Tips for Newbies and Old Heads Like Me
Hey Friends,
Hope everyone is doing well in the Land of WA. The weather turned yucky out so no beach time for Bobby! Boooo!!! But such is life, and I shall be able to touch my toes in the sand again next week. :-)
I have a couple of what I refer to as "sandbox sites" that I use to play around in. There were a few times in years past that I got burned trying to make updates to a site, just to find that they were epic fails and then I scrambled to restore my work.
There are many here at WA that are struggling with the same types of things, and that's going to happen. I've been doing this for 10 years and I'm still learning every day. Now whether I'm retaining or not is a separate topic. Just ask my bride! :-)
Recently I've used one of my sandbox sites to help others at WA, which is cool. Live for the blessing I say. And that doesn't mean that I'm to be on the receiving end, but the offering end. I've installed themes, created menus, sampled plugins, and things like that to share back with people who have requested help.
I'll continue to do that because it helps me to stay sharp and I genuinely enjoy helping people. So on that note, and with sandbox sites in particular, one thing (among many) that is awesome here at WA is that they offer us the ability to have free sites. Yeah, that's right - Free Sites.
Today I started a free site here at WA to use as a sandbox site for myself and to help others. Right now it's just a 1-page deal, and it has the 2016 Theme installed on it. But you know what? If I wanted to try something new on one of my main sites, I would most definitely do it on this or one of my other sandbox sites.
I'd like to encourage all of you - those that are new to design, and old heads like me - to set up a separate free site with WA. Install different themes, try different plugins, fonts, designs, layouts...whatever. Because if it doesn't work and it looks goofy, at least you haven't damaged the site you're building to earn money.
This is a great method to continue learning, and I can promise you that not one of us here knows everything. Try it out and see what you think. I set this up in a couple hours, and it's nothing major by any means. But I will never damage one of my main sites by having one like this to experiment on first.
Donations can be made to the Bob Draper Memorial Hunger Fund. blahahahaha Gosh, I crack me up! :-) Hope that you all have a blessed day. And remember, you are important. Peace friends. :-)
http://SurfsideSandbox.siterub...
I am updating this post on January 30, 2018. I have decided to leave WA for a variety of reasons. If they choose to leave this post up, so be it. I will continue updating the site for anyone that needs assistance at the domain below. Peace and blessings to all of you. :-)
Recent Comments
52
I'm happy. Does that count? I've actually been fighting a slight case of the flu, but I had my flu shot, so it is not so bad. I have had a few very productive days here. I'm loving my new laptop (an early Christmas present from my husband)!
I hope that you are doing well, too.
Such a brilliant idea. It certainly came in handy when you assisted me recently. I'll be doing this. Thank you.
It has come in handy for years, that's for sure. Let me know if you need help with anything. Peace my friend. :-)
Good call Bob, it is definitely worth doing. When I first started I changed themes four times on my main site. It was time-consuming.
It'll save you a lot of "do-over" work, and it never disrupts your main site. Peace Brad. :-)
I too have a site that I mess around with and use for my how To posts. I can use the images of the process, without them seeing my main site.
Hope the weather gets better soon.
With Grace and Gratitude
Karen
It's a good idea and saves a lot of headaches, right? It's not too bad, but I am forced out of my flip flops into shoes, so I'm not real thrilled with that! lol Peace Karen. :-)
Thanks my friend, I'll approve your comment after my nap! I've been at it 11 hours today and need my rest before music practice tonight! :-)
This is a great idea Bob. I was thinking of similar use for client sites. Free sites is a good solution for test environments. Good to know you put it in practice! Thanks for sharing.
See more comments
Bob, I got indexed by Google yesterday wish totally excited me!Yet I'm not the expert on my writing with some spelling and punctuations.Would you mind helping me out because I had someone that was but has not been on recently?He was doing the corrections and sending them to me.I'm still stuck on the writing part.I don't want to move on without making the corrections needed!
As I said I'm not computer literate or the smartest person!
Sure thing Lisa, send me a PM and I'll give you my email address. Laying on a heating pad now using my phone, but I'll be back on the laptop soon. Peace. :-)
Don't sell yourself short my friend. Click on my profile and then hit private message. :-)
Just messaged you Lisa. :-)