Every act of conscious learning requires
the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s self-esteem.
That is why young children,
before they are aware of their own self-importance,
learn so easily.
[Thomas Szasz]

For everything that I’ve produced and show to other people, I have a box full of attempts that didn’t quite work out. If I threw away my boxes of failed attempts, my house would be a lot tidier.

As I was following links yesterday looking for more WordPress information, I found an article about running WordPress locally on my machine using MAMP. Now, that appeals to me — I can make all of my mistakes (the only way I really learn) in the privacy of my own office rather than on my ISP server.

This is for Mac users. I’m sure there is something similar for PC users. This is the route I’m planning to take to meet the goal I set yesterday — to style a simple web log “look and feel” so it will appear seamless with my own web site design.

Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do.
There can be no courage unless you’re scared.
[Edward Vernon Rickenbacker]

     A friend of mine was at the ticket counter at a small airport to buy a ticket on a small airline. The pilot greeted the ticket agent in passing and she asked, “Where are you going?”
     “To the end of the runway and get up courage,” he replied.

That is where I am right now — at the end of the runway getting up courage. I’ve posted on this web log for a week now. In the process, I’ve figured out how to add photos, create static pages, insert a bit of HTML mark-up to style and position text, manage the site elements and edit published material. I’ve also downloaded the files for setting up a web log on my own server and have read just enough documentation to be dangerous.

Where am I starting from? I’m basically, a graphic designer. Since I’ve been designing and producing websites as part of my business for a decade, I can write HTML, edit JavaScript and do other things that skirt the edges of programming. I am, however, not a programmer. When I need dynamic site content, I recruit the aid of a real programmer.

Web logs are, basically, dynamic web sites. That means, there are page and page-element templates with programming language that draw content from a data base on the fly and show the finished product in your web browser window. There is an administrative console in the back end where content can be entered into the data base in a way that doesn’t require much web-site-development knowledge.

My goal for this week to style a simple web log “look and feel” so it will appear seamless with my own web site design on my ISP server.

I am learning all the time.
The tombstone will be my diploma.
[Eartha Kitt]

My ultimate goal in this exploration of web logs is to create blog portals for my clients that are tailored to their needs and display the visual theme used on their web sites. Most of these will be installed on their web host server. I’m at the beginning of learning this.

First, I downloaded and studied “Everyman’s Guide to WordPress” by Brandon Booth.

Then I went to the Lesson section of wordpress.org and have printed:

• Introduction to Blogging
• First Steps With WordPress
• WordPress Semantics – Learning the Jargon

Even after working on computers for a quarter of a century, I still print out some things rather than focus on a screen. So much for the concept of a paperless office. In this case, I’ll collate these into a ring binder for study and future reference.

I’m at the learning stage that I call, “panic.” Will I learn this in a timely manner so I can effectively apply the information to real-world jobs? I always go through this stage and know it will pass. My main asset is that I’ve been designing and building web sites for a number of years so I’m not starting with a blank slate. Learning is transferable.