Resources

For those of you who are interested in starting a web log, commonly called a blog, the SpasticSurgeon has a few recommendations. Starting a blog can be a daunting task for a beginner, but alas, plenty of help can be found in blog forums and general web searching. Once you get started, it really is fun!

Don’t know what to blog about? Blog things that interest you, it’s that simple. After 28 years of working in an operating room, I figured it was about time I blogged about some of the amusing things that went on behind the closed doors of the OR. So, I invented SpasticSurgeon.com. If you’re a sports nut, blog about your local or favorite sports team. If you enjoy animals, blog about your pet. Like to garden, then blog about that, take pictures and show off your gardening skills. People love to look at pictures! The possibilities are endless, just use your imagination. I use WordPress blogging stuff, it’s the most widely accepted blogging platform.

Once you get your blog up and running, invite friends, neighbors, co-workers, fellow students to visit and write a post.

“Ok, now how much is all this going to cost?” you ask. Your initial cost will vary, but a good estimate will be somewhere between $100 to $200. It could be lower depending on the web hosting package and should you decide to use a free wordpress theme.

You don’t need to make entries into your blog everyday or even every other day, but it’s a good idea to post something new at least 2 or 3 times a week.

Now that you know you can start a blog, here are a few resources to help you get started. I’ve got some recommendations on domain name purchasing, web hosting and blogging software to help.

Secure a domain name. Try to come up with a descriptive domain name. If your blog is about brown dogs, search for something like..TheBrownDogblog.com. Or, if your blog is about fly fishing…MyFlyFishingStories.com or JimsFlyFishingStories. Have several back up names just in case your primary name is already taken.

Here is the domain registrar that I use, you can do a domain name search and purchase your domain name all in one swoop. Note of caution: The only add-on service I recommend is the “whois privacy”, this keeps your personal info like name, home address out of the domain database “who owns this domain”. This add-on service may cost an extra dollar or two but is well worth it. Also, I would recommend purchasing a domain name separately and not from your web hosting company. Reason being, if you purchase a domain name thru your web hosting company, they “own” the domain, not you, and in the future, it is hard to get the domain name transferred if you decide to go with another hosting company on down the road. Just a friendly suggestion.

Purchase web hosting. Now, in all honesty, there are about a thousand and one web hosting companies available on the internet. These are the ones I personally use or have used in the past. Each one is a bit different, offer different hosting packages and prices vary. Purchasing a years worth of hosting is cheaper than purchasing a month by month plan, but if you’re not sure about this blogging stuff, then go with the monthly. Some offer a free domain name with purchase, some don’t. My suggestion is to check them all out and see which one fits your blogging plans and checkbook best. When it comes to web hosting, cheaper is definitely not better. All the hosting sites listed below offer easy install of basic wordpress blogging software. If you would like to try out blogging but just aren’t sure about how to go about it all, contact the SpasticSurgeon using my contact link at the bottom of this page, send me an email and I can arrange a 3 or 6 month trial for only $10 a month. If, after the trial period, you enjoy your blog and want to extend the terms, then let me know. On the other hand, if you are part of the .053% of the population that can’t blog, let me know that too and there is no further obligation, none, nadda, zero.

WordPress blogging theme software. Choosing a blogging software theme is the last step in setting up your blog. Just like the web hosting, each one has different features. They all have “learning curves”. What I mean by that is, if you’re new to blogging, each one will at first look Greek. The good part is, as you browse each software site, they have great examples of demo sites. These demo sites are what your blog can look like. My suggestion to decreasing that “learning curve”. Each of the web site hosts mentioned above have a feature called ‘Fantastico’ and/or ‘Simple Scripts’ that will install a simple default WordPress blog theme. Install that default theme, activate it, and then play around with it. Don’t worry about messing it up or breaking it, cause “breaking it…is hard to do…”, sorry, broke into a little song there. Anyway, practice making posts and pages. It’s real easy to do. If you need help in any way, just email me or post the question here on this blog as a comment to this post.

A word or two about ‘Plugins’, those little add ons that make WordPress so good. These little babies are files you can upload into your plugins directory. They normally perform a single task, you can have visitor polls, you can tweak your search engine optimization, add Google adsense to your blog (to make a little money), just thousands of things you can do to make your blog better, more informative and more unique. Again, if you’re new to blogging don’t worry about plugins just quite yet.

Below are some of the premium WordPress themes I use and recommend. The Thesis theme is a good beginner theme to get started with, it’s a simple design and concept, but yet as you get more comfortable with it, the customization possibilities are endless. Plus Thesis has a fantastic forum where you can go and ask questions and get help. My second recommendation for a premium WordPress theme is StudioPress. I’ve purchased their Revolution theme and is a really great looking theme. If you’re a beginner blogger, you may want to stick with Thesis Theme as the StudioPress themes are a bit more involved. WooThemes and Elegant are both really good themes, I currently use 2 WooTheme blogs and one Elegant theme blog. Like StudioPress, they are a bit more involved, but if you have the patience to read, experiment and learn, the theme selections are fantastic.

It’s a good idea to get an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) software. I personally use Filezilla. You can download a free copy and install it on your computer. This software speeds up the uploading of files process from your computer to your host.

Now here is something you don’t hear everyday. If you need some help in any form or fashion setting up a blog, just email me or post the question as a comment to this thread and I’ll try to help as much as I can. I’m certainly no blogging expert, but will help with any questions you might have.

Ok, lets recap:

  • Decide what you want to blog about.
  • Come up with several domain names.
  • Search and purchase the domain names.
  • Browse the above web hosting companies and choose the hosting plan that fits your needs.
  • Once web hosting is secured, transfer your domain to your web host.
  • Install the basic wordpress files onto your site thru either Fantastico or SimpleScripts.
  • If you’ve purchased a premium wordpress theme, install and activate it.
  • Have fun blogging.

Now, of course, this is a very simplistic list, and there are other little steps along the way, but hopefully this should be enough to give you an idea. Again, if you need any help with any step along the way, feel free to ask, I would love to help.

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