Author: Sarah

- Sarah 16 Comments

Going self-hosted // Why should I do it?

Why should I go self-hosted?

So you’ve started a blog, you’re using WordPress or Blogger and everything seems to be going well. Then you notice other bloggers talking about going self-hosted – sounds like something you should be getting in on. But what exactly does being self-hosted mean, and why would you want to do it?

I’ve recently moved Toby Goes Bananas to be self-hosted and I’ve had quite a few other bloggers asking me what the benefits are and whether they need to do it too. And then there are people who have taken the plunge and gone self-hosted but then have found themselves floundering in an unknown sea of lost followers, confusing WordPress plugins and nothing is quite how it was before. I’m no technical blog-guru but I know enough to find my way around so I thought I would write a few posts about the self-hosting process and hopefully I can help out a few other bloggers along the way.

First up then:

What exactly does being self-hosted mean?

If you have a blog on WordPress or Blogger (or any other blogging platform) you are using a bit of their web space for free. They are hosting your blog for you. When you sign up for either of these you will be given a blog address, a URL, which is your blog name followed by .blogspot.com or .wordpress.com. There’s nothing wrong with either of these blogging platforms but you might decide that the URL is a bit long and you want something a bit more personal. You’ve then got two options. Either you can keep using the bit of internet that you’ve already got for free and just get your own domain name (more on that later) or you can pay a hosting company to give you your own bit of webspace, with your own domain name, and your blog will become self-hosted. Being self-hosted basically means you are paying to rent space on the internet for your blog and therefore you have complete control over what you do with it.

Which brings us to:

Why do I want to be self-hosted?

That depends.

Blogger

If you use Blogger and are happy with how it works then you probably don’t need to be self-hosted. There isn’t much that Blogger doesn’t do. You may want to use your own domain name to make the blog more personal. You can buy a domain name from a number of domain registrars. The easiest thing is to do a Google search for ‘buy domain name’ and see what comes up. It costs from a couple of pounds up to about five pounds for a domain name per year depending what you want. One tip is to choose something relatively short and easy to remember. It makes sense to have the same domain name as your blog name, if this isn’t available then try adding ‘blog’ to the end of it. You can then change your .blogspot.com domain name to your own custom one and Blogger doesn’t charge for this.

WordPress

If you have a blog on WordPress.com then there are some things you can’t do. If you don’t want to do any of these things then again, you probably don’t need to move your blog to be self-hosted. A few of the things that you can’t do on WordPress.com are; have any advertising, use javascript (which means you can host giveaways using Rafflecopter or host a linky), you also have very limited options for customising the look of your blog although there are lots of themes available for free or to buy. If you are happy without these features but want your own domain name then again you can do this with WordPress.com but in addition to buying your domain name WordPress also charge $13 a year to use your own domain name. You can also buy upgrades from WordPress which allow you to customise your theme but to be honest, if you are going down that road then it will work out cheaper in the long run to make the move to a self-hosted blog.

The advantages of a self-hosted WordPress blog

If you choose a self-hosted blog then the majority of people choose to use WordPress. When you have set up your hosting package then you can install WordPress on to your new site. If you’ve been using WordPress.com previously you’ll find that initially things look very similar. The main advantages of a self-hosted WordPress blog is that it is entirely customisable. You can still use free themes or buy one and you then have free reign to edit the theme to get the layout and design you want (or pay someone else to do it for you!). The big difference though is the ability to add additional features to your blog using plugins. I’m going to do a blog post devoted to plugins but basically they are add-ons which allow you to do pretty much anything you want from SEO (more on that later too), adding related posts, allowing readers to Pin images directly from your blog to Pinterest and literally hundreds of other things. If you want to boost traffic to your site then going self-hosted and using some of the available plugins can really help.

What does it cost?

