Ladies with Blogs...

[Soliel185]

I'm preparing to start a blog - it will not be hair related, rather it focuses on urban and streetwear brands/clothing. It will also serve as advertisement for the store that my SO is opening, but having never started an actual blog before I had some questions...

1: Best/Worst Webhosting Service? How much do you pay per month/year?
2: Things to Avoid?
3: Where can I find the best templates, graphics etc?
4: How do you go about obtaining photos for your blogs? Mostly your own pics or do you purchase stock photos?
5: Tips and Tricks..?

I know there are some ladies on here with FLY blogs so I'm looking forward to your advice.

TIA!

 

[Soliel185]

 

[Bubblingbrownshuga]

Great questions.

 

[Prose Princess]

I'm preparing to start a blog - it will not be hair related, rather it focuses on urban and streetwear brands/clothing. It will also serve as advertisement for the store that my SO is opening, but having never started an actual blog before I had some questions...

1: Best/Worst Webhosting Service? How much do you pay per month/year?
2: Things to Avoid?
3: Where can I find the best templates, graphics etc?
4: How do you go about obtaining photos for your blogs? Mostly your own pics or do you purchase stock photos?
5: Tips and Tricks..?

I know there are some ladies on here with FLY blogs so I'm looking forward to your advice.

TIA!

1. I've used Hostmonster (http://www.hostmonster.com) for my Dad's web site and they are awesome. You get unlimited EVERYTHING for as little as $4.95/ mo if you pay for 2 years with the hidden web coupon (just do a Google search for Hostmonster discount). You can easily install Wordpress, which I think is a great and versatile program for blogging, using Fantastico, and you pretty much never have to worry about not having a certain feature. Great customer service, etc. etc. I highly recommend them as a host.
2. I'm not sure what you mean by things to avoid lol sorry
3. You can find a ton of great Wordpress templates online just by doing a Google search for them. Some of my favorites are at: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/01/08/100-excellent-free-high-quality-wordpress-themes/ , http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/ , http://www.nattywp.com/

If you know anything about CSS, you can also edit any of these themes to fit your needs. If not, I might be able to help, I've messed around with this stuff, I don't have any formal training but I'd be glad to help you out. You can send me a PM if you need anything.

4. I mostly use my own pics, but if you're gonna be using your blog for commercial purposes, you should probably make sure to use pictures that are "open source"/"license free"/"public domain" only, so as to avoid copyright issues. Unless you're using your own of course.

5. With the internet, namely Google, you can do just about anything you want, as long as you know the right questions and you can figure out how to get around on Hostmonster's admin panel. I'm supposed to be getting dressed for class so I would go more in-depth with this post but I'm out of time lol. HTH!!

 

[Soliel185]

Thanks, PP! There are alot of specifics in your post, which I appreciate. I read alot of blogs so I've heard/seen "wordpress" or "blogger" around but I didn't know how to get started.

I will definitely check out the websites you posted as well.

I'm in school right now for graphic design, but I haven't gotten to the "programming" part yet - I do like messing around with code though so we'll see what happens.

 

[Prose Princess]

No problem! Lol @ not getting to programming yet. Have you just started out?

 

[Soliel185]

No problem! Lol @ not getting to programming yet. Have you just started out?

Yeah - this fall is my first semester. I have a fine arts backround, so I do like..nudes and stuff. Not very helpful when it comes to writing code.

 

[Prose Princess]

That depends on what kind of site you're runnin

 

[myhair1014]

1: Best/Worst Webhosting Service? How much do you pay per month/year? I use blogger
2: Things to Avoid? Not posting.
3: Where can I find the best templates, graphics etc? I do it all freestyle by messing with codes
4: How do you go about obtaining photos for your blogs? Mostly your own pics or do you purchase stock photos? My own or use others and give credit.
5: Tips and Tricks..? POST EVERYDAY.

 

[lovinmylocs]

Hey there I have a new blog and I'm using blogger. It's easy enough. I don't have pics up yet, but I plan to take my own and avoid all of those messy issues. Best of all it's free!