Section three: Design

> Stef: I hope you don't mind, but I signed up for a hosting
service already. I wanted to use my new domain name to
send emails. Now I use stef@stefatcollege.org as my main
email address.


> Eric: But you haven't moved the blog yet, right?


> Stef: Not yet, no. Is that going to be hard?


> Eric: Yes, it's a little tricky. You'll only do it once,
though, so get your friend to help you with that. But
now let's discuss today's topicdesigning your site.

When the others arrived at my house for our next session, I had moved a computer monitor onto my dining room table so that the three of them wouldn't have to crowd around my laptop. After exchanging the usual pleasantries, Stef made an announcement.

"I hope you don't mind, but I signed up for a hosting service already," she told us.

"Doesn't bother me," I replied. "I hope it was easy to do."

"Signing up was really easy," she explained, "but I made sure my friend was around just in case I had any trouble. I didn't."

"Is this the same friend who currently hosts your blog?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "I figured I should tell him I was planning on moving the blog off of his computer. He was happy, actually, because he'd been wondering what to do with the blog at the end of the year. He was very interested in the AdSense program, too, you know."

"I don't think we have room for another person at the table!" I joked.

"That's OK," she continued, "I think he already knows most of this stuff anyhow, he just never got around to explaining it to me." She seemed a bit peeved.

"You probably didn't show any interest, Stef," said Anita.

"Well," I said, "if he's the geek you say he is, then I'm sure he can figure things out on his own. You can give him my email address in case he has questions. But Google's AdSense help pages are pretty detailed."

"So why did you sign up?" Anita asked. "You don't have any content yet."

"More importantly," Claude interrupted, "how did you pay for it?"

"Well, actually, she does have content," I pointed out in response to Anita's question. "She already has a blog. That's definitely content."

"That's not why I signed up," Stef explained. "I wanted to use my new domain name to send emails. Now I use stef@stefatcollege.org as my main email address. And I found a hosting service that uses PayPal, Dad, so I didn't have to use your credit card. The hardest part was getting my mail software to work once the hosting service had set things up, but the instructions they sent were pretty good."

"But you haven't moved the blog yet, right?" I asked her.

"Not yet, no," she said. "Is that going to be hard?"

"If you want to keep the old content," I started, and she nodded that she did, "then yes, it's a little tricky. You'll only do it once, though, so get your friend to help you with that. But now let's discuss today's topicdesigning your site."