This is the big question I suppose, and may ultimately be the deciding factor in whether or not you choose to go self-hosted. If blogging is just a hobby to you and you aren’t really interested in increasing traffic or working with brands then your free Blogger or WordPress blog will probably do you just fine. However, if you want to make your blog a bit more ‘professional’ to make it more appealing to brands and grow your readership then going self-hosted may well be worth it. If you don’t already have your own domain name then you are looking at up to £5 a year to register your domain (and don’t forget to renew it when the time comes or it could be snapped up and used by someone else!) and then anything from £15 to £100 per year for a hosting package. For a standard blog you probably only need a fairly basic package – mine costs £34.99 per year. If you have had your .blogspot.com or .wordpress.com blog address for a while you might also want to pay for readers to be automatically redirected to the new blog, at least for a while. I already had this set up with WordPress – again it costs $13 a year and it means if anyone types my old address or clicks on an old link it will automatically send them to the new blog. You don’t have to do this though – you could just put a post on your old blog (unless you actually delete it, it will still be there on the internet) and let people find their own way to the new one.

 

If you are a blogger considering going self-hosted then hopefully this information will help you make the decision. If you have any other questions that I haven’t covered then please do leave me a comment or tweet me on @tobygoesbananas and I’ll do my best to answer. And if you’ve decided to go ahead and make the move then you can find out more in my other posts on going self hosted:

Going self-hosted – How do I do it?

Going self-hosted – A guide to WordPress plugins for the newly self-hosted

- Sarah 4 Comments

Waiting for Daddy (The Ordinary Moments #16)

Every week day, at quarter past five, I put Toby in the car and we go and pick his dad up from the station. Usually if we’re early we wait in the car for the train to get in, and Toby usually starts getting a bit squirmy if we have to wait for more than a few minutes. So yesterday as the last of the day’s sun was still in the sky, and as a part of my new ‘operation get more fresh air’ we got out of the car, put Toby in the buggy and went down to the platform to wait for the train.

waiting for daddy

Toby was by parts excited and somewhat bemused to be somewhere new, and outside, particularly at the end of the day.

Waiting for daddy

He also seemed to enjoy watching the gulls that were flying overhead. I was happy to get these pictures while we were waiting for daddy. And daddy was happy that we were there on the platform to meet him off the train.

Waiting for Daddy and birdwatching

mummy daddy me

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- Sarah 1 Comment

Living Arrows 9/52

It’s week nine of the I Heart Snapping Living Arrows project and I’ve not got too much to say about this week’s picture…apart from, just look at him! He’s too cute.

Baby portrait photo

Toby is usually very amenable to having his photo taken – he must be so used to it now, we’ve been doing it almost every day since he was born. I love his expression on this next photo though – it’s just as if he’s saying ‘that’s enough now mum!’. He’s got so much personality these days and I love when I manage to capture it on camera.

Pouting baby photo

living arrows
- Sarah 4 Comments

I AM normal

On Saturday night I wrote a very honest and emotional post. I was amazed and somewhat overwhelmed from the response I got, both from people who took the time to comment on the post and those who tweeted me. It seems that I’m not alone, and that what I’m feeling is entirely normal. So many people said ‘I could have written this myself’. It was wonderful to get messages of support from people I have never met, who only know me through reading this blog (and support from the people who do know me too.)

And do you know what? I feel so much better now. I’m not saying this is some miraculous recovery and I’m suddenly never going to feel sad, or tired, or overwhelmed again. But simply writing about how I was feeling has helped me to feel better about everything. And it helped me to talk to my husband about it all when he got home yesterday afternoon too.

It’s so strange, because when I’m thinking rationally, and feeling OK about things it’s hard to remember why I was crying before. It’s hard even to remember how awful I felt. And when I feel OK, it’s hard to imagine that the tears will come again. I’m sure they will though, at some point, and I’m still planning on going to see my GP to talk about things. But after talking to my husband we have come up with a few other plans to try and improve things too.

We all agree that everything is better when Toby and I get out somewhere every day, so that’s going to be something we try and do from now on. (And today, when the sun was shining, and the first flowers of spring are starting to show, everything feels a lot less desperate somehow!). I’m also going to go back to my amateur dramatics group when they start rehearsing for their new show soon. Dancing and musicals is something I’ve been involved in for years, but haven’t done since I got pregnant. Going back will give me something to do for myself, I’ll get to enjoy time with my friends and forget about being a mum for a couple of hours every week. I’ve got a solo trip to London to look forward to at the end of this month too – a whole night and day away!

So anyway, I just wanted to write a quick update and to say thank you so much to everyone who commented, tweeted, or just read my other post and I hope it’s maybe helped someone else feel a bit about things too.

- Sarah 15 Comments

Am I normal?

