Currently I’m feeling like a mechanic! Let me explain by drawing a parallel with my car. I like to drive my car and enjoy hassle free motoring. I turn the key and the engine starts. I put it in gear and it goes forward and I turn the steering wheel to go in the right direction. And this is why I enjoy driving – the car does what I need it to do with the minimum of fuss.
I have had to change a wheel before without any problem. I like to keep it fairly clean and shiny (I like bright red cars!). I keep it well serviced, courtesy of our good friend Iain who changes the oil every 5,000 miles and does anything else required. Motoring is therefore easy peasy and I enjoy it.
Blogging ought to be the same
I know how to buy a domain and get it hosted (with a bit of faffing around!). I know how to use WordPress to get it published and on the web. I can install widgets and plug-ins , change the theme, add users, manage comments and so on.
And yet I have recently found myself having to go much further. You might have noticed I have pulled together a GDPR friendly privacy statement as it applies to me and my humble blog (as well as all organisations handling information about people). I have needed to organise an automatic back-up, in case something dreadful ever goes wrong and if I’m to be truly prudent I need further back-ups stored else where (and then I need to ask how often, for how long etc).
Going one step further was the realisation I needed to make my blogs more secure. I have always known I could do this but have never bothered as I don’t trade by inviting readers to give me their credit card details. Through learning how search engines favour secure sites and from July, Google’s Chrome is set to totally ignore insecure sites (these are http:// sites without a padlock) and I knew I had to do something.
My previous post told the story of organising SSL certificates through those nice people at HostGator. That was fine in itself but it still didn’t work. I needed to figure out a way of getting my laptop and the entire web to realise there was an https:// version of my blog, one with a little padlock in the address bar. A Google search led me to the Easy HTTPS plug-in which I installed and hey presto! It works! It took a bit of testing to be satisfied but it certainly appears to work.
Feeling like a mechanic!
So back to the scenario of feeling like a car mechanic. I now feel like I have been lifting the bonnet, rolling up my sleeves and fitting a new oil filter. Not a task I would ordinarily welcome and I do feel nervous as I’m having to learn and understand something new as I go along.
So I’m a reluctant mechanic, it’s a necessary evil in my view. I’d much rather have fun driving my car, riding my bike, taking photos and writing – but learning something new and being able to problem-solve is also pretty good!