Tag Archives: technical

Banishing blogging myths: it’s too technical

Posted on Thursday 25 April 2013 by Alice • 0 Comments

Blog tuitionA lot of people don’t start a blog because they see it as something ‘techie’. The other day I spoke to an up and coming young chef who was cooking fabulous food. She had taken wonderful pictures of her culinary creations and she was doing the right thing by posting them onto her Facebook page. This proved she was used to social media and understood the need to publicise her wares.

I told her that because she was happily posting onto Facebook, this didn’t mean she couldn’t do the same in a blog. But the very word ‘blog’ immediately put her defence shields up; it was technical, it commanded website knowledge, it was totally the unknown… and that was the crux of the problem, she didn’t know or understand anything about blogs.

Further questioning quickly established it hadn’t taken her long to get to know Facebook so that she felt easy about popping in to upload a picture or make a comment about her latest supper party she had hosted or tell her friends about the scrumptious wedding cake she had just delivered to the bride’s family.

So I explained to her this is exactly the same with a blog. They are just as user-friendly as the other social networking sites, especially WordPress, which has been refined and simplified over the years to make it as easy as writing in Word. The majority of us use Word almost every day, it is a commonly used platform we all understand, so it stands to reason a content management system like a blog should be made just as easy to use.

I write a nature post every day as part of my blogathon. I go in, write the post and then I’m out again within 15 minutes (these posts are never very long). WordPress has made it as easy as possible to write, edit, upload and compose posts by eliminating all the difficult technical stuff, by creating intuitive methods of achieving what you need to do, placing the methods and buttons required in easy to find places, and taking all the hassle away.

All the hard work has been done behind the scenes so you don’t have to worry about the technical stuff. All you need to do is to click on the appropriate button and everything is done for you! No technicalities required whatsoever! Couldn’t be easier!

I specialise in teaching non-technical people how to create a blog and regularly post in it. I understand that some people are confused by the jargon, bemused by the editing fields, scared to press a button in case it blows the computer up, frightened to go into the ‘unknown’ in this weird and wonderful blog.

But once they have a friendly, helpful, empathetic person by their side helping them with each function and explaining each transaction, they soon pick it up and are blogging away like anything. Quite a few start to predict what comes next and it is me that has to run to keep up with them! That’s brilliant, because I have given them the confidence to try things out for themselves, and that’s what my blogging teaching is all about!

Filed Under: Blogging education, blogging encouragement, Blogging help, blogs and blogging, non-jargon

I don’t mind admitting I’m not technical

Posted on Monday 4 February 2013 by Alice • 0 Comments

Blog buildOf course this all depends on what is meant by ‘technical’. Many of my followers may agree that I am, and the majority of web developers will say I’m definitely not, but this doesn’t, or shouldn’t, undermine me as a WordPress expert.

Once upon a time I was bemused by blogging and how it worked, and I decided to understand it, patiently and steadily, fathoming out the jargon into non-technical language, and taking the same path of the ordinary, everyday person who want to be able to blog. And therefore my ‘WordPress expertise’ has arisen by putting myself into the shoes of the people I want to help, which would not be possible if I was unable to understand how my clients think or what they want to achieve through WordPress.

My simple mantra is if I can’t do it, neither can my clients. If creating a blog becomes too technical, then there’s obviously something wrong and it hasn’t been properly thought through, worked on or developed properly. WordPress prides itself on being easy to use, it has been steadily and carefully improved over the years to gain such an accolade, so if any blogging application fails to perform adequately I’m afraid it will be abandoned in favour of WordPress.

Because I want to use WordPress on the same level as my clients, I therefore develop my WordPress blogsites using the ‘front door’ or admin access that they would use. I very rarely enter via FTP (or the ‘back door’) unless I really need to. I have invested in a CMS theme that can be activated from the front end, and upload and perform everything I need to do from the Dashboard.

Therefore when my clients finally get to take over the keys and move into their new blogsite, everything is there ready and visible to them. Nothing is hidden or customised, and I offer training in every aspect of how to run and keep the blogsite healthy.

Many web developers will be sniggering into their sleeves thinking ‘she hasn’t kept the mystery aside so she can’t make any continuous money out of her clients’. But because I have made everything as transparent as possible, and allowed each blogsite to be fully functional, I can offer my tuition services for the immediate and continuous future, and when the client exceeds their blogsite’s capabilities and wants to extend, hopefully I will be the first point of call.

