So.

Here I am getting set up with WordPress. It’s been interesting and exciting setting up my own domain. Even though I have a over a decade of experience with HTML, CSS and JavaScript, I’ve never bothered having My Very Own Site before, and so I’ve never had to deal with picking a hosting company, setting up domain names, creating databases and email accounts before. All in all, kind of exciting and not too overwhelming.

I have to say, picking a hosting company has felt like shopping for a car. If you do a search, you’ll find lots of recommendations, but if you bother reading them, it becomes very obvious that a lot of them are bought and paid for. Also, it seems like most accounts you read are either horror stories or “I just love my hosting company”. What I was looking for was “I picked this company, this is what has been good, this is what I didn’t like, but overall, this is what I think.”  Perhaps after some time, I’ll be able to write one here. Right now, I’m on the Dreamhost two week trial.

Installation of WordPress was very easy. I’m using the default theme at the moment, but I’m hoping to put together my own theme at some point, so rather than use Dreamhost’s one click install, I downloaded the software from wordpress.org, and uploaded it myself to the site. I then had to set up the database in the Dreamhost control panel, and create a config file in BBEdit and upload that. Once that was done, I just ran the installer, and here I am.

Looks like there are lots of fun toys to play with, but it’s a nice day out, and the motorcycle is beckoning.