I’ve been updating my website… for several days now. Lately, all my ‘free time’ has been spent working on it. It’s something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time, but I've been putting off. I knew that once I got started, I wouldn’t be able to stop until I was happy with it… which is never. I also knew there were things I didn’t like about my site, but didn’t know how to fix without calling GoDaddy. While they give great customer service, which is one of the reasons I use them as my web host, I hate to call and ask what often turns out to be a stupid question…
Unfortunately I’m my own web designer, and when I started my site I had no idea what I was doing. I still don’t, but I’m slowly learning as I go along. Mostly I’m learning to try stuff and see what happens. I still have a lot to learn and often wish I had and IT person, or a teenager, to help me… LOL! I know there must be easier ways to do what I want to do, but I don’t know what they are… BTW, trial and error is very time consuming!
So I finally decided to just change the template. The old one was very plain, which made my site look plain. Don’t ask me what I was thinking when I first chose it, but I’ve hated for the longest time. I’ve wanted to change it, but I was afraid to because I was afraid it mess the whole site up… of course it didn’t… LOL! After I changed the template, I had to change the header… the old one didn’t fit. That meant I had to create a new header in Illustrator, then convert it to a JPEG, which the only way I’ve figured out how to do is to go through Photoshop. That took awhile, since I had to resize it a few times to make it fit without cutting something off. Then I had to do the same thing with the photo. I’m still not completely happy with it, but it’ll work for now. I’ll keep working on it, but I have to have something online.
Then I started changing the layouts of some of the pages… to make them easier to read and be more concise. I added some photos, deleted others, changed text, and then look at the page and changed something else. I completely redid entire blocks to remove leftover spacing. Another thing I’m learning is that making changes, then undoing them can have unintended consequences… like weird spacing.
I got sidetracked by making Google Maps for the site. I started out making one to show my Pet Nanny Service Area. I think it makes more sense than just listing zip codes, or town names. Then I decided to make one for Jesse Page, showing all his favorite places to go in San Diego, with his reviews too.
The navigation bar had been really bugging me. The page tabs moved around when a new page was selected, and sometimes they would just disappear. I tried to figure out how to lock them many times. I tried to find a “help” article on how to do it; I know it’s probably just me, but most “help” articles don’t really help. Finally I found it… the “edit nav” button. It was right there in front of my face the whole time, but I didn’t notice it (actually I saw it and had no idea what it was). Once I selected that button, I was finally able to arrange my tabs in the order I wanted them and they would stay put. Who knew, experiment and learn! And avoid calling customer service at all costs… LOL!
Finally after many hours of making this little change, or replacing that photo, I have a “new website.” Or, at least, a website that looks new… LOL. I’m actually happy with it now. I know I’ll keep making changes here and there and everywhere… especially to the resources and Jesse’s pages, but it’s such an improvement over my “old” site. BTW, any input, ideas, or advice is welcome!
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