Technical Support
If you are personally familiar with our family, you probably know that we are a very technology heavy bunch. My kids each have tablets, and they are only 1 1/2 and 3 1/2. I’m a Mac girl as far as computers go, but my husband uses PCs and we’re all Android, all the way, for small devices. My husband is a Developer & Software Engineer and we each have our own websites(s).
We are who our parents call for input when making a purchase or trying to fix something. We are often the source of hand-me-down technology, as my husband’s field requires staying up to date with current options. I’ve had requests to design websites, or work on digital scrapbooks, but I turn them all down because, well, I DO have a full time job. Being a Stay-At-Home-Mom isn’t like being on an extended vacation; alone, and bored.
Anyway, It is a delight, most of the time, to be able to help those that we care about in these areas. Behind the scenes, though, we’re learning every day, and there are some days when I’m especially glad that I married a Nerd! Live-in Tech Support is a BIG deal in this house!
Yesterday, my son’s tablet wouldn’t start up. It would try, and then die. I tried, to no avail, to get it to start up, attached to the charger, but I had no success. Honestly, it was a miracle it took this long to start having issues.. the cord was a MESS. Our son is very self-sufficient, and liked unplugging and re-plugging his tablet all on his own. The problem was, he’s not really old enough to understand why you don’t just go around pulling on cords to get them out. So… last night, we went on a house-wide search for the detachable keyboard that also works as a backup battery, to test the charger. Fun, fun, fun.
After a night of “charging,” we mutually agreed that the tablet was pulling energy from the keyboard (a good sign,) but that the keyboard also couldn’t take a charge from the cord. So… we had a family road trip, 35 minutes Plus, just to buy a replacement charger. Yep. It was that necessary!
But it’s not all about broken cords and basic desktop support. We each maintain our own websites. My husbands’ site is dedicated to Android Development and he also writes Android applications. He’s amazing… and I’m not just saying that! My website is a whole different story. I started it when we were living in Alaska, and it was on Blogger then. When I needed an outlet where I could share the latest happenings with our family, my husband bought me my own domain and helped us move the site to WordPress. And then… Then the fun began.
On WordPress, I discovered that I could have multiple sites, to keep things organized. I had a lot of fun with a basic theme and was on a roll. Recently, I started working towards monetizing the site. He introduced me to Google Adsense and Amazon Affiliate Links. Google pays per click for ads that you place for them on your website. Amazon allows you to do links to their site with a connection to you, and you get a referral fee for each purchase made through those clicks. They also offer generic banners, or banners specific to a certain category, and offer special promotions throughout the year. Personally, I like Amazon’s setup much more, so as I’ve been giving the sites makeovers, I’ve been using them instead of Google in most cases.
Also, I’ve been playing around with WordPress themes! There is an amazing selection of different themes to use for websites. I use foto by Satrya for my Gardening Site. I use Pinboard by OneDesigns for most of the other sites that I run (including this one.) The biggest challenge for me was figuring out all of the settings. I was used to just adjusting text and uploading header images. (I make all of my header graphics myself by making collages in Picasa and then cropping, BTW.) In these themes, however, each post needed a featured image – a feature I had never used, let alone knew existed.
Additionally, I had some gripes with a few of the design aspects. Hubby taught me an amazing trick. He taught me to use Google Chrome to view my site and then right click on the part of the page that frustrated me and click inspect element. This gave me a direct view of the actually coding for the page, and I could make changes there in Chrome to preview what they would do. It’s more complicated than that, and I don’t know the proper terminology, so I won’t try to pretend I fully grasped it… BUT, I am now able to make some changes to the CSS files of my themes, and change some of the things that I don’t like, without much (or often any) assistance. This is HUGE! I love being able to handle things on my own. The last thing I want my computer dude to have to do when he gets home is work on more computers, right?
I also learned how to make a page on Facebook for my website, though I somehow managed to screw up it’s category. That’s been a delight, and has provided an awesome way to reach some of the sites’ followers. Additionally, to help me stay active in “real” life and not just online, I also created a Meetup Group so that I can schedule playdates and make new friends. You know, the kind that you don’t just count on Facebook, but who your kids recognize and whom you’d invite over for dinner? 😉 It’s working. I’m a busier bee than I’ve been in a long time!
It’s been a learning experience, as is all of life, and I’m really excited to be learning with the Love of my Life! He helps me stretch my limits and go places I never thought possible. Stay tuned. It can only get better!
