Keeping Your Virtual Existence Alive

Maintaining and/or Managing Your Website

April 18, 2007 by Valerie Anderson

Congratulations!  You now have published to your own domain name a website, so what’s next?  Plenty of possibly not much, depending on the purpose and subsequent design of your site.

For example, you might have chosen to develop a simple 4 page site with a “contact us” page connecting you to your visitors.  The only managing you will be doing in this scenario would be to promptly respond to any legitimate emails.  As for actual site maintenance, you might have decided there was value for you to update the display ad space on each page with a monthly special offering.  Keeping content fresh is a maintenance-orientated task.

On the other hand, you may have developed a website that demands weekly updates and a blog has been attached to the site to accommodate this need.  The time demands will be greater, but so are the potential rewards from such an effort.

Make sure you are prepared to keep an eye on how your website is performing on your behalf.  Maybe you’ll discover a Frequently Asked Questions page can quickly assist your visitor in addressing possible concerns.  This can significantly reduce the number of emails sent to you requesting such information, which means you will be responding to less research-based inquiries and instead translates into more sales via your website.

Keep in mind your site is being broadcast in a live format world wide and the bottom line is that until you take your website off-line, there will always be the prospect of maintaining and managing your online existence in some manner.  There are strategies for any budget, from free to thousands of dollars to help drive traffic to your site that even you can learn how to perform.  You can learn how to publish free advertisements to various directories and you may very well decide you want to learn HTML programming on your own.

So what’s next?  That’s up to you.

CaeraKirsch Copyright and Privacy Policy

Major Additions

December, 2006 - Internal Site Additions

• Copyright and privacy issues are two of the most divisive and debated concepts, especially when it comes to how these rights interact with the Internet. We have developed a copyright and privacy policy that extends to all of our clients, except when noted.

• Also, each Caera Kirsch site has a page designed exclusively to give credit when credit is due. A link to this page is typically located at the bottom of each page in a web site and includes a listing of all external sources of materials used to develop a web site.
  

August Portfolio Update

The month of August was invested in enduring the process of reformatting a hard drive and a few minor personal life tasks needing some major TLC, including the improvement of my online presence and some re-education in the fields of SEO and W3C Standards.

This pause in refreshing the sites in my portfolio has provided me opportunity to learn more about what the visitors to these sites really want to know about.  This month, I had the chance to review my piles of notes and discard a lot of the clutter for both myself and hopefully for “The House That Caera Built” portfolio as well.  Two sites experienced a temporary spoofing of their domain names, but outside of the technical steps we took, there isn’t much else available to protect any website from this type of “dark” event.

I also had a chance to refresh old connections while making new ones by spending Labor Day Weekend hanging out in one of my favorite online tech forums, Site Reference (www.site-reference.com).  I think I mentioned this in a previous post…?

September has already begun and certain deadlines will hopefully be reached by the end of the month, including a full review of all sites I am responsible for publishing materials to the World Wide Web.  Also, the weather has already begun its shift towards the colder side, so it won’t be as tempting to travel as much as I did this summer.

That’s about it for August…oh wait!  I did get the chance to celebrate my birthday by turning off the computer entirely and then moving so far away from it, I couldn’t touch it no matter how tempted I might become… LOL! ;&gt

Wedding Reception Venue Checklist - MS Excel format

So many wedding questions, so little time

Wedding Reception Venue Checklist - MS Excel format - Design by l.a.s.k. c.r.e.a.t.i.o.n.s.

A friend of mine is currently in the process of getting married (i.e. the wedding ceremony is being planned for the summer of 200 and frequently calls me into action when it comes to the “administrative” side of planning a wedding.

She found a checklist in the book “The Working Woman’s Wedding Planner, Third Edition Written by Susan Tatsui-D’arcy Prentice Hall, Inc 2000″ and asked if I could transform it into a more personalized form on the computer (she knows there remains an administrative assistant lurking just around the corner…LOL!).

We spent at least an hour debating and discussing what questions someone can find answers to using other methods like the Internet and brochures and what questions would need to be asked while viewing the establishment. After a trial run this past weekend, she recommended a few minor tweaks and then gave the green light to publish it.

For those that can’t download or access the file, I have listed the questions we believe you should learn the answers to when looking at possible wedding reception venues. With minor alterations, these questions carry over to other elements of planning a wedding, including selecting the ceremony venue.