And again I will explore with the client everything they want to achieve with that extension, making sure that the best facilities and practices are put in place, enabling them to fulfill their marketing strategies or expansion purposes. I will advise on any changes that will improve the navigation, user experience and conversion funnel, whichever may be applicable.

You see, I may not be an expert in web coding, but there is a heck of a lot of other knowledge I can provide, gained from my digital marketing diplomas, that would create a first class blogsite, all available and usable from WordPress’s extensive application library and other facilities on offer. And I think my design capabilities are quite good too!

Filed Under: blogging encouragement, Blogging help, blogs and blogging, non-jargon

Blogging made easier, especially for you

Posted on Friday 4 May 2012 by Alice • 4 Comments
Fairy Blog Mother: blogging help

Click my logo to ask me a question!

The blogging world is generally considered technical, but in reality is not that complex – but then I would say that, wouldn’t I? But to anyone who hasn’t come across it before, or has tried it and found it confusing, not knowing what is going on would cause apprehension.

Over a quarter of a century ago I was in the same position. I was faced with all this jargon, coding, strange symbols and the American language. I still remember when I first starting using Apple Macs back in the 1980s it took me some time to realise that ‘quit’ meant ‘stop’! It was a word I just didn’t use. Blogging is full of American words, so not only do you have to learn how to do it, you need to have it translated as well!

It is also extremely male. I know I have to be careful when I make this statement, but the blog creator was an American called David Winer who “was fiddling with a project and organised a series of entries in a new way”.¹ This resulted in a new form of website that displayed its content in reverse chronological order, so obviously blogging terms reflect his nature at the time.

Many blog webmasters are likely to inform you that blogging is easy and what is the problem? Of course it’s easy for them, they live and breathe websites, coding, HTML and all that sort of thing. But to the more mature, British, female entrepreneur (like myself), suddenly faced with this concept that is totally alien to her, with words she has never seen or heard of before, it seems like it has come from another planet!

Having been there before, done it, seen the film and got the T-shirt, I totally understand my clients’ predicament. That was why the Fairy Blog Mother was formed, to explain all about blogging in a language that ordinary people could understand.

But now I’ve gone a bit further. Blogs have been around for a while now, and lots of extremely clever people have been working hard to improve how they work and to make the process of creating and maintaining them easier. Being the sort of person I am, I have researched into and used these new applications, because I want blogging to be easy. I don’t want to waste my time trying to fathom out how to do certain processes using coding, passwords and the like. All I want to do is to click on a button and have it all done for me!

And this is now possible. This is exactly what I do when I create a new blogsite. I have found the right tools to do this, not only because it makes it easier for me, but also for my clients. I want all my blog users to be able to continue looking after and improving their blogs without having to continuously ask ‘How do you do this?’ With just one click everything happens correctly and immediately with no fuss, bother or confusion.

Unfortunately there are some hosting providers that don’t use this option. This may be OK for the technical types, who know how to wade in, create the appropriate databases and upload WordPress onto their FTP systems, but unless you know what you are doing, the average blogger is still left in the dark staring at a c-panel and scratching their heads in bewilderment.

So if your business comprises of a lot of special know-how and facilities, spare a thought for your clients. If you don’t want to share your expertise to make life easier for them, at least explain it in a way that everyone can understand. Your clients should feel they can come to you and ask any question they like, and the explanation will be jargon-free, simple and relevant. This will ensure they more likely to use you again in the future, and even recommend you to a friend or colleague. What an excellent way to allow your reputation to go before you!

¹ Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel

Filed Under: Blogging help, blogs and blogging, non-jargon, Self-hosted Wordpress blogs

Concentrate on what’s easiest for you

Posted on Friday 20 April 2012 by Alice • 1 Comment
Fairy Blog Mother: blogging help

Click my logo to ask me a question!

There are many ways to accomplish the same things. This is also true for building WordPress blogsites.

At the end of the day, you want to do stuff that is the easiest for you. Being bogged down in complicated procedures when you don’t know what is going on can be confusing, time-consuming and off-putting.

I have a friend who has built up a successful business around printers. He has achieved this by focusing on the areas that bring in the most returns. He doesn’t bother with troublesome and outdated facets of his niche, as the time taken outweighs what he can earn from it. This may be cruel for those who still use those products, but efficiency is the order of the day, and concentrating on the more profitable aspects of his business has brought in the best results.