Some days are fine. Hell, some weeks are fine. And then there are days like today where I start crying and I don’t know why and I don’t know how to stop.

I love my baby. We wanted him. I wanted him. I still do. But I hate myself because I find looking after him, day after day, so hard. The days when we have things to do, places to go, those days aren’t too bad. But when we’re at home, and it’s just me and him, I count down the minutes until it’s nap time again, or bed time. And Toby isn’t even any trouble. He’s such a good boy. He hardly cries, he goes to sleep on his own whenever I put him in his cot. So why is it so god damn hard?

I’m on my own this weekend, which makes it worse. The weekend is my respite, it’s what gives me the strength to make it through another week. But this weekend my husband has gone to stay with his parents, because soon they are moving away from the town he grew up in, the house he grew up in, the place where his friends still live. And when I broke down in tears again last week he said he wouldn’t go. He said he would stay at home and help me. But I told him to go. I told him we’d be fine. I never want to be the wife whose husband isn’t allowed to go anywhere. Isn’t allowed to go out with his friends and have fun. And he needs a break too. He commutes for three hours a day to a job he doesn’t even like very much so that he can provide for us, and then at the weekends he often looks after our baby so I can have a break.

I’ve tried to talk to my husband about it. About the crying. But he wants me to explain what’s wrong so he can find a way to fix it. What’s wrong? I don’t know what’s wrong. Nothing is wrong. Everything is wrong. I’m tired. I’m sad. I miss me. I miss who I was before. I feel like I’m suffocating, drowning in the sea of responsibility. Knowing that it’s going to be years and years before I have any kind of freedom again.

I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to feel like this any more. I love my baby. I want to be happy and enjoy the time I spend with him. Maybe it will be better when I go back to work. But then I feel guilty for looking forward to the day when I don’t have to look after my own child all day, every day. That isn’t right. I should want to be with him. I do want to be with him. But I’m not coping. Not now. Not how it is now.

I don’t know if I should publish this. Who will it help? My husband will feel bad that he went away. That he doesn’t know how to help me. And that I’m telling the internet about my problems instead of talking to him. But I hate how he looks at me when I try and talk to him. Like I’m some fragile vase that he’s scared to break. I don’t want to be her. The woman who cries all the time. The woman who can’t look after her baby. I don’t want to be her. I want to be me again. The me I used to be was strong, and capable, and could cope with things. I don’t want to be the woman with post-natal depression.

Is that what this is? It is, isn’t it.

 

- Sarah 1 Comment

Blog your heart out

blog your heart out

I was tagged by Lucy at Sons brighten up my day to complete this Blog Your Heart Out meme and although I’ve done a few lately I thought this one had some good questions and would maybe give you a bit more insight into how Toby Goes Bananas came about.

Who/what encouraged you to start blogging?

I’ve had a blog since 2009 – I used to blog about all aspects of my life from my travel adventures, reviews of comedy gigs I’d been to, my weight loss attempts and anything else I fancied. (My old blog is still there if you fancy a look, although I never update it anymore – We Must Be Bold) When I had Toby though I knew the audience of my old blog wouldn’t really be interested in a family-orientated blog about my new baby. I started reading other parenting blogs during night feeds when Toby was tiny and when he was about three months old I decided to set up a new baby blog of my own. And so Toby Goes Bananas was born.

How did you chose what topics to blog about?

I knew Toby Goes Bananas was going to be a blog about my new baby and my family so I blog about anything to do with us and our life really.

What is something most people don’t know about you?

I once spent the night at the top of Blackpool Tower.

What three words describe your style?

I don’t think I have a style! If I had to pick three words to describe me they would probably be organised, thoughtful and straight-forward.

What do you love to do when your not blogging?

I don’t seem to have time for doing much of anything these days. When I’m not looking after Toby, or doing my Spanish course work, or blogging, I like to read (in the bath), watch American TV dramas, bake and occasionally knit.

I tried to find some people to tag but everyone I thought of had already done it! But if you haven’t and you fancy joining in then feel free to copy the questions and go for it.

- Sarah 6 Comments

Me & Mine: A Family Portrait (February 2014)

Me & Mine is a photo linky to capturing our whole family each month. I’m afraid February’s family portrait is another indoor one. We had every intention of getting outside to take this month’s photo but a combination of a couple of busy weekends, a teething baby and pretty miserable weather meant our photo was left to the last minute again and so had to be taken inside. I do love how it is showing off our family dimples though.

