Category: Gripe City

This unfortunate exchange occurred during the infancy of this website, when I was struggling with design issues. This article ranked high in google search, and the title grabbed my attention. It turned out to be a fluff piece and misleading at that. I probably should have moved on, but instead replied with a piece of my mind. Click on the link to see her article and decide for yourself.

Don’t Hire A Website Designer, You Don’t Need One

If you have some advice or can suggest some improvements on my site and it’s design, especially if it comes with easy to understand instructions, tips, or shortcuts, please do leave a comment, link, or a private message? It would be greatly appreciated.

For an entertaining snit (who doesn’t enjoy a good snit every once and a while?), read on:

Jim James says:

Ha!

I’m sick of seeing comment after comment about how easy, quick, one click of a button away from perfection easy that wordpress is.

I beg to differ, and so do the 80% of people who give up within two to three months of trying WordPress out for the first time.

I’ve been struggling for weeks on how to get my site to look right. My child theme won’t show. Too much space around facebook like box, wrong colors in comment text area, widgets not displaying correctly, etc. etc. etc.

It takes a rocket scientist to understand the wordpress codex, and the techies get real impatient and snooty with us newbie dummies in the help forums.

Am I missing something? Why do so many people find wordpress “easy”?

photojimsf

Reply

Mitz Pantic says:

February 23, 2013 at 3:43 am

Well maybe you are missing something…

For one thing a newbie show NEVER be working with a child theme or trying to edit the code. I really do not know who recommended this for you but that is the first mistake. This just causes stress!

Starting with a minimalist WordPress theme is the best advice.

You should find a theme you like and use that. You can mess with your child themes later..

I am also not too sure how easy you want building a website or blog to be. Years ago it was impossible for ordinary people to make a website, now they can within minutes. I see that as easy for sure.

If you paid for this theme and you want to keep it then get some support from the developers. They should be happy to help.

Mitz Pantic recently posted..Two Years Blogging and No Real Income! 8 Reasons Why

Reply

Jim James says:

March 4, 2013 at 8:21 am

Thanks for your reply Mitz,

I was hoping you would clue me in, but I’m still baffled at the idea that wordpress is “easy”.

What I think you are saying, is, it’s easy as long as you don’t need any changes in the design or style? Are you suggesting that we just put that out of our minds and settle for a mediocre site that looks like everybody else’s?

Btw,in the wordpress codex, it states that creating and installing a child theme is “simple”, “basic”, and a crucial step before making any design or style changes. Yet I still have not managed to get mine working, or even to show at all.

Throughout the codex and the help forums, they insist that to use wordpress, you must have at least a basic understanding of html and css coding. That does not sound “easy” to me.

I found a theme I like, “Pinboard”. I went through and customized as much as I could through the dashboard, and I’m fairly happy with how it looks. That part was fairly easy, but it took a LOT LONGER than 5 minutes. I spent two weeks on it.

There’s just a few things I need to change that aren’t possible through the dashboard, and will require some coding. For instance, there’s extra space around my facebook like box on my “about” page. I can’t figure out how to get rid of it. And I’d like to change the color of the text field from white to almost black in the comments, with light colored text, so that it matches the text and style of the actual post it belongs to. These tasks should be easy! Perhaps any 12 year old could do it, but I’m just stumped.

Look, I get that you are trying to sell themes, reports, and tutorials. It just seems a bit disingenuous to tell your readers they can have a wordpress site up in 5 minutes, and that it’s “easy”. Especially after seeing that your “step by step” how to video is THIRTY SIX MINUTES LONG!

Please prove me wrong!

Jim

via Don’t Hire A Website Designer—You Don’t Need One – ComLuv.

March 4, 2013 at 9:54 am

mitz says:

I am deeply offended

after reading your comment but I am not going to dwell on this at all! I help people everyday for free and do not really care for your negativity.

For one thing.. there is absolutely no doubt that a WordPress website takes 5 minutes to create. After all, how hard is it to press a button? You can instantly have a website in minutes.

Videos that take longer than this obviously go into extra detail. I like to give as much information as I can for free, besides just pressing the damn button to install the site. But you are whining about a FREE WordPress content management system and a FREE video tutorial I created. Hmm… Maybe you should give up now.

The problem is your level of perfection and mine. They are obviously different. If I had this much trouble with a theme I would go and choose one that actually suits me and save myself the stress.

For you now.. I would recommend the default WordPress theme “Twenty Twelve” only. Get yourself familiar with how WordPress works, add your own header picture (very easy in that theme), and start building your site. Stay away from design issues because you will never move off the fence and probably continue to be disappointed.

Your expectations are far too high for a beginner. You need to keep it simple. If you are trying to be an instant expert and already blaming the tools for your failures, you need to re-evaluate the source of the problem (You?)…

For others reading this: Please do not click on this guys website link as it is

extremely ADULTS ONLY..

mitz recently posted..Making Money from One Simple Content Marketing Strategy

 

April 29, 2013 at 12:08 am

Your comment is awaiting moderation.

photojimsf says:

Ok, I’ll try to start with the positive.

I added a header picture with my logo, thanks for that advice.

Also, I added a NSFW notice to the header. I think of my work as erotic art, rather than hardcore pornography, I hope your readers are savvy enough to know the difference.

As for the 2012 theme, I tried that once, and didn’t like it. But just to be sure, on your suggestion, I tried it again, and it does not support some of the photography features that pinboard has. The look was too amateur. I’m sticking with pinboard for now.

Now let’s talk about negativity.

“I am deeply offended…”

“besides just pressing the damn button…”

“But you are whining about…”

C’mon now, who’s being negative here? And un-professional. What about this doozey:

“Maybe you should give up now”…

Really? I find that terrible advice coming from someone who claims to help people. And just because something is free does not mean that it’s above critique. WordPress is difficult, and your advice is misleading.

