Lessons Learned

So the site has another look (again) and all has been recovered from the devastation of the weekend. Don’t thank me, thank Bluehost. They just did everything for me. I basically said, “help! HELP!!” and they repaired all that was wrong. And very quickly too. And although this is slightly unrelated, Bluehost has unlimited storage which is going to be really great. So if you are thinking of getting a website, I would recommend Bluehost. I have had very good experience with them. But even so, I had about 24 hours to contemplate my stupid mistake and long for someone to repair it. In light of that, I’ve made a list of the lessons I’ve learned through this ordeal.

1) Double check and triple check before deleting anything on your website. Be absolutely sure that you are only deleting what you want to get rid of.

2) Never, ever, delete the “public_html” folder, even on accident. I realize that if it an accident you couldn’t prevent it, but I am telling you to do the impossible and don’t let that accident happen. It is horrible. You never, ever want to delete all the contents of that folder, unless you happen to think that a blank white screen makes an interesting site.

3) If something is going to happen to your website, just let the government do it. I mean, it would be so much more glamorous if I could say, “yeah, I’m sorry, the Feds took my site down for the weekend. We managed to dig it out of their claws, it wasn’t easy, but here we are now, a bit scratched up and exhausted, but the site is safe from tyranny…for the moment.” Your readers will also have more pity for you than if you say that you were being careless and made this absolutely stupid mistake (that’s the only way I can truthfully describe it).

4) A website is very vulnerable. It also makes you very vulnerable. I didn’t realize how important my site was to me until it was gone. Always remember that with a simple push of a button it can all be destroyed. It was so easy to make it disappear. Too easy, I think, but that leads to the next point…

5) Some people have a knack for knowing what to do. You know how some people can manage to do everything? You watch them juggling so many things (literally and metaphorically) and wonder how they do it without messing up. Well, if you are not that type of person, then I recommend that you never go near the backend of your website. It is far too dangerous. You are just playing around, having fun and BOOM! it is all gone. You just have to realize that your talent lies in another direction and that you do have limits.

6) This isn’t really a point, I ran out of lessons, but wanted it to look like I had learned lots of lessons. I’m looking forward to messing with this new theme and learning how to use it. I think I will like it.

7) Do you?