my site each day. In fact, although it's too early to tell for sure just yet, I may be forced to upgrade my traffic allowance yet again!

If I upgrade my traffic allowance to the next level, I will be forced to make an important decision: whether to upgrade my hosting plan as well. An upgraded hosting plan will require re-uploading my entire website, including all of the images and other miscellaneous files; an upgraded hosting plan will also mean having to learn new features or having a bunch of features I will never use. However, if I simply upgrade my traffic and storage allowances, I will be paying the same amount of money as I would for the upgraded hosting plan.

Definitely something to think about...

Website traffic record and another snowstorm

I knew yesterday's traffic would set a record, but I didn't know how high that record will be. Goodness only knows how long it will take me to set a new record: yesterday I had 1,509 hits on my website, with 343 unique visitors. (In other words, my visitors were looking at a lot more than just one page.) I checked my Active Meter log occasionally throughout the day, and for the most part the traffic seemed to be coming from my article on Writers Weekly, although a few visitors are still coming over from Deborah Ng's End of Year Blog Plug.

Today looks like it could be similar: I already have 286 hits, with 81 unique visitors.

In other news, it looks like we're in for another big snowstorm here. The weather is predicting 12 to 18 inches, although they've been vacillating on when they think the bulk of it will hit. This time they started talking about it days in advance, urging everyone to stock up on food and prepare for several days indoors, and as a result the grocery stores were practically taken by force last night. In any case, it sounds like this storm won't be quite as bad, but still a rather major storm right on the heels of the last one. The streets hadn't even cleared up yet, so I don't anticipate going anywhere again for a few days.

Oh, I do love getting snowed in!

Website upgrade announcement

My website should not fail now, as I decided to upgrade my account after all. My decision was due to a combination of things: Deborah Ng's End of Year Blog Plug, which links to this blog and Reading For Writers, and the appearance of my article in this week's Writers Weekly. As a result of these two events, my daily traffic has gone through the roof - and I would hardly want my website to fail when I'm attracting so much interest!

Hopefully, the increased level of traffic will continue (hint, hint).

Web tools for writers: Website stats

For some time now, I've been meaning to blog about a handy new tool I found: website stats.

I started out a couple of months ago by looking for a way to track visitors to my myspace page. I already had a counter on my main website page, which was provided for me by Doteasy, but I hadn't yet discovered anything else. However, my search for a tracking device for my myspace page eventually led me to look for a free website stats tool for my website.

There are a lot of free counters available on the Internet, but not as many services that offer full website statistics. Moreover, some of the services that do offer full website stats suck. Finally, though, I found a couple that I liked, and tried both.

OneStatFree.com was one of the services I tried. I liked it at first, as the reports that it gives are pretty detailed and pretty easy to navigate. However, I ended up passing it over for a better, more convenient free service.

Active Meter is a free website stats service that is superior to anything else I found. For one thing, it is very convenient: it allows you to choose both your own name and password (whereas OneStatFree.com assigned you a user number, which is much more difficult to remember). For another, you can remain signed into your account on your computer, which makes Active Meter very easy to use.

Another benefit to Active Meter is that you can have two separate "projects" under the same free account. (Any more than two requires an upgrade to a paid account, which I think - at $9.99 a month - is really expensive. However, the free one is just the right price...) Also, Active Meter allows you to export the reports on your account as a Excel, XML, or CSV file. This makes Active Meter not only a very convenient and user-friendly tool, but also very useful for anyone who wants to know their website stats.

And finally, Active Meter offers a great deal of privacy to its users. You can choose not to have anything appear on your web pages - not a counter, not a logo, nothing that your visitors can see. Also, your website stats are not available to everyone (as some free accounts are) - Active Meter requires your user name and password in order to access your account.

There are downfalls, of course. For one thing, Active Meter's free account only holds information on 100 hits at a time. Because my website gets anywhere from 50 to 100 hits every day, it means I have to check my account daily if I want to see any useful information about my visitors, such as what pages they are coming to my website from, and what keywords my visitors use to find me. Other information that I can get about my visitors includes their location (right down to the city), their ISP address, and basic information about their computer system. The basic information - such as how many hits I get each day, how many returning visitors, etc. - does not seem to be subject to log size restrictions.

So what's important about this information? Well, first of all, it tells me who is linking to my pages: Active Meter tells me my visitors' referring pages. I try to be relatively active in the online freelancing community, and my website stats reflect this.

Another advantage to having this information is being able to tell - from the keyword searches my visitors use to find me - what information they are looking for. For instance, I was able to verify that my wedding blog is quite popular, even though for a while I wasn't updating it very recently, and that a lot of my visitors to that blog get there from the search engines. Armed with that information, I made more efforts to update it, and added some posts with links to sites that I've found helpful in my own research... And whaddya know? My little wedding blog has suddenly made it to the top of the second page when you Google the keywords 1920s wedding!

Website stats also give me a terrific advantage in my job search. For example, when I send out a bunch of resumes, I can tell who actually looks at my profile by following the link contained in my email. (Unless the link is clicked on within a web browser type of email, such as a hotmail account, Active Meter reports these clicks as "Referrer not available," same as it does when visitors use a favorites link. One of the advantages of OneStatFree.com was that it specifically noted when the page was accessed from a saved favorites list.) I can also tell how many pages they viewed, which pages they viewed, how long they spent looking at my portfolio, etc.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that as a writer, you have no need for Internet gadgets such as website stats. Trust me - a good, free website stats account is one of the most useful website tools at your disposal!

Website failure possible

If you follow my blog or read my website regularly, please be warned: it may go down for a few days here at the end of December. I'm extremely close to exceeding my monthly traffic quota. However, I don't want to upgrade just because one month goes over - I did that once, about a year ago, when I exceeded my traffic quote, and never even came close to needing the higher traffic allowance again.

Of course, there is always the possibility that I'm just getting more traffic to my site these days. It's actually a pretty distinct possibility, since I've noticed the number of daily hits of gone up quite a bit. Therefore, if my traffic starts to go over the quota again soon, I will be sure to upgrade my account at that point.

In any case, if my website goes down this month, it should only be until the end of December.