Novice webmaster at work -- or mangle, as it were
Well, since I've been informed by BookSurge that my book, The Scribbler's Guide to the Land of Myth, is FINALLY at the "print ready" stage, I figured it was time for tme to get the books own website up and running, instead of having the domain point to my ScribberWorks site.
Oi vey.
Really. I DON'T know what I'm doing. I just know the results I want, and intuit how it ought to be possible to do.
So... first I tried setting up the new pathway for the new domain ... screwed that up, and then accidently deleted the book's domain from my web-hosting account. I contacted the technical service department through their 24 hour live chat. Supposedly got the second domain re-established, tried following their instructions for setting up the second domain. But the live chat help person was locked into a techno-terminology loop. Don't tell me I need to set up the page in the "subdomain directory", when I'm telling you as precisely as I possible can that I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT THAT MEANS -- what it looks like, and where it goes in all the strings of addresses involved in the process! Gah. The live chat help person did what she could, supposedly clearling pathways. So I ended the chat, thinking everything was great.
Then I went to double check the actual pages. And had a HORRIBLE "OH NO!" experience.
Now, everything pointed to the book's page. Including the URL for the rather large ScribblerWorks site -- which meant you couldn't find anything.
By this time it was well after 1 am, so I told myself to get some sleep, and retackle the problem in the morning.
So, this time, having not had such success at communication with the live chat, I figured I would telephone the tech support, and work with an actual voice. I stuck in my newish bluetooth (a Plantronics one, as I'd misplaced the Motorola I really liked), and called them. The earpiece for the bluetooth I'm not thrilled about because it doesn't sit in my ear canal very well, making people's voices difficult to hear. Anyway, I work around that problem. This new person checks my account on their end -- apparently the old website got deleted when the new page went up (Fortunately, I do have a copy of all the files on my computer! Whew! I wouldn't want to have to rebuild two and a half years of work!). The help person corrected all the pointings (so it seemed), and told me to upload the old site through a new pathway. Which I did, and everything seemed hunky-dorey.
Until a bit later I checked actual pages, and discovered that the WordPress blog for news, and my Phorum message board had been misplaced. Oh, no.
So, I call once again, and explain the problem, and this tech support person (the third, mind you -- all very nice people, by the way), found them, and recorrected the addresses for them, so the links would work again.
EXCEPT.... that the main page at the plain www.scribblerworks.us address goes to a copy of the page for www.scribblersguidetomyth.com - *sigh*
I suspect that the original home page for the ScribblerWorks site got over-written by the myth book's page. There's a mirror copy of the ScribblerWorks home page at www.scribblerworks.us/home/_index.htm. But I'm really not up to chasing down how to correct the over-write at this time. The site is parked where it's supposed to be. I THINK the correction of the current wrong front page should be an easy fix. But I'm not going to try it right now.
Which is the long, long way of getting around to saying that the site for the book, The Scribbler's Guide to the Land of Myth, is UP AT LAST! I still have to set up the news blog for the book, and get the link for the ordering data (it will be available through Amazon). But that can come la
I have to say, I have acquired a new, deep, and abiding appreciation for real webmasters who actually know what the heck they are doing. I do fine with the functions in Dreamweaver, until I have to do something radically new - like setting up a new domain, and making sure the pathways are all correct. Next time (and there will be, down the road, as I'm planning a site for my fantasy material eventually), I'll get expert help at my elbow to make sure I don't screw it up.