WordPress | Web Designer.

A journey of a thousand sites begins with a single click.  ~Author Unknown

Hello to my followers, just found a great site I wanted to share with you all which I hope in turn will have some good content if you are looking for ideas, hint and tips for building your own website, or you are interested in learning what more you can do if you have already started.

I bought ‘Web Design’ magazine in my local newsagent recently, as I wanted to continue my own learning and research for updating and  making my WordPress website even better.  And I am also looking to get the best up to date thoughts for plugins and the like for other websites I am working on and hope to start in the near future.  I have already used one of the recommended WordPress plugins from the magazine.  My last post ‘My Website More Mobile’, using a plugin to make my website more mobile device friendly.  And I am sure as I filter through Web Designer internet site I will find more interesting facts, hints and tips to help grow my website and of course make mslilpetamattschoss.com, an even better website for all of you.  I have not fully dived into the website or the magazine, at times MslilPeta a little time poor   unfortunately, but it doesn’t stop me from passing on a good find to help syndicate a good source of information from other ‘Web’ and ‘Internet’ peeps out there.

So check these guys out, and also stayed tuned for any cool little widgets, tip or hints I can also say that I have tried and am using for any and all websites I am working on.  Always looking to help out and keep you up to date with what does or doesn’t work for me.

WordPress Sites configured for Mobile Devices

‘The Mobile Web Initiative is important – information must be made seamlessly available on any device.’
Tim Berners-Lee

Hi there folks… MsLil Peta catching up with you all after a bit of a lull.  I have been busy getting a local jewellery shop online and setting up their online sales/blog site, so I have been a little behind the times with my own posts, but here is another quick installment for you all to have read and maybe implement into your own sites.

Even though have been quite busy working and setting up another website, I have also been doing more reading, and learning about the web and getting my site (and of course yours with my tips) out there and providing a site that suits all users that will visit your or my site on their internet ‘surf’.  As you know I love my iPhone and use this device a lot, and of course you can view the internet quite seamlessly and at any time with such a mobile device.  And of course there is now the evolution of Android phones and the iPad which is also getting more and more people connecting to the net and searching and finding the information they are after at anytime and anywhere.  Using Safari on Apple devices, or your mobile devices browser, you can connect to websites as you please, but it is getting more and more important and possibly better that all websites, maybe more so for blogs, can also have a mobile device option within the site so that mobile device users can view their favourite website, like mslilpetamattschoss.com, in a mobile friendly format.

I have since found such a plug-in for WordPress which I am quite happy with, and does, make my site mobile friendly without losing to much integrity.  Of course on an iPhone/iPod or iPad you can view my and many other sites in normal view, but having found WPTouch, I now have a mobile device friendly website.  WPTouch is a plug-in accessed through your WordPress dash, in the plug-ins section.  Do a specific search for WPTouch and install immediately to your dash and of course your site.  For those who like to you can download the plug-in and upload to WordPress as you need.  The WPTouch plug-in comes with a large amount of options and tweaking if you prefer and of course comes with a Pro version which adds even more features.  I am using the standard program and as shown below, which looks fine and allows a better mobile view of my site.

Of course I do like to view my site in full as on the web, I am the type of person who likes the BIG picture so to speak.  But we are all at a time when building our websites for blogging, selling or whatever the reason, that we need to think of the more mobile society we are part of, and connecting with readers in a mobile friendly way.

‘Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.”
Mitchell Kapor

Getting Back Into What I Love!!

‘Life is Like a piano… what you get out of it depends on how you play it!’ ~ Unknown

‘Music can change the world, because it can change people’ ~ Bono

“In art the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can inspire. ” Ralph Waldo Emerson

Well readers it has been a little too long between posts, but let’s rectify that today. As I blog I am sitting on the Cairns esplanade. Although about to be rained on, blogging is something you can enjoy doing from anywhere, any time. In an earlier post, I let you all know about the ‘Blogpress’ app available for iPhone, which allows blogging from anywhere to your favorite blog, or blogs. Since then I have found Blogpress, there have been continued updates to make it even better and also being available for iPad. More ways to get your ideas and thoughts out there.

Although, I have taken a step back and to the side, working on a different angle for business, it is good to know that I can still access and post content to my site anywhere! Home business and creating the freedom you need is still very popular, and I think will maintain popularity. A large part of a home business is keeping up to date and finding ways to communicate to your team, or spark the interest of new prospects and again being able to blog and share from anywhere is a great tool.

“For a long time now I have tried simply to write the best I can. Sometimes I have good luck and write better than I can.” Ernest Hemingway

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Esplanade,Cairns North,Australia

Home computers are being called upon to perform many new functions, including the consumption of homework formerly eaten by the dog.

