I think the first and most obvious if you have read my blog thus far, is that I would immediately jump on the $10 self hosting bandwagon, rather than wasting much valuable time and energy literally pulling my hair out trying to figure out wordpress.com basic.

I might also have chosen a different topic for my website. I am honestly interested in the ‘green’ phenomenon, but the fact that a lot of the things we have written about are very scientific based, as opposed to opinion based, we put ourselves at a bit of a disadvantage. 

Having seen only one final product from other classmates, which was focused on reviewing hand-crafted goods, our fatal error was evident. Although, our website does purposely say that we are not a one-stop shop for all information on greening, but rather a ‘learning-curve’ of our own research. We are able to post reviews of green products in Australia, which should be helpful to readers.

We also may have bitten off a bit more than we could chew, claiming to have tips, reviews, events, definitions, articles, links…just everything under the sun basically. We might have been better served by starting smaller, and working our way up so that we were no so overwhelmed toward the end. Again, you live and learn, and as procrastinating and frustrated students, we can only improve next time!

I have learned a lot from this course, mainly about wordpress, but also a little about dreamweaver (which I would have liked to delve into slightly deeper, time permitting).  Having said that, after all the frustration, I do now have a website which, with a little more tweaking, I would be proud to show friends and family (and lecturers) and thats what counts

It’s not wordpress that made me so frustrated, it was just the basic level of wordpress. Selfhosting on wordpress is great, and here is why.

1. Themes. Not a single theme on the basic version of wordpress was really ‘customisable’. Yes you could add a header or change the colour scheme if you are lucky enough to find a theme with those options, but that is just the point. Your options are completely limited by the whims of the theme creator. So for our website, which is entitled “green my bean” (a slight shift from the former, green your bean”, we obviously needed a theme which had green features. This limited our options severely.

2. Look and feel. Once you have decided on a theme (in our case anything with green in it) you are bound to that theme. In other words, if it wants you to display your pages instead of categories along the top, then you are stuck with that. If it doesnt have a custom header then you are out of luck. What you pick is what you get, no mixing and matching.

3. Plugins. CANNOT BE USED ON BASIC WORDPRESS. No way, no how. Having said that I could be proven wrong by a computer whiz who hacks into government files, but for your regular computer user, plugins are a no go on basic wordpress.com. No event calendar, no contact form, no featured content slider.

4. Widgets. Limited at best. Not impressed.

So for someone that has an idea in their head of particular functions they want their website to perform, basic wordpress.com will leave you unsatisfied. 

Having said all of that, wordpress on a selfhosting platform is easy to use, convenient, extemely customisable, and makes me happy If there is anything that you can take away from this blog, I really hope that is it.

Let me start from the beginning. There once was a young, innocent and naive girl named Ciara, who embarked on an epic journey that we will call, “advanced editing for digital media.” She was very excited about this journey, as she knew it would be a learning and growing experience for her.

She eagerly began her quest for online knowledge by reading diligently and putting her mind toward ideas that would be useful along the journey. She came up with a brilliant plan to put into action on her most important obstacle along the journey, a live website. Her ideas were free flowing and exciting, filled with promise and fervor. Well, that might be blowing a bit too much smoke up Ciara’s ass, but we will just say she was excited to set her mind to the project. She teamed up with 3 fellow travellers 2 of whom could not handle the pressure and dropped by the wayside, and then it was down to the final two. Ciara and her partner in crime, Shilpa, went forward with the plans for the website.

They brainstormed for hours a day, putting much thought into the final product. They had big plans.

A little way down the track, the team was faced with a decision to pursue their project with the fairy princess named self hosting, or the wolf in sheeps clothing, called wordpress.com. They were lured by the promise of great things, and the quick and simple substitute that wordpress.com offered.

It was not long before they discovered that wordpress.com had fooled them into making an inferior product. They fought day and night to get their website into shape using the meager tools that wordpress.com ad available, but found themselves working in circles, getting nothing done, and being angry and frustrated by their choice. But it was too late, wordpress.com had the two girls locked away in a dungeon, and guarded by an online dragon.

After much time had passed, the girls were fearing that their website would never reach its full potential, and they would be kept prisoner by wordress for the remainder of their journey. But suddenly, out of nowhere, over the horizon, the girls could see a knight in shining armor galloping over the hill towards the dungeon where they were kept. It was godaddy.com!

“Help!” the girls screamed at the knight, “wordpress.com has locked us up and we cannot escape!”

With a swift swing of his sword, godaddy.com had defeated the wordpress monster, and carried the girls to safety on the other side of the internet. He carried them safely to where the fairy princess selfhosting had been waiting for their arrival. She set them up with a great website that they were proud of, and was proof of their amazing journey.

You can see the final product of their journey here.

THE END

All you need is a credit card and 8$ to your name. Both of which I have, and if this will bring me closer to sanity, then I’m all for it. I want to produce something I am proud of, something that took a little bit of creativity. It is crunch time, but with most of our content written but just waiting to be posted, I want to get this right. The tipping point was the realisation that of 4 websites being built this month as part of a digital editing course, 3 of us were using the same theme. Presenting next week would have been cringeworthy to say the least.

So here I am at godaddy.com. A plethora of options are in front of me, but luckily I know exactly what I’m looking for (for once). Hosting (click down menu)…wordpress and godaddy. That’s what I want/need/am about to get.

7.99 a month, and 2.99 for our domain, we are in business. Fill in few simple details, pay some money, and next thing you know I’m in my ‘hosting control centre’, which feels nothing like an air traffic control centre, but empowering nonetheless. This is all very exciting, but coming to the end of the setup, it turns out I have to wait 24 hours to get a confirmation email that I can use my site! Eek. Procrastination comes back to bite me in the ass.

