Post #200
Well, here I am at 200 posts on my blog.
A good friend recently asked me if I’d learned about WordPress lately. WordPress is the content management system (CMS) that is used for this blog.
Aside from coding, plugins, formatting and security, in this blog I’ve learned about longevity. I’ve learned there’s a way to keep information flowing, a way to document, track, organize thoughts and media. Newer site designs put it all on the front page and you can search blog posts, video, images and archives. If you own a linear site then you have to use search techniques such as categories, tags, clouds and unfortunately memory.
Most of the time I remember what month I posted a particular subject and I thank the cloud feature for times when my memory fails me. After all, it’s been six years.
Right now I’m working on another site – not a blog, but more of a tombstone to my journalism career:
www.barbara-ford.com
I needed a place to gather all my relevant clips, photos and media. Turns out that’s a bigger elephant to eat than I thought.
I have a few hundred PDFs from working at the High Timber Times as well as hard copies. Since I no longer have access to the archives at HTT (I asked and the answer was no, not sure why) I thought I’d try and scan in some of the PDFs I need.
Staples is the only place around with a copier that can handle 11 x 14. They know it. They also charge 59 center for each scan. That scan is saved to a hard drive.
The PDFs looked fine on Staples computer but when I looked at them on mine, they had a chiaroscuro feel to them that renders them funky. I’m still trying to figure out how to scan a couple hundred clips. Looking back through those clips, my reaction is damn, I did a lot of work at that newspaper.
Strike out.
I also have two back-up systems for old media: a PC with lots of room and a WD external drive with firewire connector.
The PC is disconnected from the world. I packed it up and away since I’m not using it. During the warmer months it lives in a heavy Tupperware container in my storage unit in Lakewood.
The WD drive is a bigger challenge: New MacAirs don’t have a firewire connection. My old MBP did but I that computer’s gone. I sent off to Amazon for a couple of adaptors and two of them didn’t work. The local tech company salesperson looked at me quizzically when I asked about a firewire adaptor.
Strike out.
I finally found an adaptor that works and was able to get access to my HTT files, the actual folders that held the stories and images. The images I liked I posted in Pages on the website.
My Diary of a Mad Homeowner blog is linear is design. The most recent blog posts on top. My personal website is page-based with parent-child relationship. It’s important to create easy search options and an easy trail to find information. People don’t have much patience for searching a site.
It’s taken many, many hours to set up the new site. I used Photocrati’s theme and it’s OK but uses too many bells and whistles. I use WordFence for security.
I’m not sure why I wanted to set up a website, probably because I put so much work into being a journalist. If the pay was better and there were more opportunities, I’d consider journalism again. I miss talking to people, writing and taking pictures. Even on bad days it was still better than being a fucking secretary.
But that’s another story. Maybe somewhere in the next 100 posts in Diary of a Mad Homeowner.