What is an Error 404 page?

An Error 404 page is a page a user will get when they type in a page that doesn’t exist.
For example: you might try: http://www.leoraw.com/blog/foo
There is no http://www.leoraw.com/blog/foo. Click on http://www.leoraw.com/blog/foo – what do you get? That’s the Error 404 page.

Why bother having a special Error 404 page?

Some outstanding pages have been created as Error 404 pages. If you are trying to convince a potential customer to use your services, why not give them a pleasant experience if they type the wrong page? Also, it gives you one more chance to make an impression about your goods or services (in marketing this is known as branding).

Who’s the surprised girl on the Error 404 page?

That’s my daughter in 2008: she was in shock because she has just learned there is no swimming at Banias. You see, way back in the 1970′s, my husband remembered swimming at Banias, but we learned the hard way that is no longer true.

She is starting to get fussier about my using her as a model, but she OK’ed my using her surprised look for the Oops page.

Thank you, Ilana-Davita, it was a pleasure to have you as a client.

So, anyone out there using WordPress 3.0 now? So far I’ve updated 5 blogs to WordPress 3.0, and everything went very smoothly. Looking forward to trying out the new default WordPress theme.

I’ve wanted to paint a watercolor, but 1) I’ve been busy like crazy, with work, with family, and unfortunately a young friend needs to have surgery tomorrow. We expect it will go smoothly. And 2) I need inspiration. I am inspired to photograph nature, but not to paint it right now. I like painting Jewish holiday subjects. The next important day on the Jewish calendar is the 17th of Tammuz, which is a fast day when Jerusalem was surrounded many, many years ago. Hmm. Yes, artist block is sort of (or exactly) like writer’s block. I don’t seem to have writer’s block. Probably because on a blog one has permission to ramble. At least on this blog I give myself permission to do so.

So in terms of why I have artist’s block, it’s really more 2) than 1). If I were really motivated, I would be staying up all night working on a watercolor. Or at least spending five minutes on a watercolor.

Would this make a nice patterned background? Maybe if repeated with smaller flowers or leaves in between the larger flower. I think it would need to be toned down for a background or it would be too busy. Perhaps it would make a nice, simple header for a blog.

The textured pattern was taken from this shot:

Shown is the roof of Dairy Deluxe, the ice cream place we visited on this Ice Cream Bliss post.

The flower was taken from this photo:

The wall is at Historic Cold Spring Village in Cape May, New Jersey.

For more photos with red, visit Ruby Tuesday:

Please leave a comment on my post 11 Inspiring Kitchen or Food Headers. Many (most? all?) of you have a good eye for design; I’d like feedback on which of these headers appeal to you. What works? What doesn’t? Thanks.

The Page You Land on if You Arrive From Twitter

Above is a screenshot of my Twitter Landing Page – meaning, if you are on Twitter and you get to my profile, the link will take you to the above page. I worked on this a while back and wanted to show it off (you can click on the screenshot to see the page). The idea is I don’t know why someone is following me on Twitter; so if they want to know more about me, I’ve giving them 6 options (plus more in the menu) to travel to next. If you want to know more, you can read What is a Twitter Landing Page? In some ways, it’s an excuse to design another page. And to have yet another entrance page to a website.

I hope to write two posts in particular on the new site:

1. Choosing a theme, why I chose the “Panorama” theme, and how I modified the theme
2. Permalinks: what is the best SEO strategy for permalinks for one’s blog?

There is a lot that goes into setting up a new blog; perhaps I can make a post with a checklist of what one might consider in setting one up. When I feel “Websites for Small Biz” is ready for prime-time, I will link it up with the rest of my site and start tweeting some of the newest posts.

Coming next week (at about this time) to this blog: an interview with the creator of NJ Playgrounds.

Boring, no? Needs Your Input to Proceed

Idea of a Blog Focusing on Websites for Small Business

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As my freelance work building websites for small businesses and for organizations (example: Highland Park Public Library) has grown, I’ve craved a place where I can post tech and business information. And develop a community of others that share those interests. Gradually, I’ve made contact with others on Twitter that either do websites or work for small businesses that have this need. So I began: http://biz.leoraw.com/. Not much there yet, huh?

Audience for New Websites for Small Biz blog

I plan to gear the new blog toward any of these readers:

• Small business owners who need a website
• Small business owners who want to improve their website
• Technical people who work for small businesses or for organizations such as libraries, university departments, agencies
• People who are thinking of setting up their own business or setting up a professional blog
• Students who want to learn web design and/or development
• Anyone curious about technical aspects of websites, WordPress or other web building systems

Topics for the new blog might be WordPress, Twitter, social media, Drupal, PHP, learning to code, hiring technical staff, networking, logo design, web security, navigation, CSS and more. Once the blog gets established, I plan to have guest posts or interviews, too.

What Feedback Can You Give?

I don’t like doing things by myself. So I am enlisting your help. Yes, you. I will have to develop this new blog gradually, as I have to keep my current clients (who keep sending me more work) satisfied and keep my family in order, too. I am aiming for January to make this “real.” Here are some topics and areas of the blog that will need your input:

• Design – I’m going to need a great header and fitting layout. Topic for another post. Or 2 or 3. Options are many. Let’s have fun with the choices, shall we?
• Logo – I started working on this.
• Which WordPress tools to Use? Learn along with me.

If you want to visit some of my technical posts on this blog, see:
Web Building Posts
Twitter Posts

More posts on the new tech blog will appear on this blog – hopefully, one each week, but I’ll be happy with every other week as well. And fans of my current photo, artsy, friendly, exploratory style on this blog: have no fear – this current Here in HP blog will continue to be a creative outlet for all sorts of topics.

