{"id":747,"date":"2007-01-06T11:50:52","date_gmt":"2007-01-06T19:50:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maganda.org\/wordpress\/?page_id=747"},"modified":"2008-09-17T09:17:55","modified_gmt":"2008-09-17T16:17:55","slug":"faq","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/maganda.org\/wordpress\/faq\/","title":{"rendered":"frequently asked questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

I get lots of nice email with lots of good questions, but I don’t always have the time to answer them. This is a list of the most popular questions about my little space on the Web. If there are any I didn’t answer that you think I should add to this page, email me at christine[at]maganda.org. Thank you.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a> The Questions<\/strong><\/span>
\nWhat happened to the six colored squares?<\/a>
\nHow do you build and maintain this web site?<\/a>
\nI want a web site, too. How do I get started?<\/a>
\nCan you build my web site for me?<\/a>
\nHow do you make the graphics?<\/a>
\nCan I use your photos and\/or illustration(s) on my web site?<\/a>
\nHow do you get those footnote doodads and random link thingies?<\/a>
\nCan I link to maganda.org and will you link back?<\/a>
\nWhere do you find the inspiration?<\/a>
\nWhere do you find the time?<\/a>
\nWhat is this Good Things list I keep hearing about?<\/a>
\nDon’t you ever, you know, get sick of being so goddamn happy all the time?<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>What happened to the six colored squares?<\/strong>
\nOnce upon a time (Fall of 1999, actually), I registered the domain maganda.org and built my first web site<\/a>. I had an ancient computer with almost no software, but a whole lot to say. Color and HTML tables were the only things I knew how to manipulate back then, but I made it work. The six-colored squares were born. The minimalist design garnered a lot of recognition, including a Webby Award<\/a> nomination in the personal web site category and a couple mentions in college composition textbooks, all of which came as a complete shock and huge honor to me.<\/p>\n

But one of the reasons I fell in love with the Web in the first place is that it suits each whim and fancy. I wanted to play again. That’s when I moved the journal to today.maganda.org<\/a> and started incorporating my artwork<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Years later, I am still playing and learning.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>How do you build and maintain this web site?<\/strong>
\nI have a lovely little Macbook<\/a> that I adore. It has a 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB of RAM, 160 GB of hard drive space and the latest Mac operating system, Leopard. It’s zippy. I handcode my HTML in Text Wrangler. Then, I upload the files via an FTP client called Transmit FTP<\/a> or modify templates within a beautiful publishing tool called WordPress<\/a>. I constantly listen to music and drink an awful lot of coffee.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>I want a web site, too. How do I get started?<\/strong>
\nThere are many ways to make your mark on the Web. Hopefully, these tips will help you begin. Find the header that best describes you.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a>\u00bb I just want a place to write<\/strong><\/span><\/a>
\nIf you want a place to write and you’re not concerned much with learning HTML or web design, I recommend signing up for a free web journal at Livejournal.com<\/a>, Diaryland.com<\/a> or Typepad.com<\/a>. There are dozens of other places, but I am personally familiar with those three and I think they’re fantastic. For free, you can get a little web space of your own, archiving capabilities and access to a community of the hundreds of thousands of people who also keep journals at these sites. For a small fee, you can get even more features, like a place to store those cute photos of your cat.<\/p>\n

\u00bb I want a space of my own<\/strong><\/span>
\nIf you are ready for a space of your own, the first thing you need to do is decide whether you’re willing to pay for it. If you’re not, you can sign up at Geocities<\/a> for free web space. If you are willing to pay, you need to decide on a web domain and register it. There are dozens of places to do that, but I like Dotster<\/a>. Cheap. Easy. <\/p>\n

One step ahead of me? Good. Once you have your domain name, you need to find a host. I think Dreamhost<\/a> is the bee’s knees. For $10 a month, you get more storage than you may ever use, e-mail, autoresponders, mailing lists and form mails. I highly recommend them. If you do sign up, please tell them maganda.org sent you!<\/p>\n

\u00bb I’m ready to start building<\/strong><\/span>
\nGood for you! Anyone can learn HTML. If you are the sort who learns well by reading books, I recommend Learning Web Design<\/a> by the fabulous Jennifer Niederst<\/a> and HTML for the World Wide Web: The Visual Quickstart Guide<\/a>. I also recommend the online tutorials at Webmonkey.com<\/a>. Once you start building your site, you may find that the following resources come in handy: NYPL Style Guide<\/a> and Scripty Goddess<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Good luck and have fun!<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>Can you build my web site for me?<\/strong>
\nI do<\/em> do freelance web design, production and consulting for small businesses and independent boutiques. Check out my portfolio<\/a> for samples and more information. When you’re ready to talk, email me at info[at]darlingstudio.com.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>How do you make the graphics and where did you get those fonts?<\/strong>
\nThe illustrations are hand drawn, watercolored and scanned in. The black inky font that appears on a lot of my drawings is made with rubber type. I’m sure there are fonts that look like that, but I don’t know what they are.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a>All digital photos are taken with a Canon S-50<\/strike> Canon SD450. I like it because it fits in my tiniest handbag and takes decent pictures. On occasion, I still take my polaroid, Lomo LC-A and Holga out for a spin.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a>The font I use for the navigation is called Skryptaag.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>Can I use your photos and\/or illustration(s) on my web site?<\/strong>
\nNot without asking. Please email me at christine[at]maganda.org before using any of my photos or illustrations. It’s very likely I’ll let you use it. I just would like to know, first. If you want something special drawn up just for you, let me know! I love that kind of thing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>How do you get those footnote doodads and random link thingies?<\/strong>
\nThis funny little code called Javascript. I barely understand it myself, but you’re welcome to borrow the code if you want. That’s what I did.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>Can I link to maganda.org, and will you link back?<\/strong>
\nOf course you can, but I only link back to sites I actually visit or people that I know.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>Where do you find the inspiration?<\/strong>
\nEverywhere. Seriously.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a>From the people I come across to the places I go<\/a>, just around the corner<\/a> or 1,000 miles away<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There is beauty all around you. You just have to look.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>Where do you find the time?<\/strong>
\nI don’t take as many naps as I would like.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>What’s this Good Things list I keep hearing about?<\/strong>
\nThe Good Things list is an email newsletter I’ve been sending for a couple years now. I started keeping the lists in my journal during a bleak time in my life. I had gotten so used to seeing the bad stuff — too used to it — that I was losing sight of the good. Making a conscious effort to list them down every week helped me snap out of it. Soon, I realized there were far more blessings than curses in my life.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a>If you want a semiweeklyish dose of goodness (like this<\/a>) in your<\/em> life, enter your email address in this handy little form and click “yes, please.”<\/p>\n

<\/form>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>Don’t you ever, you know, get sick of being so goddamn happy all the time?<\/strong>
\nNo, because I’m not. I’m not happy all the time.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a>Yes, I love life. I see the positive. I am optimistic. But I also have bad days. I get cranky. I feel disillusioned. But I make the decision to write more about the positive than the negative. Don’t you think there’s enough of that out there?<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

^ Back to top<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I get lots of nice email with lots of good questions, but I don’t always have the time to answer them. This is a list of the most popular questions about my little space on the Web. If there are any I didn’t answer that you think I should add to this page, email me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/maganda.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/747"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/maganda.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/maganda.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/maganda.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/maganda.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=747"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/maganda.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":929,"href":"http:\/\/maganda.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/747\/revisions\/929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/maganda.org\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}