Venue Name
Address #1
City, Zip
Phone
Fax
Website
E-mail
Contact Person
Best Time To Contact
Total # of Rooms?
Ceremony site available?
Latest time allowed?
Simultaneous events?
Built-in dance floor?
Music genre/volume limits?
Centerpiece included?
Floral arrangement limits?
Candles allowed/included?
Rehearsal times?
Bar hours?
House/catered food?
Can we bring a sweet table?
Tables and chairs included?
Linens included?
Tent/large equipment fees?
Bridal table set-up?
Handicap accessable?
# of parking spaces available?
Smoking permitted?
PA system available?
What does the system have?

Also, make sure you ask about these possible additional fees:

Minimum site fee
Tax and gratuity included
Ceremony site fee
Dance floor set-up fee
Centerpiece fees
Bar fees/BYOB
Table and chairs fees
Linen fees
Parking/valet fees
PA fees
Insurance fee

 

Why hire a developer when there are free templates and wizards?

Why should I use your services when there is so much being offered for free?

Update March 27, 2007 by Valerie Anderson

Kudos to the open source templates currently available to the general public! Some of the designs available today are absolutely stunning, basic blogging services are free and even hosting can be secured for no cost.  However, there are always trade-off’s when it comes to using free stuff on the Internet.

If you stumble upon a template you want for your site, you still need to address other issues involved with presenting a smart and effective web site. There are meta-tag issues, layout problems and other factors that unless you are proficient with HTML, XHTML and/or CSS, chances are you will end up with at least a minor headache, if not a major one. Will you be able to attach an analytics service to the site?  Does the free hosting allow for FTP uploads?

Depending upon the quantity of content you want in your site, using an open source template can significantly reduce your costs, so search around the net and see what you can find and let me know which ones you like.  Although some have copyright aspects involved, it is also worth a conversation or two because you may not actually need my services to go where you want to go.

People such as myself play the role of guidance counselor on how to at least launch your online venture and we then give you a good foundation to build from, from the wrapper to starting content.  This is good if you are not very well-versed in other aspects of web development, such as keyword strategy and search engine submission locations and you have a solid vision of how you want your website to perform. It is also important to have realistic expectations as to how quickly a presence on the Internet will transform your hopes and dreams into satisfaction and success.  These types of things tend to take time, despite all of the wondrous viral events that occur amidst the other types of viruses that are really nasty suckers.

Augmented post on how to secure the CaeraKirsch brand for your site

When should I hire Caera Kirsch Designs?

After an initial conversation, it is possible we will arrive at the conclusion my Web Developer services are not needed for the project at hand.  I have certain strengths and weaknesses that should be taken into consideration when you are shopping for someone to help you form a presense on the web.  I have turned down requests for search engine optimization tactics since I do not specialize in SEO techniques.

P.S. (September 4, 2007)  At this time, I have perhaps too much scheduled to be generated for the rest of 2007, but since this is the lifestyle of a developer, my door is always open to conversation despite my inability to take on any other projects at this time.

Active versus passive Internet participation

When should you actively join the Internet community?

When you are ready to accept the good, bad and uglies of the World Wide Web, you are then ready to think about how wide of a spotlight you want shining upon your virtual projection of your visions onto the Internet.

Do not think for a moment that anything is sacred when it comes to using the web, everything and everyone is an available target for viruses and auto-bots to attack and there is nothing to prevent the publishing of sometimes horrific and shocking photographs and movies.

Despite these moment to moment risks, most users of the Internet experience significantly higher rewards compared to the risks…even if only valuing the experience from an educational perspective.  I learned how to design by reading mass quantities of web pages and then trying out the instructions, saving myself perhaps thousands of dollars in tuition costs (although college certainly has a future appeal).

Therefore, if you are unfamiliar with how elements of the Internet work, such as e-mail and browsers, this may not be the moment to launch a new web site or blog.  You might want to spend a few days learning basic terminology and how elements such as e-mail works. This will help you promote your own site through social conversation since you’ll be able to invite people to communicate with you through the site and/or via e-mail.

You may decide you want a static web site that behaves like a basic interactive brochure because you don’t have a need to learn how to maintain a mailing list or frequently publish new content to your web site.

You may also be an old pro at basic kinds of stuff and instead need someone who knows how to program using HTML and CSS, design a few graphics and submit your site to the search engines and a few directories.

This is a huge topic I will try to explore in more depth throughout the year, but it is my belief that owning a piece of the Internet comes with certain responsibilities.  If you are ready to learn how to fulfill some of these technical obligations (such as keeping virus detecting software updated, installing browser and operating system patches, etc.) as well as honoring minor social rules and ettiquette (typing a message in all capital letters is read as if you were yelling the words at the reader, many people do not like to be included in mass mailings of jokes, etc.), the Internet community can open doors you never imagined possible.