I also stumbled on this video while on youtube, which would be a great addition to our site. It shows how to make your own cleaning supplies which are organic and earth friendly. The lady talking in the beginning is a bit of a nob (just learned that Australian word), but she makes some good points.

1. reduce
2. reuse
3. recycle

within those categories could be subcategories:

1. water
2. energy
3. plastic
4. food

and even further subcategories:

1. in the home
2. in the garden
3. in the office
4. at school
5. out and about

One site with a similar format is Sustainability Victorie: Resource Smart. I will probably refer to this site quite a bit.

Alternatively, I could adopt the format of Government of WA, Office of Energy. This site is segmented by summer, winter, cooking, cleaning, indoor and outdoor.

I will have a fool around with the site, do some more research and have a bit more of a think about this one.

A crucial part will be the section for beginners to start making a difference in the way they think and act every day. There will be weekly posts on something to incorporate into your routine to help reduce your impact on the environment; going greener, one small step at a time. here are some of things that have been popping up that I can flesh out week by week with examples, links, and helpful hints.

1. Use a drying rack, instead of a dryer. Not only will this save energy, but money too! And you can even save space with this new contraption, the D-rack.

2. Recycle. Not just the usual plastic bottles, cans and newspapers. You can also recycle cooking oil, paints, batteries, nail polish remover, and more. Drop it off or have it picked up, too easy!

3. Stop buying plastic water bottles! Invest $4 in a reusable sport bottle and fill up at home, in the office kitchen, in the bathroom (we are in a first world country, the water is clean!), or drinking fountains. Or use a water filter in  your fridge. You could save over $800 a year, and eliminate the possibility that you may throw the bottle in the rubbish (rather than recycling) while you are out and about.

4. Think ahead. Bring your reusable bags to the grocery store and take away purchased items in your handbag or pocket whenever possible. Check out some reusable bottles, bags and stuff here.

1. There are a great deal of ‘plug ins’ available on WordPress that make my life as a ‘website designer’ a lot easier.Head of Google’s Webspam Department, Matt Cutts, gives some insider tips on WordPress features, as well as how to make novice sites marketable here.If anyone is feeling pro, here are some good tips on how to make your own plug in, read this little step by step gem.
    
2. The main page of WordPress gives you a selection of other recent blog posts. I find this not only entertaining, but valuable in that I get a little snippet of information I never would have seen, heard, or read that day. It may be completely unrelated to my blog, my uni studies, my job, or anything in my life, but I suppose that’s the beauty. A little outside knowledge goes a long way I think.Today I read up on plastic bags, snakes, and footwear. Riveting stuff.
    
3. I think the number one reason to take WordPress over other available options is the sheer ease of use. And when I say ease, I mean a baby could do it. This two year old for example, who can navigate the iPad like a pro, would probably master WordPress by the age of four.

For more of the best WordPress stuff, a site called W-Pazo seems to have a lot.

The first is a blog style site, written by a self-proclaimed amateur of the green lifestyle, but learning new things every day, and has a lot of interesting and useful tips for newbs like herself. She seems quirky and funny, and definitely loyal to her readers (a trait which I am trying to learn as a new blogger myself). Check her out at Go Greener Australia.

I also stumbled upon Tree Hugger; this is an American site, but packed full of interesting goodies for greenies from food to living to jobs to news; it literally has everything that’s good. It’s a dot com site, which leads me to believe that it is backed by a lot of cash, but I wont let that influence my judgement on its value. Visit this one stop shop here.

Another pretty quirky little stop on my search was eco media, a spot for everything environmental in the media. So news, entertainment and environment events, all in one resource. It’s the herald sun online for greenies. Just my cup of tea. Read up here.

Send some links my way if you have anything juicy and green!

Here is the top 5 list according to Ciara*:

1. First and foremost, how the heck do you create a website? Since my knowledge about this is just a baby seedling at this point, I wont delve too deep into this one.  I have limited experience in WordPress, and have only just dabbled in the very basics of Dreamweaver, so for now, this will have ‘to be continued…’
2. Second, how do you decide what the website will be about. Well, I imagine that creativity and individuality will play a large role in this decision. Obviously you will want to pick a topic that you have some expertise in, or at least interests you so that you will have the desire to learn about, and then share your findings on the topic. Also, make sure its something that other people will be interested in so that you have an audience bigger than your mother and girlfriend.
3. Third, where do you find your content? Google. Google Google Google. Everything can and should link to other sites of interest or information, and the best spot to find those sites for me has traditionally been the big G.
4. Who do you want to visit your website? This should be easier once you have decided on content and style. For example, a website which explores the best elementary schools in the state will likely be of interest to parents of elementary age kids, and teachers of elementary age kids (but not necessarily elementary age kids themselves- in fact that is very unlikely).
5. What elements/pages/sections do you want to include in the site? This can be tricky for a novice, but the way I see it, nothing online is set in stone. If you think up elements that seem like a good idea at the time, and just don’t work on the page when it comes down to it, or just crash and burn, then change it! And don’t be afraid to plagiarize! Sorry, that came out wrong. Don’t be afraid to model elements of your site on another site that is kick ass.

For more comprehensive/relevant/interesting things to consider when starting your new website, visit these more credible sites:

Enflexion: for new corporate websites

Gwycon: a good one

Lee baillie: this one is more of an emotional appeal, how to think rather than what to do

*disclaimer: Ciara is a media/publishing student at the University of Melbourne, and does not claim to know/say anything worthwhile about website writing as she is a complete novice herself.