What made you decide to set up this new blog? What goals do you hope to achieve?

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Over the years I’ve met experienced homemakers who don’t save leftovers or store food safely. And many people never learned how to cook from scratch. I’m lucky to have learned kitchen management at home from the most efficient cook I’ve ever met–my mother Touby z”l.

Cookbooks are usually about buying a set of ingredients and following instructions. I like to look at the whole picture–starting with what you have in the house, then choosing recipes and meals according to your specific needs. I want to teach people how to get from menu planning and shopping through cooking and cleanup without becoming exhausted or throwing away half the food at the end.

I see CookingManager.Com as a legacy to my mother, who died almost twenty years ago. She developed a chronic illness that forced her to work using the minimum number of steps. My mother believed that resources, including time, money and energy, should never go to waste. Originally I thought about a book or a website, but since I’ve been blogging for several years I decided on this format.

Why did you set it up with self-hosted WordPress (as opposed to using Blogger or WordPress.com)?
Self-hosted WordPress is used by most successful bloggers. Blogger has little flexibility and WordPress.com’s free service doesn’t allow advertising. You have to pay for self-hosted WordPress, but you own your own content.No one can close you down, as has happened on free platforms. And WordPress is superior when it comes to getting traffic from search engines.
The difference between Blogger and self-hosted WordPress is like the difference between renting and owning a home: Owning is a responsibility and sometimes a headache, but a good investment and ultimately more satisfying.

Who is your target audience for your new blog?
Anyone who wants to save money and time when making home-cooked meals. It can be for people setting up a kitchen for the first time, growing families who find they spend too much on prepared food, or people on special diets who cannot use processed products.

What was the hardest part of setting up the blog?
I’m still intimidated by coding, design and technical details. Keeping up with my post schedule has been a challenge over the busy summer.

The fun parts?
Writing, and interacting with my readers. I love to help readers with their specific problems, like what kind of pressure cooker to buy or how to use meat drippings to flavor future recipes. One mother of eight wrote that she learns something new with every post. I am still finding my voice on CookingManager.Com, so if you have questions come join the conversation while my audience is still small.

If someone wants to set up a professional blog, how can one get advice on doing so?
Most people offering professional advice also have a public website. Before spending money, spend time on a few different sites to see if the style and focus is right for you. I highly recommend Leora, who advised me on setting up the WordPress blogs and designed the banner for A Mother in Israel. I also like Problogger.net, DailyBlogTips.com, and Nice2All.Com.

Don’t worry about missing a great offer as there will always be another one. If you don’t want to spend you can find hundreds, if not thousands, of free WordPress marketing articles and tutorials including WordPress.org, an active forum that helped me numerous times.

Has using Twitter helped promote your new site?
I haven’t developed my Twitter account much yet,( twitter.com/cookingManager), but I plan to. In the meantime I use it mostly for posting links to new posts. You can follow me both there and at @mominisrael, where I tweet more often.

Are you looking for guest posts for your site? What kind of posts would you like?
Mimi at Israeli Kitchen contributed a delicious chick pea recipe, and I would love to have more. I’m not a “foodie,” but I’ve realized that readers appreciate simple recipes too. And a few have sent me their own recipes to publish. See the tab “Submit Recipe” on the front page.

What are some of your favorite posts on the new site? Why are these your favorites?

• For efficiency, see Putting Quick Meals Together and Eleven Tips for Easy Kitchen Cleanup. These posts have basic information for people who want to be more efficient with their time.
• Leora and others challenged my post Preventing Food Issues in Children, the most controversial so far. I like it when readers make me rethink things.
• My favorite post about my mother’s cooking is My Mother’s Re-Recycled Meat Soup.
• On Sunday I write about kitchen appliances and equipment. My mother was an energy conservationist before it came in style, and taught me about knowing your appliances and using them wisely. It’s something that not all home cooks think about.

Leora, thank you so much for the interview. I’m looking forward to feedback from your readers.

•  •  •

Leora’s Note: This post was updated with Hannah’s new header and blog layout. The header was designed by Leora.

So, you ask, what is a Twitter chat?
A Twitter chat is a way people with a common interest connect on Twitter. The chats are organized at a specific time and with a specific hashtag, such as #carchat for the car community. People in the community log into a Twitter site such as http://www.tweetchat.com/ or they can use a tool such as Tweetdeck and just add the hashtag to their tweets. If you have had trouble connecting with others via general Twitter, a tweet chat can be a welcome way to connect just with those in your interest area. If you really get ambitious, you can start your own group.

I am going to highlight three Twitter chats:

#sbbuzz – I wrote a post on the Small Business Buzz Twitter chat when I first attended a chat. A great community of smart small business people.

#DCTH – I have not been able to participate in Design Community Twitter Hours, but Mike Conaty of Brunswick Media Services (whom I have met in person) is a regular there, proving that there are real people on these Twitter chats!

#kidlitchat – I don’t know anything about this chat group, but I love the description: “Conversation about children’s literature from board books through YA. Writers, illustrators, editors, agents, librarians, readers and all others welcome.”

Tweet This!

Have you participated in a Twitter chat? Did you find it useful? Do any of these appeal to you, and you might consider visiting the chat group?

Bradford Shimp has suggestions on how to manage your Tweet chats at the bottom of this post on Twitter tools.

Bonnie Adamson mentioned this tool: http://wthashtag.com/

Swan has an article about Twitter chat tools (and general comments about chats).