Wordpress and Gimp: A Learning Experience

Holy carp, it’s Thursday already?

Have you ever had those weeks that just seem to fly by? This has been one so far, but now that I’ve brought it up, and put it in writing, I have a feeling that Thursday is going to hit the emergency brake. Such is life, you deal with it, and move on. Besides, if the day feels like it’s going slower, that’ll give me more time to write, correct?

So, I was working on Geeking in Indiana last night, and I was working on my list of things that I need to get done. Every piece on that list is annotated with the need to learn how to do it. I need a banner image? I need to learn how to put one together in Gimp. I want static posts? My old theme isn’t available, so I need to put together a new one. Some of these will go up after I have the site back up. Some of these keep the site from going up. However, all of them I have to learn at some point.

I hate asking for help on these. I’ve actually brought it up to friends in the past, but I rarely follow through. Something like this is a skill, and it’s a skill that I need to learn. Asking others to do it for me isn’t going to help me if the site goes down again, and I’m not going to learn. Plus, since it IS a skill, it means that it’s something that people need to be compensated for when they help me. Even if they say they’re helping, this is their livelihood and I owe them something, at least in my head. However, I can’t offer anything more than limited free publicity, and that doesn’t put food on the table.  I hate the phrase “It’ll look good in your portfolio!” because that’s the cop-out of someone looking for free work.

However, I AM going to ask for a little bit of free help here. I’m going to ask for some advice.

I’m working on the website using the current version of Wordpress. I’m working on photos using Gimp. If you have worked with either of these, what do you recommend as a good resource for study? What should I really learn to help out? Do you have any books that you recommend, or any websites that you keep bookmarked for reference?

Yes, I know that I could host these sites on the free Wordpress site, or on the Blogger site, but I like the thought of having room to grow, and of having control over my site. Unfortunately, control also means dealing with your own problems. However, I’m going to do what I can to work around them. It’s like home ownership vs. renting an apartment. It’s much more satisfying to own your own home, but it’s also more work.

Too bad I’m also lousy with plumbing.
Tony