With WordPress.org blogsites it is the hosting packages that matter. Many hosting companies will say they are compatible with WordPress. In their eyes, if WordPress can be safely installed and used using their system, then they are compatible.

If you are thoroughly technical, then which method you choose to install WordPress probably isn’t an issue. But for me, and a lot of my clients, this could present itself as a problem. We want to use a system that installs WordPress with just one click. We want all the database installation and other technical stuff done for us. We want to be able to upgrade our contents and plugins also with one click. We want reliability and good functional processes, with no worries about how to do it and what to do when it all goes wrong.

That’s why I use a hosting package that uses Fantastico. This application allows me to install WordPress.org into my server with no extraneous functions. I can install WordPress using the traditional methods, but it takes time and requires technical know-how, and if I am going to pass on WordPress blogsites onto my clients, they need to be able to use, upgrade and backup as easily as possible.

This means any hosting package that doesn’t use Fantastico is not considered by me. In this busy world, and with non-technical clients, we have no time available to be battling with technology when the answer has already been created and is available at no extra cost.

So whenever someone approaches me to create a blogsite for them, and says they have already bought a hosting package, my heart often sinks into my boots, as the ‘compatible’ host for WordPress usually is only what I call ‘semi-compatible’, resulting in a waste of time and money. Stick to the systems that work best, which Fantastico certainly does.

Filed Under: blogs and blogging, Self-hosted Wordpress blogs

Explaining technical stuff in ordinary language

Posted on Monday 25 October 2010 by Alice • 0 Comments
Fairy Blog Mother: blogging help

Fairy Blog Mother

Quite a lot of what I do is technical. There was once a time when I didn’t understand what I do, so I had to learn, usually the long and hard way, how to do this technical stuff.

refers to WP.org

Most of the instructions used jargon, and were written for people who were already technical. It infuriated me that, coupled with American words that had no relation to me as a middle-aged British woman, I sometimes didn’t understand any of it. Like most untechnical people, I explained it in words I knew, which the technical people didn’t understand because it wasn’t on their level. I often came away none the wiser, and feeling very stupid for not using the same language or understanding the instructions to solve my problems.

Eventually I began to understand, and put the information to good use. This was done by trial and error, after much swearing, tearing my hair out, threatening to throw the computer out of the window and shouting at my poor family. Now I do my technical stuff without batting an eyelid, but this is because I have done it several times, and much of it has become second nature.

Now it is me that has to explain what I do to others who aren’t technical in a way that they can understand. This is very difficult if I am to avoid using the associated jargon that goes with these technicalities; just because I now understand it, I should realise how baffling it is for others that don’t – after all, I was once there myself! So I use analogies. I explain using everyday words to get my point across, and I also use them to reinforce a point in another way to get my listeners to understand.

For example, I was explaining what FTP is to Dianne, my work colleague, and how I use it with websites. I also tried to explain how I change the appearance of WordPress blogs to suit corporate styles. For Dianne it would normally be uncomprehensible, so I wanted to simplify things so she could understand. Here is my explanation (any technical people reading this may not agree with my analogy, but remember this is not meant for you!):

I consider FTP as a wardrobe, in which you store clothes. The various elements of a website are like the clothes you put in the wardrobe. Each kind of clothing has a different function, whether to cover certain parts of your body, or to keep you warm in the winter or dry on a rainy day.

Some of these clothes can be altered: change of colour, different buttons, lower neckline, etc, so their appearance can change for the better (this is changing the CSS: cascading style sheets). Some clothes benefit from added accessories, like jewellery or a silk cravat, that can be added to enhance the outfit (this is adding in plugins and other applications). Some clothes require different hangers or mothballs to protect them from harm (security against spam or hackers). Some clothes can be acquired easily from your local shopping centre or have to be ordered in from a catalogue (WordPress installation via Fantasico or via creating MySQL and editing the configuration files in WordPress).

Oops, lots of jargon there! But Dianne was quite satisfied with that explanation, which was my main objective. Now I can mention FTP with the full knowledge that Dianne will refer to my analogy to understand this subject further.

Filed Under: blogs and blogging, design makes a difference, Self-hosted Wordpress blogs