One thing you’ll probably learn about me pretty soon is that I obsess about things. (See, I told you you’d learn it soon.) When there’s something I want to learn about or do I’m pretty much consumed by it all day, every day until I learn everything there is to know, or until something new grabs my interest.
This week my obsession is called www.lazyperfection.com. I’ve spent every spare moment working on the layout and the organization and all of the little details. For instance, see that area on the right side that says “Subscribe to Lazy Perfection”? It took me at least an hour to figure out how to get it just the way I want it. Maybe two. Working on a website can be frustrating. I’m not a professional website designer so I have to search Google for instructions on how to do everything, and if it doesn’t work I don’t always know why. It feels great when I get things to look the way I want them to, though. Then I can go to bed. Usually at 2 AM.
I figure there might be some lazy people out there who would like a blog of their own so I’m gonna help you out a bit and point you to a few websites and products that have helped me out.
First, there are 2 ways you can set up a blog. You can go to blogger.com or wordpress.com and sign up for one there. Almost all the work is done for you. It’s easy, it’s free and you can be up and running within minutes. The second option is to host your own blog like I’ve done here. It’s more complicated but gives you more control and I’m all about control. Below are the basic steps you’ll need to take to set up a self hosted blog.
Step one: get a domain name. I buy my domains from GoDaddy.com. They were the cheapest when I started but there might be something cheaper now. I’ve used them for years. All of my domains are registered there so it’s just easier to have everything in one place. It’ll cost you about $10 to buy a domain name for a year. As I mentioned in my previous post, it takes a lot of trial and error to find an available domain name. Just be patient. You don’t want to end up with something you hate because you were in a hurry.
Step two: while you’re working on finding the right domain name, you can start looking for a template or a theme. I’m using Wordpress as the platform for my blog. (A platform is essentially the software or program that makes the blog work like a blog.) There are others out there but Wordpress is very popular so there are a lot of plugins available, and you can find answers to almost any question with a quick Google search. Wordpress is an Open Source product which means it’s FREE! Free is good. You can download it for free, find themes for free, find plugins for free… I love free. There are plugins and themes that you can buy as well, but there’s enough free stuff out there to keep you busy for years.
Sorry, I got a bit off track there. So, we’re looking for a theme or a template for Wordpress. Here are some places to get you started. These sites cover almost every free Wordpress theme out there but you can search Google if you want to look yourself.
- Best Wordpress Themes – 10 free Wordpress themes that blow many premium themes away
- Smashing Magazine – 100 excellent free Wordpress themes
- Wordpress – Theme viewer
- Pearsonified – this is where I got the theme for this site. He has a couple of free themes as well as Thesis, a new premium theme with excellent support and great customization options.
That should keep you busy today. Tomorrow I’ll tell you how to host your site and bring it live. Exciting stuff I tell you! Almost makes me want to make a new blog so I can do it right along with you!
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