"Blood, Sweat and Tears!!"

Blood, Sweat and Tears!! by jane My first 'computer' was web tv. There are a lot of good features on web tv. That's why I still have web tv today. I learned a lot of the web 'lingo' and played every FREE lotto I could find. I loved the different games that I found on the internet to play. It was a whole new world. I did some research, collected jokes, recipes and information on the stock market. One day, totally by accident, I subscribed to an ezine that was talking about making money on the internet I thought that was only for programmers! I started subscribing to more ezines that talked about internet marketing. I decided this was something I wanted to do, but I knew I needed more knowledge. I found the website: http:/ hirdage.com . WOW! This site really opened up a lot of avenues for me. They offered FREE courses! I dug right in. I was thrilled when I finished the first course, took a final exam and got a certificate (which I considered a diploma), that I could print out on my printer! I will never forget the feeling of accomplishment and pride. I showed it to everyone that came to visit. They probably could care less, but it was a big deal to me. I still have that certificate today. It's framed and hanging on my office wall. After I had a few courses under my belt, I figured, 'I can do this!'. Boy, I really didn't know what I was in for. I had some software that came with my computer, so I decided to get started building my first website. After a lot of attempts and failures, I finally got a web site built that I was proud of. It was exactly the way I wanted it. Ok, that was done. Now I needed a domain name. I got that done with no problem. Next I needed a host. I quickly found out that I didn't need just any host, but a host that could and would deal with a newbie. That was a tough one to solve. I went through about five different hosts before I ended up with the host I now have: http://linkopp.com I think sometimes he got impatient with me at first, but soon learned that he was dealing with a GENUINE newbie and I wasn't going to give up. He has proved to be very patient and helpful, which is what I needed. My host was a very busy man, so he assigned me a sponsor. That way I could bug him. We communicated by email for a while, but he saw quickly that I needed more help than email could give. He asked me if I could call him. It just so happened that my daughter had given me a three hour phone card as a gift, so I said, 'sure, no problem.'. I was so excited! I couldn't hardly wait for the day and time we had set-up for the phone call.................... I was so excited!! The day had finally come! My site would be up on the internet! Imagine! My own site! I called my sponsor, Gary McLeod http://www.mack49.com , and he worked with me to get the site uploaded. Since I had a three hour phone card, I wasn't worried about the cost. I thought to myself, 'Oh, we'll have time to get acquainted.'. Boy, was I wrong ! We tried, and we tried, and we tried, to no avail ! We would get the site uploaded and have two of everything ! That certainly wouldn't do ! After three hours, yes three hours, the phone cut us off. I immediately called him back. He decided that it was the software I was using. I sent him the html and sure enough, it wasn't right. Back to the drawing board ! You talk about discouraged ! I was ready to pack up this computer and send it back to Gateway and go back to my 'safe' web tv. Now I had to start all over, after months of working and struggling to build that web site just the way I wanted it. I had heard so many good things about Front Page 2000, but couldn't see investing $150 for the software, when I had already paid $99 for the software I was using. This time I knew I was on my own. No way could I afford another three hour phone call ! I thought about it for a few days. I read about netscape in an ezine. I thought, 'jane, how could you be so dumb?' ! You can use netscape to build your website ! That was a joke! I have to compare Netscape to the directions for putting together an item you just purchased. How many times have I bought something that I had to put together ! The directions are so 'easy', aren't they? You will be lucky if they printed out the full directions. There are always 'fading' letters, I call them, which leaves you trying to figure out what those letters are so that you can put the item together. Let's not even discuss the wizards ! As far as a newbie is concerned, they might as well not be there! I didn't talk their language and they didn't talk mine! That didn't work. either ! What to do............... ........... Well, I decided to go ahead and purchase Front Page 2000. Months before, I had purchased Terry Dean's Busn. 2000 package, which contained a video on how to use Front Page 2000 to build your web pages. I have to say that I have found Front Page 2000 to be the easiest piece of software I have used, once I got to know my way around it. Between the video and the software, I managed to get my website up and running. When I did the feedback forms for my site, I would watch the video, pause it, work with the forms, back to the video ........you get the picture. Anyway, I DID IT!! It was time for me to upload my pages to my host's server. With Front Page, this was a snap. Just click on publish web and it was off and running. Once I got the pages published, I couldn't wait to view my website! I typed my URL into the browser and waited. Error page. I got an error page! What happened? I uploaded the pages. Where were they? I immediately emailed my sponsor. I told him that I had uploaded my pages, but they weren't there! He emailed me back, all calm and cool, and told me to go into my control panel and upload the index.htm. I did this, although I was highly skeptical. I just knew that I was going to have to begin all over again! But, guess what, It worked!! I finally had my website up! All I could do was look at it and cry!! I actually DID IT!!! (with a little help from my friends). I wrote this story about how I got my website up to encourage all of you out there that are struggling with whatever: 1) NEVER give up!! 2) Read ezines--they help!! 3) Ask for help. There are people out there that are willing to help you. 4) YOU CAN DO IT!!!! I still have a lot to learn about the world wide web, but I am willing to learn and it will come in time, when I'm ready to receive it. One thing I am learning is patience. Patience has never been one of my strengths, but it's becoming one dealing with the web. I am meeting a lot of great people and doing something that I love to do along the way. The lasting friendships, doing something I enjoy and yes, even the failures and triumphs of learning are all worth the 'Blood, Sweat and Tears'