I have always been the independent and self-sufficient type. As such, I am more likely to struggle with something for a couple of hours in order to figure it out, instead of asking for help. Probably not the best use of my time, but it sure is a skill that comes in handy when there isn’t anyone around to ask for help. Or when there is a fee for said help, and I don’t have the funds. Thankfully, I have a pretty good record of muddling through things and eventually coming out on top. Yes, I screw things up, but I’ve always been able to reverse or fix what I’ve screwed up. Until last week.

I’ve been working to update my website so I have a page for my novel, a page for a series of non-fiction books that I’ve started work on, and a sign-up for my shiny new newsletter. Whoo! It’s the last thing on this list that caused everything to go kablooie! In all of my infinite coding wisdom – I have no coding wisdom – I put the code for the newsletter sign-up in the wrong place. The REALLY WRONG place, causing the admin side of my website to straight-up disappear. Oddly enough, end users could still see everything. I could go to my website and browse through old blog posts and take a look at my progress through the Shakespearean canon, etc. However, if I tried to do anything on the back end, like log-in to erase the offending code, all I had was a white screen of death. That’s it.

That was the most frustrating part about the whole thing. I knew exactly how to fix the problem I created, but I had no idea how to get in to fix it. Argh!!!! I tried for two days to gain access before finally relenting and paying the guy who originally coded my website to fix it. To my credit, he was impressed with the fubar that I had created, so that at least made me feel a bit better about having to shell out some cash to fix the problem. In true IT fashion, he had the issue resolved in no time flat and even offered to install the code where it was supposed to go. Bonus!

The good news, is that I now I have the aforementioned pages set-up – you should check them out – and I have a lovely little pop-up so visitors can sign-up for my newsletter, as well as a link in case you decide later that you want to sign-up. The bad news, after seeing the pop-up in action, I’m not a fan and would rather just have the link, which I added all by myself. But as I spent $75 for that damn pop-up, it gets to stay . . . at least until it’s earned that $75 back . . . or I figure out where the code is to delete it . . . anybody else sensing the start of a vicious cycle here?