The journey – My real first post

OK…so about 3 days ago i decided i was gonna create websites for my Internet based businesses.  I have 3 main ideas that i want to bring to market so after reading about all the Internet do-it-yourselfer’s  i figured i would create the websites myself.  This is my journey.

The first idea - is a blog discussing “Why men cheat?” and related controversial topics about dysfunctional black relationships?  The wife and i were going to be the 2 main contributors but then i started realizing that maybe readers would want to contribute ideas and topics as well. That idea compelled me to look into implementing a forum for reader discussions in this blog.

The forum idea -As i started looking for ways to include a forum in this blog…it got me to thinking bigger (something that i tend to do a lot and sometimes wind up getting distracted…it is a gift and a curse) and so i thought that i would create a African-American social network. On a side note: (i don’t know who came up with that phrase “African American” but i feel funny calling myself that…my mama told me im black and my people were black folks…if it was good enough for my mama…then its good enough for me so that is how we will proceed)…i think black folks need a dedicated outlet that addresses their social, financial, and developmental needs…of course there is myspace and facebook but i wanted to create a place specifically for mature black folks and the black experience…(by the way,  when i say “black”  i mean all persons of color or of ethnic heritage including Latinos, Asians, etc…) I, as i am sure most of you, were members of Black Planet when u began ur initial foray onto the web, but for some reason it got played out.  I hadn’t been on there in a while so just out of curiosity i went back to the site and my old profile was still there…the site has changed as far as layout…its more myspace- like…but just like myspace…it seems to cater more to the kids. Seeing as i started my profile in ’98 when i was in my 20′s, perhaps it always catered to the kids, but since i was one of them i didnt notice. I am in my 30′s now and my needs are a bit different…i have grown man needs these days…far too many to mention at this point but nonetheless i would like a network that addresses my interest and those of my peers. To sum it up…i figured i would create my own online community entitled “www.Blackman-Blackwoman.com” and it would be sorta like a 25 and older bar…When u go to spots like that ur not worried about all the rah-rah…mostly everybody thats there is there to have a good time or at the least not looking to start no shit.

My last idea – is an e-commerce site that brings buyers and sellers together (duh…like what else would an e-commerce site do?) but with a twist. Since i haven’t fully fleshed out the ideas and layout of the site…i cant get into it too much (in addition to not having all the details of how I’m gonna conduct the business in the first place)…but as the development of the plan comes along i will direct you to the site.

The reality – for a person that doesn’t know the first thing about website creation or programming…my social network and e-commerce ideas are pretty ambitious. While not the easiest thing to do in the world…the past couple of days were coming along quite well in my website creating endeavors.  I had registered my domain names, pointed them to my dns servers, configured them in my cpanel, chose content management systems (WordPress for this particular site) and started this blog.  Not bad for a person that has never done any web development b4…but i am running into problems.

The first is changing the font for the title “Why Men Cheat?” on this blog…the template we are now using is one with a big Memorex cassette tape on it…i didn’t choose this layout because it had anything to do with the topic…i choose it cuz it looked nice and engaging (plus im sure most of us can remember those recording on a tape days…if u cant then ur too little to be on this site so beat it kid!!)…im sure it will change when i find something more appropriate but for the meanwhile its here and i would like a handwritten font for the title…I will figure this out so by the time u read this it may already be changed but i just want u to know what im going thru now..the current font is plain arial text and if im not mistaken the color is green (WTF)?

The next problem im having is with my other websites.  In order to create a full featured robust social networking site…i needed something flexible and more powerful than WordPress…After researching the top cms scripts…i settled on Drupal.  Drupal is supposedly one of the best scripts for creating websites that require alot of updates and user interaction…the other cms i was considering was Joomla…it is more popular than Drupal and supposedly easier to learn…but not as stable and prone to buggy code (the language programmers use to tell the site what to do).  So off i went and installed Drupal on my sites…i was reading up on site building with Drupal and everyone said it was essential i installed 2 additional modules…CCK and Views.  I downloaded CCK and followed the uploading instructions thru ftp (file transfer protocol…the way u upload stuff to your website) and i am able to see the module when i refresh my site but when i enable the module (this is what Drupal calls all its various components you need to build a website) and go to save the configuration i get a “fatal error: call to undefined function content_field_instance_read…“  OMG-WTF!!!  I cant even begin to tell u how frustrated i am with this shit…I’ve been stuck on stupid since last nite…i tried to leave a submission for help over in the forums and no one has replied with assistance…i have been googling the error phrase and i get nothing, zip, zilch, zero…FUCK!!!!!  I’m ready to look into Joomla but everybody says once i endure the steep learning curve of Drupal i will be much happier…i figure since i don’t know any programs i might as well learn the best one to start off…i gotta sign off and get back to figuring what the hell im doing wrong.

Until i figure this stuff out and get the ball rolling with these codes i will use this blog to document my journey and discovery in hopes of helping some newbie out down the road cuz right now i cant find any decent help with this Drupal bizness…Once i get it right tho…i will rededicate this blog to the title subject and we can get to the good stuff…peace.

P.S. – you may notice my unstructured, conversational style of prose in this blog…this is done on purpose to create a more comfortable tone and encourage participation.  Please do not think I am unaware of proper written and grammatical structure.  When the situation warrants ie: an article, news report, essay, etc…, the text will be formatted accordingly.  If I discover in my travels that for some reason this isn’t proper blogging etiquette, then I will make the necessary remedies.   You, on the other hand, are free to post and comment in any manner you like.