Introduction to W is for Web and the evolution of Sandra Cheese (Week 1)

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 Hi there!  I'm Sandra Cheng, and I've been an artist for many years.  These days I'm trying to get more serious with working online while balancing it with mental health and volunteer work.  I admit, it's difficult and possibly crazy-making to keep up with technology.  

 

 

I get stressed by the sheer volume of what is actually out there to learn, and a website can be in and of itself, not only difficult to create, but just as hard to maintain, especially if you're looking to make it into a place where you manage your business.  I'm here for any one at any stage of their journey to making their best website(s) for whatever you are looking to achieve.  Sometimes that means I'll be learning with you, and you'll be able to direct me to what I need to do for you.  I will do my best to be a self-starter and find what it is that will get your goals met.  

If you are someone who has never built a website before, it can be daunting.  I think of it as a place to learn more both about the technical end of things while experimenting with tried and true business practices.  It's a lot of things at once, but it's not impossible to learn if you're willing.  Please feel free to let me know what you're interested in doing, and I'll try to keep myself available for you.  I don't need to teach you everything about it from soup to nuts, and I'm perfectly willing to keep my own trade secrets to myself.  However, I'm open to collaboration, and willing to learn from you as well. 

My philosophy is that programming, like almost anything we can get our hands on, is an art form.  And even our choices of what platform we use to work with can be part of that.  Drag and drop programs like Wordpress, SquareSpace, and Carrd offer themes that people can choose from, to make their designs easier to choose from, usually with a template that offers specific primary colors, fonts, and other design choices that artists have already set up for us. We can customize those options or work from scratch.  There are plugins, widgets, and apps that can be pulled into these websites, some of which can be customized further, providing a really unique look for our sites, while offering more functionality. 

 

Lately, I've been trying to program my own customized analog clock from scratch.  Hopefully I'll be able to post a successful version of that later this year, and you'll probably see that pop up on my website somewhere close to the "Contact" button.  I think this is a useful thing to help others get a sense of my local time, which is especially helpful to those living in other parts of the world where time zones can be very different.  I'm willing to work with anyone internationally, and I hope this new clock will show that.  I am bringing this idea to the table early prior to a possible international move in the future.

Another project I've been working on is crafting a set of fingerless gloves with a new crochet stitch I've learned.  It's called the "Waistcoat Stitch" and it mimics the look and feel of knitting.  I already know how to knit, but I've been curious about this new stitch and its flexibility.  I was also thinking of possibly creating a quilt that is miter stitched on one side in crochet and matched with other similar kinds of fabrics like polar fleece, terry cloth, and other fuzzy things on the other in a truly "crazy quilted" sort of way.

And the two websites I've most likely worked on last are "Wildflowers' Movement" or "Los Angeles County Client Coalition" because I'm the one that updates them to reflect the latest new meetings. I'm also constantly looking for better and more efficient ways to improve SEO techniques.  I'll be doing that next in fact while I write this.  I think my next query will be "how do I customize my SEO techniques for Bing index improvements"?

 

One of the newest improvements I've made to my "W is for Web" site is that I've embedded a payment button from the EventBrite page.  I wonder if I'll have even one guest for this webinar.  I think the interesting thing about not having any guests, is that I can still prepare for the meeting and perform without an audience. So far I've created an online presentation, but now I need to write something for the actual event.

I hope everyone had a great Holiday week!  Happy New Year 2024!

For now I'll leave you with this article about other web design blogs to read:

https://ruttl.com/blog/best-2022-web-design-blogs/

 

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