A family portrait - February 2014

February started with me going out with the other mums from our antenatal class. It was the first time I had properly been out since Toby was born. I had a lovely time catching up with the other mums and drinking too much wine but thankfully didn’t suffer too much the next day!

I had two days at work this month too which was great. It meant Toby got to spend a couple of extra days at home with daddy too and I was secretly delighted I didn’t have to deal with the worst of his teething! It was another boys’ day last weekend too as I was off to Dundee for the penultimate immersion day of my Spanish course. I’m almost finished my two year Graduate Diploma which will qualify me to teach Spanish, in addition to the French I already teach. I’ll be so glad when it’s over though – it’s really hard to keep up with the work and look after Toby. I swear I had more time to do it when I was working full time.

And this weekend Toby has to make do with one parent again as the hubby has gone to see his parents and friends in Manchester. His mum and dad are moving house soon and so it’ll be that much harder for him to see the friends he left down there when he moved up to Scotland to live with me. Toby was really grumpy yesterday and I thought we might be heading back into teething hell but he seems a lot better this morning so fingers crossed we have a peaceful weekend to start the new month.

- Sarah 1 Comment

Living Arrows 8/52

Almost at the end of February already and week eight in the I Heart Snapping Living Arrows project.

Toby is so wriggly these days. He’s not mastered crawling forwards yet but he can shuffle backwards and gets about pretty well just by rolling over in one direction then the other. I’m so used to just being able to leave him on his playmat while I get jobs done but now I can’t leave him alone or he’s away rolling under the furniture or getting himself stuck in a corner! And I know it’s not going to get any easier when he starts crawling properly. I think we’re going to have to get him a cage playpen.

Anyway, I managed to get this photo during one of his rare still moments, when he was just lying on the sofa chilling out in the sun coming in through the window.

Baby in the sun

 

living arrows
- Sarah 84 Comments

Review and Giveaway: Canvas Design photo canvas (Giveaway ended)

Canvas Design photo canvas

Despite having taken hundreds if not thousands of photos of Toby since he was born we are yet to have any printed and up on our walls. I’ve always liked the look of a photo canvas but we don’t have any of those either. So when Canvas Design were looking for bloggers to review their products how could I refuse?

The Details

We ordered our photo canvas by sending an image by email direct to the company but usually you would order by uploading your photo to the Canvas Design website. There are tools on the site to edit your picture and to add various effects. Canvases come in any size from 6″ x 6″ up to 40″ x 40″. You can have a square, landscape or portrait canvas and custom sizes are also available if none of the standard sizes meet your needs. Our canvas is 20″ x 20″ which retails at £23.99.

The Pros

  • Ordering via the website is very easy. Canvas Design will also let you know if the image you have uploaded isn’t of good enough quality for the size of canvas you have ordered.
  • Delivery is free and very speedy. Canvas Design use a courier who will text to advise of your delivery day, give you options to change the delivery day, and then give you an hour time slot for delivery on the day. For free delivery I thought this was excellent service.
  • The canvas arrived very well packaged to there was no danger of it getting damaged.
  • The canvas itself is very good quality. Canvas Design use 100% pure cotton canvas stretched on a pine frame.
  • Everything you need to hang the canvas is included. There is a bracket to screw onto the canvas and a picture hook to hang it on your wall.
  • The print quality is fantastic too – there is no graininess like you can sometimes get with a photo canvas.
  • The prices for all sizes of canvas are excellent from £7.99 to £59.99.

The Cons

  • None.

The Verdict

I’m really pleased with our photo canvas from Canvas Design. It looks great on our living room wall… I’m very tempted to order some more and make a whole canvas wall!

Photo canvas on the wall

Canvas Design are offering all my readers 15% discount on all orders. Simply use the code BLOG15 at the checkout. In addition to this great discount, Canvas Design have also given me the opportunity to give away a photo canvas for free! You can choose any photo and any size canvas from 6″ x 6″ to 40″ x 40″! Enter using the Rafflecopter below.

UK residents only. Competition closes at 00:00 on 7th March 2014.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

**Disclaimer: I was sent a photo canvas in return for this review. All opinions are my own.