Creating The Schlog

The Schlog runs on WordPress software. There are many blog software programs out there, but I chose WordPress because that’s what Vlad Mazek uses, and he seems to know what he’s doing.

The site is hosted at HostICan, which I chose somewhat arbitrarily from a list of recommended WordPress hosts. It was previously hosted at AN Hosting (a.k.a. MidPhase), which was also a recommended WordPress host, but they sucked.

The look and feel of the blog comes from the AquaFluid theme, one of many free style templates available for WordPress. I reserve the right to change themes without notice! You’ll notice that the theme is “sponsored” by a credit card marketing company. That was the theme author’s idea, not mine. At the author’s request, I’ve left the sponsorship intact. I do not personally endorse the company.

To create and edit the content, I use the Windows Live Writer blog editor (also known as a weblog client). This allows me to compose and publish blog entries without logging into the blog’s web site. Its graphic-handling features are better than WordPress’s native features, so it’s much easier for me to copy and paste screen clips into my posts. There are several other blog editors compatible with WordPress, but I’m a Microsoft kind of guy.

Some Schlog editing and maintenance requires an FTP client. For example, I have to upload new themes and plugins this way. My FTP client of choice is ftp995, which I paid for as part of the Software995 suite.