Becoming a Webmaster

Becoming a webmaster is a natural extension of your life as a writer. The webmaster job description has enough variety to engage your mind and your heart for the rest of your life. Every day there is something new to learn. It seems a lot like working a crossword puzzle -- and writers adore crossword puzzles, don't they? The job seems -- to me -- to be so engrossing that sometimes I worry that everybody will have a website and have no time to visit mine. :)

The Roles of the Webmaster

The roles of a webmaster, first and foremost, is to write information (such as this page for writers) or entertainment that the public wants to read. Content comes before any technical considerations. For me, one big plus is dealing with a variety of software programs. I love software! I would just as soon play with software all day long. The resources that I find particularly helpful will be in the pages of this website to share with you.

In particular, some of the hats that the web author wears will include dealing with graphics: PowerPoint presentations, slide shows and even videos. This in turn may even lead the web author to become something of the expert with the camera -- something I found intimidating because my husband always takes family pictures and I had never learned. To avoid problems with copyright, it is just safer and more ethical to either buy from a stock photo company or explore your creative side and get the picture yourself.

I used graphics for this project about free coloring print pages to illustrate the procedure of making coloring book pages for a website that are still tied in with the website's major theme.

Having said that, this website will contain links to excellent free resources posted by photographers -- professional or amateur -- who have the grace of sharing these with Web publishers. One such resource Is MorgueFile.com. We value and thank them for their generosity.

Not to mislead, becoming a webmaster will also draw you into some of the technical aspects of building a website. For instance, bit by bit one becomes familiar with HTML code. For instance, you will learn how to use a bold tag or an italics tag. Once you get the hang of it, working with HTML is not difficult.

Sometimes the design of your website will even draw you in to a deeper level as you learn CSS code (I will talk about this later). It isn't really necessary to go that route using the SBI web host, as does this site.

Independence

Another considerable attraction of becoming a webmaster is that it affords you the opportunity of being your own boss. It goes without saying that stay-at-home moms and retirees find a special appeal in plying their trade in the comfort and privacy of their homes. Making money on the web is called "monetizing" and that is an entirely different skill. At the very least, one has to learn how to make her website pay its own way.

Learn by Sharing

I am no longer a newbie but I seek webmaster excellence by sharing what I have learned with others. Since I believe, and no doubt you have noticed it as well, the very best way to come to a deep understanding of your material is to teach it to someone else. For this reason I am happy to share my enthusiasm for becoming a webmaster with participants at Ollie at the University of Cincinnati where I volunteer my time to instruct animated and eager students. Working with them deepens my understanding of what works on the Internet.

Good Resources on the Web

There are many, many free tools for webmasters that I will share with you in the pages of Monday Morning Writers Group. Very often I would use one particular graphics program or a handy utility for processing webpages only to find later on that there is a tool that I like even better. I will share all of my findings with you, the visitor who wishes to become a webmaster or share the journey of another web author like yourself. This profession will stretch you and I invite you to share my love of writing websites as well as freelance writing.

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