Working at Home on the Internet

Webpage and Blog Clutter

How do you know when you go too far in trying to present a useful but pleasant site? This is a question that has been asked over and over again by just about anyone who tries to build a Website or Blog.

There are a lot of options in choosing templates, just about every service offers them. You can get them for free or for a price, but they are mostly bland when you start out. Sure there are a lot of colors and layouts you can use, but what do you do after the initial setup?

Once you have made a decision on the basics, you have to start concentrating on what it is really going to look like. Where to place your information, ads, and the like is important. Another thing is to make sure you don’t over do it.

I am the type of person that constantly tweaks. When I come across something new and I think it will benefit my readers or enhance the page, I try to find a way to incorporate it. I hate wasted space, so it seems that I fill every nook and cranny.

I am also a pack rat. If I add something to my page, I hate to “throw it away”. If I thought it was useful before, then it must be useful now.

When I go to other sites, I constantly assess the looks. Are the colors right, are the ads placed correctly, is it overpowering? When I find a nice site, I try to incorporate the idea of how things are laid out into my own site. However, when I try to employ the concept, I usually run out of space.

All this is made even more evident because of the template and service I chose to use. Sure, Blogger is free, but that only serves to limit my options in trying to redesign the layout.

I have added so many choices in the sidebar, that I have to look for things, even though I know where they are. So, things that are not useful anymore, or don’t seem to fit quite right will be stored away (since I am a pack rat). But they will be taken out of the Sidebar, or any other place that they just take up space.

If you don’t notice them missing, then they probably didn’t really need to be there in the first place.

Are you the pack rat type, or of the neat-nick persuasion? How do you handle clutter on your site?

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February 28th, 2006 at 12:43pm | Posted by Joe | Basics, Blogging, Websites | reader remarks | Print This Post

(Don’t) Follow Instructions Carefully

Sometimes it’s better NOT to follow the instructions.

A while ago I bought a Lexmark x2250 All-in-One printer. It has Scan, Fax, Print and Copy capabilities. It’s a great printer, except for one thing, I could never get it to work. I followed All the instructions as suggested. I went so far as to have a replacement sent because I do have the warranty.

Once I received the replacement and installed it according to the instructions, it STILL didn’t work. At this point I even tried changing my USB PCI Card. I knew that there were some issues with Window XP and some hardware and software drivers, but never put 2 and 2 together, so I uninstalled it.

When I got my new DSL equipment and installed it (previous posts here and here), I had no problems with it or the USB connection. So, I knew that all that equipment was good. At that point I tried to install the printer according to instructions. The Printer worked, but the DSL connection was lost.

You don’t want to know what I said…

I figured since nothing else worked, I may as well just try using the XP default new hardware installer (I was advised against it in the Lexmark instructions). I did have to copy the drivers from the original CD, but I didn’t get any errors as before. When I printed a test page I got the Windows XP printout, not the Lexmark page as expected.

Now, it seems everything (USB, DSL, Printer) works just fine.

The moral of this story is even though instructions are a important, they needn’t be followed verbatim if you already have an idea of what needs to be done. So, follow your instincts, you may just be right.

February 27th, 2006 at 08:47am | Posted by Joe | Attitude, General | reader remarks | Print This Post

How to Get a Headache…

Sorry for being so blatant about this, but trying to come up with something original every day is a little difficult. Writers Block has been over-written about, not only by me, but just about anyone who writes (or tries to) everyday.

I’m not sure of the name of the artist of this comic strip, but I gotta give him credit. It’s Adam at Home, and it depicts some of the best and worst of Working at Home, on a daily basis.

I don’t know how he does it, but more power to him.

February 26th, 2006 at 01:38pm | Posted by Joe | Attitude | reader remarks | Print This Post