As a writer, hoping to launch a freelance career in earnest, there are some things that must be done. For example, make business cards, find a café that welcomes loitering and create a website. (Arguably, one should also get a small dog, to complete the picture, but I’ll be taking baby steps.)
I began this process by attempting to set up my website. The people at the Apple Store made it seem pretty easy to make a one using their software. So I thought I would give it a try.
After a quick search, I was overjoyed to see that jacquigal.com had not been purchased or used by anyone else and so I bought it. Good.
Now make website. Yes. Right.
Except that the moment I logged into my web hosting account, I felt the rush of confusion and familiar dread of being completely out of my depth, technologically.
It reminded me of the way my parents had marveled when my brother, at the age of seven, was the only one who could figure out how to operate the child-locks on the car. Or, how it’s widely accepted that the fastest way to program an electrical device is to ask a two-year-old.
When I logged into the host site for my domain, jacquigal.com, there were so many things I could not understand, but also a clickable button that said “visit”.
I got excited. Maybe my host site would be taking me on a virtual tour to see my newly purchased domain. I was half expecting an animated realtor to appear, clipboard in hand, and walk me through the empty space, pointing out potential configurations for furniture.
Looking at all these foreign terms and commands available to me, I felt that maybe I was on the cusp. Newly 30, was I was almost too old to “get it”?
I definitely still had it when the internet came around. I remember the first time I was introduced to it. I think it was about 1994.
Back then, it took about five minutes for any simple page to load. Looking at the screen impatiently, I thought maybe at some point this would help my life, but not yet.
I was introduced to the three Ws by my uncle and younger cousins. I remember crowding around their PC, being asked me to name a topic, so they could look it up.
“I don’t know,” I said. “What about frogs?”
So they typed f-r-o-g-s into their Netscape search engine and a bunch of pages came up (very, very slowly).
We clicked on the top link and a rudimentary web page, dedicated to toads slowly uploaded. It had a few pictures, a bit of text. It was totally inferior to the colourful reference books I could borrow from my local library. But it was pretty clear that this was going to develop into something much bigger, and better.
And it did. Until now, I had managed to keep pace with the developments; installing software, deleting cookies and keeping up with my keyboard shortcuts.
But lately, I feel that I’m losing the race. I have to keep reminding myself what RSS is, and I don’t really understand the Google algorithm. Although I keep being told that it’s crucial to the success of my poor unborn website.
Right now, I am torn between shelling out for a web designer who could put me out of my misery (and fast), or pushing on alone, determined to make it happen with Jacqui-power.
So why don’t you check on my progress at jacquigal.com in a few weeks. You’ll probably be able to tell which route I took.
5/03/2007
Becoming a dotcom
As a writer, hoping to launch a freelance career in earnest, there are some things that must be done. For example, make business cards, find a café that welcomes loitering and create a website. (Arguably, one should also get a small dog, to complete the picture, but I’ll be taking baby steps.)
I began this process by attempting to set up my website. The people at the Apple Store made it seem pretty easy to make a one using their software. So I thought I would give it a try.
After a quick search, I was overjoyed to see that jacquigal.com had not been purchased or used by anyone else and so I bought it. Good.
Now make website. Yes. Right.
Except that the moment I logged into my web hosting account, I felt the rush of confusion and familiar dread of being completely out of my depth, technologically.
It reminded me of the way my parents had marveled when my brother, at the age of seven, was the only one who could figure out how to operate the child-locks on the car. Or, how it’s widely accepted that the fastest way to program an electrical device is to ask a two-year-old.
When I logged into the host site for my domain, jacquigal.com, there were so many things I could not understand, but also a clickable button that said “visit”.
I got excited. Maybe my host site would be taking me on a virtual tour to see my newly purchased domain. I was half expecting an animated realtor to appear, clipboard in hand, and walk me through the empty space, pointing out potential configurations for furniture.
Looking at all these foreign terms and commands available to me, I felt that maybe I was on the cusp. Newly 30, was I was almost too old to “get it”?
I definitely still had it when the internet came around. I remember the first time I was introduced to it. I think it was about 1994.
Back then, it took about five minutes for any simple page to load. Looking at the screen impatiently, I thought maybe at some point this would help my life, but not yet.
I was introduced to the three Ws by my uncle and younger cousins. I remember crowding around their PC, being asked me to name a topic, so they could look it up.
“I don’t know,” I said. “What about frogs?”
So they typed f-r-o-g-s into their Netscape search engine and a bunch of pages came up (very, very slowly).
We clicked on the top link and a rudimentary web page, dedicated to toads slowly uploaded. It had a few pictures, a bit of text. It was totally inferior to the colourful reference books I could borrow from my local library. But it was pretty clear that this was going to develop into something much bigger, and better.
And it did. Until now, I had managed to keep pace with the developments; installing software, deleting cookies and keeping up with my keyboard shortcuts.
But lately, I feel that I’m losing the race. I have to keep reminding myself what RSS is, and I don’t really understand the Google algorithm. Although I keep being told that it’s crucial to the success of my poor unborn website.
Right now, I am torn between shelling out for a web designer who could put me out of my misery (and fast), or pushing on alone, determined to make it happen with Jacqui-power.
So why don’t you check on my progress at jacquigal.com in a few weeks. You’ll probably be able to tell which route I took.
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