At the same time as working on developing this website I have been building another site (shawneetrace.com) for the homeowner association to which I belong. The shawneetrace.com website is a rebirth of a previous website that was done by one of the association members. The former site was developed with FrontPage and certainly met the needs of the organization. However, since I will be taking over the webmaster duties I was looking for another web development tool.

While I did take a web development course in college my skills are a bit rusty. Not only that but the progression of web development since I took that course has changed dramatically. Therefore, I was looking for a web development tool that was inexpensive and easy to use. I knew that open source was the way to go. Based on my research I decided that an open source content management system (CMS)was what I wanted. Although, I have to admit at the time I did not completely understand what a CMS was just that it made building web sites easier.  Joomla and Drupal are the two dominate open source content management systems. In my opinion, Joomla seems to have a larger user and development community so it was the tool I chose.

Many web hosts provide website software that can easily be installed via your control panel. This makes it easier to ensure the files are in the correct folder and any database associated with the software is easily setup. In my case, Dreamhost is my host provider. I have a separate domain registered that I use to test differnt ideas on. Setting up Joomla through my control panel on Dreamhost was very easy. The web host for shawneetrace.com is GoDaddy. It was also easy to setup Joomla via the GoDaddy control panel but I prefer Dreamhost.

According to the Joomla website "Joomla is an award-winning content management system (CMS), which enables you to build Web sites and powerful online applications." It took me a couple of days to understand the basics of Joomla and how it is organized. Now I feel that I could easily build basic webpages. More importantly I now have a greater understanding of just some of the potential of a CMS. In the case of shawneetrace.com one of the past issues was the means by which content was updated. Previously all content was sent to the webmaster to be added to the website. One of the benefits of a CMS is that it allows different users to update different sections of the site. More importantly, the users don't have to understand web development to add content. In our case the treasurer could update a financial information page or the secretary could easily post the minutes from a meeting. Empowering people to add the content own their terms reduces the number of people required to get content updated.

One other important element I learned in developing these last few web pages is the importance of graphics. This is true not only within indivual posts but within a website itself. Almost all professional websites have some type of logo or image at the top. A well developed website with images may provide the basic content need to does not present itself in a professional manner. It is kind of like mowing your lawn without doing any edging. Mowing will provide the basic look you want but edging says I have a lot of pride in the presentation I present.

Setting up my own blog was very easy to accomplish but I wanted to share some of the tools I used. The first thing is to decide what to call your blog. A unique but short name will help allow people to easily remember your site. If your trying to promote yourself and your career I would start a blog using you own name. In my case I wanted to blog about numerous ideas that come to mind so I thought it was best to register my own name. As I become more experienced in blogging I am hoping that this general blog will lead me into blogging on a specific topics of interest to me and thus start new blogs.

Once you decided on a name you have to determine if you want have a blog on your own domain name or use one of the many free blogging services (WordPress and Blogger and just one of many of these free blog sites). In other words are you going to pay for your own domain name and hosting.

I chose to register my name with GoDaddy.com and have hosting done by DreamHost.com. The domain name registration was about $10.00 with GoDaddy and the hosting was about $70.00 for a one year plan. I realized after I registered with GoDaddy that signing up for hosting through Dreamhost also includes the registration of one domain name. I chose Dreamhost for the hosting because they were running a special for new customers that provided for unlimited storage and bandwidth for the life of the account. Another reason was Dreamhost was a unique referral program that allows the person doing the referral to setup a discount that customized to the new customer. The unique referral program provides for incentives for both parties involved. Therefore, if you are interested in having Dreamhost provide hosting for your website contact me and I can help you get a discount.

Another great tool I found is BecomeaBlogger.com. This website is done by professional blogger Yaro Starak. There are 10 free video tutorials that show anyone how to register for a domain and setup WordPress to administrator a blog on your domain. These videos break the process down in a very simple step-by-step process so I would highly recommend this site to anyone that wants to setup a blog but is limited on their technical knowledge.

I am sure there are other tools out there that can help someone that is starting a blog. If you know of any please share.

I decided to set-up my own website as part of a career search effort after I attended a webinar by Kaplan University featuring Thad Greer. This webinar inspired me like none other I have attended. Mr. Greer's advice allowed me to see how important a blog can be in helping to build a professional network.

Being able to share the knowledge I have gained in both my personal and professional life is something I really enjoy. As a manager, I have always held the believe that sharing non-proprietary information and experiences can be beneficial for everyone. I am looking forward to sharing my thoughts, views, and experiences with anyone that will listen.