~Doug Larson

Hello to my followers, readers and well ALL of you out there.  I have just gone through some of the comments and thoughts from some of you, and have found this question quite often…. ‘what web hosting do you use?’.

Before I answer quite definitively and therefore ending the post quite quickly, you as a new or old blogger, site builder, or internet dabbler need to make sure you do your own due diligence and research all possibilities.  You also have to make sure what your are choosing will cater to the needs of you, the customer and user of the hosting.  There are a few hosting rating sites out there, from independent sources, which rate hosting companies and, truth be told, is where I started my search.  I also researched some of the options used by my mentors in home business and blogging and took my time in finally deciding.

As an avid reader of my site you may have noted to the right of my blogs a ‘sponsors’ area where you will find a link to the hosting company I use and also have recommended to new friends and customers of mine – Just Host.  I can hear all your questions already – WHY Just Host?  Well it boiled down to a few key items of particular interest to me.  Probably the most important was the support available, which includes live chat, anytime, for smaller issues, and the fact that there is customer support in 3 different time zones including Australia which is home for me.  Tech and Customer support are excellent, relatively quick response to any and all issues.  And you can upgrade your account to have ‘priority’ support, but you don’t really even need to.  I do have ‘priority’, but for a friends website I am currently working on they do not and the support and follow-up times are just as good.

Of course another key reason for choosing Just host is pricing and the options available to get you up and blogging or what ever you are using you websites for.  Keeping this in mind there are so many other options and extras you can upgrade to or have as part of your account.  Too many to list here, but I do have the ‘Green Hosting’ option, and as I quoted above, ‘Priority support’ – always handing for those not always confident to work out issues with websites, a good safety net.  But of course it is all up to you, your budget and what you will need from a hosting company.  I have used other hosting companies and all fine, some more expensive, but for the expense they do most of the work for you, and others like Just Host where it is up to you and your creativity.

I have added this link for you all to follow for a simple comparison of web hosting companies – http://www.webhostingsearch.com/

Just Host Link – (get started now!!) -  Just to the right, and down the page a bit     - – - – >

Blog Posts, Article Writing – What I do, which suits me…

A word is not the same with one writer as with another.  One tears it from his guts.  The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket.  ~Charles Peguy

In recent weeks I have had some readers and subscribers ask me if I have a copywriter for the articles I post on this blog.  Short answer… No! But that doesn’t mean it is a bad thing to use a copywriter or that you shouldn’t look into using a copywriter if you wish.  During some of my social media research and reading over the past year I have noted that it is a common occurrence that people all over the net, who post on blogs or other article submission sites do use copywriters.  I say go for it… why not, but at this point in time, and I never may, use a copywriter.  For me it is just another cost for an online home business still making its mark and becoming established.  I also feel that everyone has a certain amount of writing skill, and you never know how much if you never try I say.  Some of your best achievements can be from having a go!  Of course you may start out slowly, or even shyly only concentrating on one subject that you know everything about, but time and effort are our friends people so give writing for your own blog a go.

My only tips for writing articles that seem to reach those interested and even those who didin’t know they were interested are as follows.

Write about what you know, have done some research about, and definitely what you are passionate about.  Everyone has a subject that they are passionate about…. I guess unfortunately for me I have many subjects, but they all inter-connect with each other in some way.

Write from the heart AND mind, people will know that you have something to offer if you, yourself believe in what you are sharing.  Personal experience is a great way to bring a message home.  People, readers, certainly like being able to relate to a subject or a thought… Stir up the – ‘hang on, that happened to me, I understand’ thoughts in your blog readers.

Funny but true, seriously, I write like I talk.  Hmm that is a bit funny isn’t it?  Well I do.  I don’t stand on street corners on a soap box trying to speak to the masses, but my glimpses of wit and general sense of fun whilst delivering a message is in my personality and I certainly don’t change how I write or get the message across just because I am writing it.  If you want an academic approach or a thesis, well you won’t really find it here.  I certainly include the facts as I know them and use quoted material to back up my thoughts, always noted to the original writer, but I write to my readers like I was having a conversation over coffee.  It is relaxed and informal, but still factual and information and experience that I have found helpful in my journey.

I think with writing like anything, if you like something you will read it or understand it and be glad you found the article.  If you don’t like what you are reading or you can’t seem to get into what you are reading, maybe there is better information out there for you or someone with a different way of presenting the information for you.  Again you can use a copywriter if you want to, but research and find the person who fits you and your style of presenting information.  There are many many copywriters available online and I am sure you will find one if that is what you are looking for.  Otherwise, I am also sure that you can also write blog posts or articles and publish yourself.  Have a go … I did! 