I’m convinced, like several other posters here and elsewhere on the internet, that you’re a prolific blogger who posts on many of the latest hot niches and trends that you know nothing about.

No wonder you’re offended that I’ve challenged your authority, and instead of showing off some real expertise and knowledge, you repeat your misleading statements, and then attack me personally and the content of my website.

With help like this, who needs enemies? — Photojimsf

via Don’t Hire A Website Designer—You Don’t Need One – ComLuv.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Suggestions Welcome!

Since miss Pantic was of little help, if you have any useful hints or suggestions, especially if they come with easy to understand instructions, I’d greatly appreciate a comment, link, or private message.

Sincerely and Thanks,

Photojimsf

Should Have Done This Long Ago

OMG I can’t believe I’ve waited this long to switch from AT&T to Sonic.net. The speed difference is like night and day, and it’s more than $20 a month cheaper (I have just phone and internet). By the way, with Sonic I have nationwide unlimited long distance, where the old dinosaur charged by the meter, or extra for an unlimited plan.

No Contract

Plus there’s no annoying two year ball and chain contract, it’s month to month!  No more kvetching when I see the greedy behemoth giving new customers half off but not giving me the same deal.

A Small Local Company in Santa Rosa, CA

No more annoying waits just to talk to someone in some strange land, having to repeat five times what I need. No more pushy sales techs trying to upsell me on a customer assistance package, when I should be getting great service without having to pay extra.

The same pushy sales guy from AT&T also tried to bum rush me into purchasing their $90 modem. When I refused to commit on the spot, he insisted on checking up with me, and then called me (my answering machine) every day, sometimes twice a day, for the next week.

Simple And Easy

Meanwhile, I went straight to Sonic.net’s easy to understand customer friendly website where I found that the modem is included in the monthly bill, and is replaced immediately if needed. They mailed me mine right away, and it was easy to set up.

No more constantly changing plans and packages meant to confuse us simple minded and too busy for b.s. people.  There’s just one basic plan for everyone: super fast and super cheap. Unlimited everything!

If You’re Fed Up

Folks, it’s just under $60 a month. Super fast internet with wi-fi, and nationwide unlimited talk and data!!!!!!!

I’m just so relieved to get away from AT&T, I may be tooting this horn prematurely. The half dozen friends I know who have it are super happy, and so am I.  I’ll post an update in two to six months just to let you know if the joy is lasting. Meanwhile, if your fed up with your current provider, give Sonic.net some serious consideration.

Getting To The Point

So, I guess the point of this whole rant, in a long, beat around the bush kind of way, is that now I can focus on posting juicy hot pictures and content instead of wrestling with a slower than molasses in January connection!  Thanks for sticking with me during this time of darkness. I hope to be posting at least once a day.

Disclosure

Folks, I am not an affiliate seller for Sonic.net, so I’m not getting commissions for referrals. I’m just a happy camper.

Ha! I thought the world’s largest sauna was the Vatican! — photojimsf

A day ahead of the papal conclave, faces at the scandal-struck Vatican were even redder than usual after it emerged that the Holy See had purchased a €23 million (£21 million) share of a Rome apartment block that houses Europe’s biggest gay sauna.

The senior Vatican figure sweating the most due to the unlikely proximity of the gay Europa Multiclub is probably Cardinal Ivan Dias, the head of the Congregation for Evangelisation of
Peoples, who is due to participate in tomorrow’s election at the Sistine Chapel.

This 76-year-old “prince of the church” enjoys a 12-room apartment on the first-floor of the imposing palazzo, at 2 Via Carducci, just yards from the ground floor entrance to the steamy flesh pot. There are 18 other Vatican apartments in the block, many of which house priests.

The Holy See is still reeling from allegations that the previous pontiff, Benedict XVI, had quit in reaction to the presence of a gay cabal in the curia.

And with disgraced Scottish cardinal Keith O’Brien lending new weight to charges of hypocrisy against the Church’s stance on homosexuality, La Repubblica newspaper noted that the presence of “Italy’s best known gay sauna in the premises is an embarrassment”.

Cardinal Dias, who is seen as a social conservative even by the current standards of the church hierarchy, is no doubt horrified to learn of the activities taking place a floor below.

It is not known, however, if the former archbishop of Bombay has popped downstairs to give spitiual guidances to the clients of the Europa Multiclub, given his belief that gays and lesbians can be cured of their “unnatural tendencies” through the “sacrement of penance”.

The sauna’s website promotes one of its special “bear nights”, with a video in which a rotund, hairy man strips down before changing into a priest’s outfit. It says Bruno, “a hairy, overweight pastor of souls, is free to the music of his clergyman, remaining in a thong, because he wants to expose body and soul”.

There was further embarrassment for the Holy See when the press observed that thanks to generous tax breaks it received from the last Berlusconi government,  the church will have avoided hefty payments to the Italian state. The properties are recognised as part of the Holy City.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Pope Emeritus Benedict’s widely disliked right-hand man, who held the Vatican’s purse strings during the last pontificate, was said to have been the brains behind the purchase of 2 Via Carduccio in 2008.

Readers on Italian gay websites were quick to make jokes at the cardinals’ expense. One on the Gay.it site quipped: “’Oops, I took the wrong door, I thought it was the chapel.’…If you can’t go to the gay sauna for fear of being seen what do you do if you have millions of Euros stolen from Italians? You buy the apartment block with the sauna inside.”

via As cardinals gather to elect Pope, Catholic officials break into a sweat over news that priests share €23m building with huge gay sauna – Europe – World – The Independent.