How I Built This Blog – Part 1
Posted In BloggingIf you are curious to know how I built this blog I will tell you. I bought my hosting through startlogic.com, a web hosting company. After much searching they were the company where I thought you could get the most bang for your buck. I was using ipower.com at first but startlogic.com was cheaper and it was built on the same platform. I pay about $60 a year for my plan and it comes with a domain name. The really good thing about this hosting plan is it comes with a Word Press plugin. So basically you don’t have to install Word Press on your hosting account, it does it for you automatically. Which is great because if your not familiar with databases then I wouldn’t mess with it.
Using Word Press
Once I got that set up I just installed word press in my main directory so all you have to do is type in www.theovernightsite.com and it takes you right to this blog. When you first install wordpress, your webpage will look like this:
In wordpress I was able to change the template of what the site would look like. Another great thing about wordpress is that there is thousands of free templates available on the web you can find. I started by using a template by WebRevolutionary. I found it at SmashingMagazine.com which is a great blog for web developers and web designers. I went to this blog post (100 Excellent Free WordPress Themes) and I downloaded a template called codeblue. Here is what it looked like originally:
From there I was able to manipulate it to look the way the site does now which isn’t so different from the orginal. A lot of my blog is based of the ideas of Darren Rowse of Problogger.net. His blog was the first blog I ever subscribed to and it is so easy to navigate and read that I thought it would be a perfect setup for me. So from here I just changed the logo at the top right corner using photoshop.
What next?
3 Responses
Hi Matt – Great intro to how you go started with your blog. I’m curious as to why you think a blogger would need such a powerful graphics program. Most bloggers crop, resize and do basic edits to images but don’t create original graphics or do fancy editing. Seeing as how Photoshop is so expensive I think bloggers would be better off with a free image editor, such as gimp, irfanview or paint.net
Thanks for the comment. Maybe it’s just the web designer in me that gives me a bias opinion about Photoshop. You’re right that it is expensive but it’s so powerful, you gotta admit. I have never used the other free ones but I’m sure they’re find. I on the other hand like to create really kicking graphics and I know not everyone has the ability. But any program will do for a blogger. Again that’s for the comment Kim!
Hi Matt – Well, that makes sense. I didn’t realize you were a web designer. I use photoshop when designing a new site too but never need it for my blog.