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.  ~Sylvia Plath

Million Purrs – The Cats’ alternative to Million Paws – RSPCA Australia

Hi there all, Sooty here, just hoping that you all might drop by my profile and hopefully donate a dollar or two to a great cause.  I was rescued from the RSPCA as you would have seen from an earlier post here on mslilpetamattschoss.com, so I am doing my part to try and give a little back.  If you are also a cat lover, you can also get involved… the more the merrier – Meow meow ow!! Whoo hoo Please click the title to follow the link….

Of all the toys available, none is better designed than the owner himself.  A large multipurpose plaything, its parts can be made to move in almost any direction.  It comes completely assembled, and it makes a sound when you jump on it.  ~Stephen Baker

What will the Chinese Lunar Year Bring?

MsLilPeta – What Were We Talk’n About??: Positive Journal.

Write things down… Even if just bullet points!  Keep your memory full of the good that happens to you, and have added to your day even in the toughest times.  Good does happen, even if it is sitting in the sun for 10 minutes or listening to your favourite piece of music or winning the lottery.  Be positive and visualise the good you encounter and how you will create more good for yourself.

Positive Journal

‘Journal Writing is a voyage into the interior.’ – C Baldwin

2010 – Year of the Tiger

‘Review the old and deducing the new makes a teacher.’ – Confucius

‘In this world I would rather live two days like a tiger, than two hundred years like a sheep.’ – A Beatson

February 14th 2010 sees in the new Chinese Lunar year of the Tiger.  It also happens to be St Valentines Day as well, but any New Year is a New Start.  There are 12 animals in the Chinese Astrological charts and these unlike Western Astrology or Star signs, remain for the Lunar year.

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is also called “Lunar New Year”, because it is based on the lunisolar Chinese calendar. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month (Chinese: ??; pinyin: zh?ng yuè) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. Chinese New Year’s Eve is known as chú x?. It literally means “Year-pass Eve”.

Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese Lunar Calendar. The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Ancient Chinese New Year is a reflection on how the people behaved and what they believed in the most. – Wikipedia

Being a New Year, so to speak, it is always nice to know that it could also mean a fresh start.  And I am always looking for a fresh start or a new spring board to bounce off and being new things and give energy into other tasks or goals that need new focused attention.  I, myself happen to be a Tiger, grrrr , and hope that with a shift in they way I think and feel and working harder to change my situation as it stands now, into something even better stronger and hopefully a motivation for others, that the Chinese Lunar Year of the Tiger will be overwhelmingly auspicious and well…. GREAT!!

There are plenty of places on the net where you find out which Lunar sign you are, and indeed the Earth sign to go with your specific year, which helps also with Feng Shui and in turn creating abundance and much more.  For a quick reference to see if you are a Tiger, check below;

People born within these date ranges can be said to have been born in the “Year Of The Tiger,” while also bearing the following elemental sign: (Wikipedia)

• 8 February 1902 – 28 January 1903: Water Tiger
• 26 January 1914 – 13 February 1915: Wood Tiger
• 13 February 1926 – 1 February 1927: Fire Tiger
• 31 January 1938 – 18 February 1939: Earth Tiger

• 17 February 1950 – 5 February 1951: Metal Tiger
• 5 February 1962 – 24 January 1963: Water Tiger
• 23 January 1974 – 10 February 1975: Wood Tiger
• 9 February 1986 – 28 January 1987: Fire Tiger
• 28 January 1998 – 15 February 1999: Earth Tiger
• 14 February 2010 – 2 February 2011: Metal Tiger

People that are born in the Year of the Tiger are generally well liked because of their charismatic personalities. Often, failing at a given duty or being unproductive in his personal or professional life can cause a Tiger to experience a deep sense of depression.A Tiger is always at their happiest when they endeavor to climb the ladder of success. Attaining the top spot is his foremost purpose; being in a position of power is her ultimate goal. They are quick learners, need to be challenged and often prefer to work alone. Some Tigers tend to change careers more frequently because they get bored quite easily. They are natural born leaders and perform at their best if working towards positions of power and influence. So once there is no further room for progression, they will often move on to something else.

Anyone that is born in the Year of the Tiger is usually straightforward and outgoing by nature. They will never give up no matter how aggravated they may become. But, they are also full of suspicion and at times will take hasty action. Never lose sight of the fact that Tigers are smart and instinctive. – Full Article CLICK HERE

Enjoy the new Chinese Lunar New Year, and always live to what you know and want.  Be positive and instinctive, like the Tiger.  Find what motivates you to do what you need to do; reach those goals you have set and enjoy the feeling of ‘keeping your eyes on the prize’.