If you love the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy by Peter Jackson as we do, you will see why we get a kick out of the music video “They’re Taking the Hobbits to Isengard” by Erwin Beekvend. To view it, there is a link on his site at the bottom of the left hand side of the page… http://www.beekveld.com You can also view his cool photos while you are there.

The first time I heard it, I wasn’t too sure I liked it. Then the kids wanted to listen to it and it really started to stick like the Numa Numa funny music video did. Nerdy? Ok, call us nerds who like to have fun. Just be nice precious!

(* there is also a video called “Mashed Taters” with Sam and Gollum. You can find it here)
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I get asked certain questions about starting a website often. I thought I would go ahead and give some directions on here to help others who might need to know…

Steps to getting your DOMAIN NAME and HOSTING set up…

Step 1) Domain name : the name of your website (cost: yearly: usually $14.95). I usually purchase my domains through Its Your Domain . I have used them for years and have had no problems. Their back end is user friendly. Changing DNS (domain name servers), updating billing information, etc. are real easy. I recommend that you have your domain name AUTO RENEW so you don’t forget to renew them, or you will lose them.

Step 2) Hosting : the place where you store your files for your website (cost: monthly: usually $7, $10, or $15 or more depending on things you need). I never purchase my domain names and hosting from the same place. I never put all of my eggs in one basket in case something happens to one of them. For hosting, I use Host Gator and I have been EXTREMELY happy using their service. Host Gator also has lots of goodies for your website to utilize. Once you have purchased your domain name and your hosting, you need to point the DOMAIN NAME to the HOST by changing the DNS (domain name servers). I will tell you how in Step 3 and Step 4.

Step 3) You will have received an email notice that your domain name is purchased. You will also have received an email notice that your Host Gator account is active. Make sure you have also received your email notice from Host Gator that tells you the DNS (domain name servers) to use. The name servers for your domain to point to will look something like this: Nameserver: ns.hostgator.com. (there are two of these nameservers)

Step 4) You will now log into Its Your Domain and point your DOMAIN NAME to your Host Gator HOST where your files will reside. Here is how:
- Go to Its Your Domain
- Login and and go to the link that says “Change DNS/Hosting Info” (Modify Domain Name Server & IP addresses)
- Check the box beside your domain name that you need to change the DNS information on and click “Continue”
- On this next page, you will see a “DNS Information” table with four little boxes.
- Replace the first two domain name servers to the new ones from LiveRack.
- Click continue and you should be done.

After the steps above, you will either be hiring a website designer or creating the website yourself.

Keep in mind that it sometimes takes 24-48 hours to have the DNS updated across the internet.

Article Copyright © Wendy Shepherd - http://www.wendyshepherd.com
**May be reprinted with permission, credit, and link
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1.

Thanks Wendy! You are a wealth of information, Girl! I’ve thought about upgrading a couple of my websites; as you know, I use the freebies. I hate all the ads, but I must say, I learned a few things. So, I have a question, if I upgrade the website I had you look at last week, will I lose all the files in upgrading or will they stay intact??
Thank you for everything you do Wendy, it is appreciated. I especially love CHART JUNGLE.

Comment by tasha — 8/28/2005 @ 10:22 am
2.

Hi Tasha. I started out learning on the freebies also. I hated the ads and didn’t like that I wasn’t taken seriously as a website owner. The domains and hosting services were more expensive when I first started.

The files will have to be moved to your new host. If you are upgrading on the freebies host, you will have to read their instructions as to whether the files remain or not. Are you using their online editor or are you using hand coding, or an html editor?

Comment by Wendy Shepherd — 8/28/2005 @ 10:38 am

I love caller ID, but there are times that I have no idea who is calling. The phone calls show up as “Out of Area,” “Private Caller,” or they show a name and phone number I’m not familiar with. When that happens, I do a number of things :

1) I go on my computer and use my Google Toolbar, or you can just go to Google.com and type in the phone number that shows up on the caller ID. (with the dashes)

2) I go to http://www.whitepages.com and use the “Reverse Phone Number Lookup”.

3) I ignore it and figure if they really needed something, they would leave me a message on my answering machine. If I am here, I may even answer the phone but only once I have determined who is on the other end.

This saves me from having to deal with telemarketers and other unsolicited phone calls.

Oh, and in case you aren’t aware of it, you can have caller id on your phone calls that come in even when you are on the phone. This way you can see who is trying to call when you are on the phone and decide to keep talking or take another important call.

Article Copyright © Wendy Shepherd - http://www.wendyshepherd.com
**May be reprinted with permission, credit, and link
……………………………………
Comments : #1

but no one answers ever when I call
:(

Ah but you guys always call me back!
:)

Comment by Xerraire — 8/18/2005 @ 5:02 pm
#2

Hi Wendy,
Thanks for all the Google tips good info to know…
I also pay $1.00 a month on my phone bill to use something
that is called a privacy director when you get one of the phone calls that are unknown or not listed this service automatically picks up and lets you decide if you want to talk to them. You answer the phone and a voice will say caller state your name and then you will get three choices of what to do with the call
1 answer the call 2 caller reject or 3 sales call reject all without answering the phone call but hearing who the call is.
I love it when you click the sales call reject they never call back either. Well all for now have a great day.

Comment by Stephanie — 8/19/2005 @ 8:12 am
#3

That is interesting, I had never heard of the privacy director.

Comment by Wendy Shepherd — 8/21/2005 @ 1:24 am
#4

Hi Wendy,
Something else your phone company might offer, private call rejection. That means your phone doens’t even ring unless the caller unblocks their number, unless it’s a doctors office, those are the only ones that get through on my phone. I think we pay $2.00 a month for it, but it is a piece of mind. Just thought this might help. Have a great day!

Comment by Janet — 12/15/2005 @ 9:35 am

I have been working on our local newspaper for a few years. I am the webmaster that puts the latest issue online. Starting this week, I have been working on TWO local newspapers. The new one is for another town near my town. The newspaper for both towns are created by the same people - take a peek
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Barb is a friend that my husband and I met online at first, and then offline a couple of times over the years. We have lots in common including homeschooling, webdesign, creating graphics, and more. My husband and Barb love to tease about having her daughter and my son betrothed. At this time, both preteen kids are 11 going on 12.During this last year I have been sending clients and work to Barb. She is very good at what she does and very attentive to clients I send her. Her talent shows all through her websites…

- Xerraire Art - Personal Art Sites

- Skins Gallery & MXSkinz - Skins Sites

- Unique Exposures - Photography Sharing Site & Forum

- Xerraire - Barb’s webdesign and personal website, where you will also find her blog

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It was needed for a longgggggggggg time! A new look / design for ChartJungle. It took me several days to complete the transfer and organize the links into categories. I have already seen an increase in new subscribers, but that could also be because of school starting. I certainly hope that the new design helps make it easier for people to find the charts they need.
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Graphic Pod .com was a website that I used for website design before I started using Studio Matrix .com. I shut down Graphic Pod and forwarded the website traffic over to Studio Matrix for a bit.Recently an online friend, Paul Reeves, and I had been talking about how he wanted to sell his 3d graphics and paintings over the internet. He offered me a partnership. He will provide the 3d graphics, paintings, and tutorials. I will provide the website work, development, marketing, etc. The 3d graphics will be available for purchase online and downloaded. The paintings will be sold as originals and prints. I offered to have Graphic Pod .com used for the new website. He agreed. So with this renewed vision, Graphic Pod .com will be recreated! - Visit Here (nearly ready)
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