I stopped dead in my tracks from taking Ayo Awosika’s Medium for Blogging Course when he suggested writers should also put their blogs on a WordPress site. This is not the first time I heard this. Off I went into the wild tech yonder.
A friend had success with hiring technical help online so I researched in Upwork and hired someone highly recommended for creating WordPress sites. It was a Friday. He said he was free on Monday and would finish Friday of the same week, which dragged out to a month and many headaches later.
But it didn’t work properly, nor did it look as up-to-date as I would have liked.
Hand on forehead and major sigh.
Head versus Heart
Learning how to work with Medium as a platform and how to set up and use a WordPress site has my head spinning. There has been such a learning curve.
I just want to focus on writing and not get bogged down with all of this head-stuff. I keep reminding myself that there is a time for everything and I am laying a solid foundation for the future. But we all know how you can calmly rationalize with your head while your heart remains tied up in knots.
Tech Support After Thought
After putting in a ticket, aka a tech request, with my hosting service, it turned out the website creator had mixed content with mixed URL’s on different pages, and the default theme which is Twenty Twenty-One along with the security created formatting issues. I was told that the theme should be able to be more updatable and that would allow the security installation to work properly. Neve or Astra was suggested. After asking several WordPress techs their advice, I chose the Astra theme and its Mountain template as it is easy to customize. Then we started the process of rebuilding.
I wish I knew beforehand what I know now and so this little blog article is for readers who are writers. Maybe that is you.
The Top 5 Lessons for Working with WordPress
- Bluehost is naturally geared to host WordPress sites as it is connected to technical support called WordPress Live also known as Blue Sky. I mistakenly thought it was part of the hosting service but you have to pay monthly which is affordable for the short term, as in setting up the site, at $149/month. I have a notebook in which I listed all I had learned along the way for future reference. Now there were times when I was bounced back and forth from Bluehost to Blue Sky and back again. To be clear, Bluehost addresses hosting issues and Blue Sky addresses WordPress issues.
- Utilize Blue Sky to help you set up your site in an Astra or Neve theme versus a random person on Upwork or Fivr or Freelancer. Blue Sky can screen share, log into the back end on Bluehost if need be, and have accountability through 3-question surveys at the end of each call. Tickets can also be put in to address upper-level issues. Know that each tech can only do 25 minutes per call, though they do go over time a bit if finishing up a piece in progress. Gear up for having to put some time in and also for the fact that not every tech has the same skill set, and I had to surrender to the fact that occasionally I felt like a learning curve myself as a hunt-and-peck scenario would ensue. On weekends, I would use the downtime to review my notes, highlight those I wish to locate for future reference, and make a to-do list for Mondays.
- Once your site is up, Blue Sky has other support options. One-hour chat sessions utilizing screenshots is $49 a month while ticketing issues is $29 per month. Again, because they are connected to Bluehost this is the best option for tech support if needed.
- Have a Gmail email as it connects to a free YouTube account. If you are going to feature videos in a blog or on your website, it’s best to put them on YouTube first. Then when inserting them on your site, it is done from a URL hosted on the YouTube server, not on your website which can slow it down. YouTube also allows you to adjust the settings so ads don’t pop up and so only those with the URL can view your videos. Who knew? I didn’t. Now you do too.
- Mail Chimp interfaces with the WordPress site. Similar to having videos on YouTube, having your emails stored and sent from Mail Chimp protects your email from going over quota. Mail Chimp is the next techno thing I need to learn. YouTube tutorials, here I come.
My new WordPress website resides at www.debraemerson.com. It has taken me months to construct a site with Upwork that was flawed and then to reconstruct the entire site in a new theme with Blue Sky.
The silver linings are threefold.
1. It is a fully functional site with a theme that can be updated and that the SSL or security can be installed and works properly.
2. I learned a lot about how to work with WordPress.
3. The site has my energy all over it because I created it, with the tech support of Word Press Live. It is truly my site.
I wish you well with your WordPress endeavors.
May the words be with you.
Read also on Medium.
article photo: Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash