Out of the Blog-o-sphere Into the Fire

06-BackupsMeltDown, originally uploaded by carolWorldLeader.

Ok, snowflakes, the time has come for Queen Flake (that would be me, if you’re not paying attention) to actually create a real live website.

Now, before I start, I want to let you know that I have no intention of abandoning my blog. That’s not what this is about, in fact, just the opposite. I feel the a “main site” will highlight my blog in a special way. It will allow me to provide you with things like a topical index (which I’ve wanted to do for years) and provide a “resting place” to showcase some of my work in a more formal format. My plans are to link the blog to the site and vice versa, and really link, not just by means of a shared URL on a hidden page. I’m going to actually tie to the two in together so that this blog will become my day-over-day rantings (as you’ve grown to love) and the site will become more of a showcase for the best and brighest from the blog.

Today (actually yesterday but, who’s counting?) begins the long journey into website.

I thought about what software I wanted to use for my website and I came up with Dreamweaver. For those of you who know Dreamweaver, (and, even really, those who don’t) it’s now made by the good folks at Adobe (who gave us Photoshop and Illustrator, along with other “good stuff” that every creative needs.)

A few folks told me, before I went the Dreamweaver route, (actually warned me would be a better choice of words) that, well, Dreamweaver is hard to use. I brushed those fears aside, since, well, actually I’m a computer programmer by trade, right? I should be able to figure out how to use a program that basically makes HTML, JSP, JavaScript, and all that, right? No sweat, right? Um, yeah. (Keep the faith! There’s still hope.)

So, I started using Dreamweaver and, I’m almost ready to say, “they were right! They were right!” It’s a bit harder than I thought, but I’m not giving up yet. I’ve only had one day of play and, while it might take me a while, I can envision an end and can see how it’s a powerful program in it’s own right. (Not to mention they have “frame sets” now. Not just “frames” not just iframes, mind you, but “sets of frames and iframes,” all cascading into CSS Hellpool. Oh the humanity! Somebody save me from NightmareMaker, I mean, um, “Dreamweaver.”)

Actually, the hardest part about web design, the hardest part about design really, is making up my mind about things. I’m sorry to say that, not any software made yet, no software out there, really has a button to do that. There’s no “Carol Click Here” button that makes me suddenly shout, “Blue! I want everything Blue!” I have to sit and mull (and mull and sit, and stand and mull, and, well, you get the idea.) Make up the “Carol mind” (which, as you know, is quite small and hard to decifer to begin with) is the hardest part of any design process.

But, the point I’m trying to make is that, actually, the journey has begun. At the very least, think of the blogs I’ll be bringing you. It’ll be kind of like watching a descent into Hell, only, I’m guessing, a bit cooler from your vantage point. (And, um, you won’t have to fight off the evil villain, I mean, “style sheet.”)

Enjoy the show for, as it stands, Dreamweaver 1 Carol 0 but, you know, it’s still early in this boxing match, and my mind is starting really get around this whole “web site” thing. I’m starting to get a picture in my head of what I want things to look like, now all that’s left is to drag it out into the land of pixels. (Once I get a picture in my head, well, you can see here what the results are. “CD-ROM by Salvador Dali’ is just one simple example, really.)

As we know there’s a lot of fun making the visions come to life.

Until next time…