So whether you intend on starting your own blog or hiring a Web Developer to set up an interactive storefront, if you are ready to begin a profound journey of a lifetime then joining the Internet is the right starting line for you.  And no matter what anyone says, the only person who will know when…and how…you should join the Internet community.

Definition and purpose of “The House That Caera Built” tag line

What does “The House That Caera Built” mean?

March 19, 2007 by Valerie Anderson

“The House That Caera Built” is the official phrase for any website designed by myself.  It can also be found on a few partner sites.

Internally it mean the website someone is looking at was designed to act as a “home” for information my clients want to publish to the Internet…and if I do my job properly, every visitor will feel welcome to browse around and if there is specific information they are looking for, they can find it with relative ease.

As with any brick and mortar building, there are certain standard elements that must be included unless the building will not stand properly.  The same goes for the websites I design, which include internal search engines, custom 404 pages, and other various elements that can sink a site to one of the lower rankings in the search engines.

Who really is Caera Kirsch?

Warning  —> Yup…still can’t whittle it down yet…but definitely closer!

Caera Kirsch isn’t a “who.”  It’s a “what.”  Caera Kirsch defines a signature style and approach to web development unique to each voice I reflect onto the Internet.

The Caera Kirsch brand is an attitude.  It represents a line actually drawn in the sands of a beach just to see what a line looks like drawn in the sand, wondering about what defines Oppositional Defiance Disorder…and then traveling home to write about it in an entertaining manner.

The Caera Kirsch brand is an aptitude.   It’s thinking about the Internet community as a whole and hearing a voice cry out,  “Go ahead, change my day!  I’m gonna keep up the best I can and watch out!  I know how to ask for help AND I’m a musician,” every time the headlines display some sort of confusing situation or scenario when it comes to reporting these rapidly profound changes that can pass through the day or night without so much as a blip on any type of radar system.

The Caera Kirsch brand is about being the best enhanced fundamentalist designer, always leaving behind the least amount of clutter and including the most fundamental values associated with identifying a site as a “user-friendly” site.  Traditional layout rules for newspapers translate well onto the Internet, although there remains some coding struggles when it comes to identical rendering in different browsers.  Some type of visitor counter is typically standard, even if it is built into the hosting service package.

Yes, my sense of CaeraKirsch identity is still waving around…

Who exactly is Valerie “Serendipity” Anderson

Brief overview biography of Valerie “Serendipity” Anderson

This web site contains a wide variety of information that will hopefully help me respond to the general question “who is Valerie Serendipity Anderson.”

I believe my two professional roles are best summarized as web developer and universal explorer and my two personal roles are that of musician and advocate.  Please feel free to review my resume from 15+ years as an administrative assistant and I hope this materials on this web site helps demonstrate my abilities from a portfolio perspective.

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Where does the “Serendipity” come from?

This definition of “serendipity” was supplied by www.dictionary.com and is being used in accordance with fair use copyright rules and regulations.

American Heritage Dictionary ser·en·dip·i·ty       (sěr’ən-dĭp’ĭ-tē)  Pronunciation Key n.   pl. ser·en·dip·i·ties The faculty of making fortunate discoveries by accident. The fact or occurrence of such discoveries. An instance of making such a discovery.

The artist in me added the word “Serendipity” in between my first and last name in a quest to gain some semblance of unique identity in this Internet-connected world and because this word comes close to summarizing my life.

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What’s in a name?

Tidbits of information about the name “Valerie” below are being used in accordance with fair use copyright rules and regulations.

There are a variety of definitions I have spotted around the Internet for the Latin name “Valerie” such as healthy, strong, to be strong, valor, and fierce one (the last one really invokes a sense of possibly over-dramatics…but it still “fits”)

From www.weddingvendors.com  Popularity statistics by decade (1880-2000) Recent Statistics by year (1996-2005)

From www.thinkbabynames.com  Valerie has 24 variant forms: Val, Valaree, Valarey, Valaria, Valarie, Vale, Valeree, Valeria, Valeriana, Valery, Valerye, Valka, Vallarie, Valleree, Vallerie, Vallery, Vallie, Vallorey, Vallorie, Vallory, Valorie, Vallrie, Valry and Valka.

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Knowledge is a powerful tool…

Augmented note to this entry: I am not well-schooled in marketing techniques and I still haven’t found a mere sentence or two that summarizes what goes into the web sites I design.  I’ll work on it!  LOL!