Hello, my name is Jessica. I’ve been putting stuff on the web since 2000. For this web site I want to focus on helping the web newbie learn how to put content up on the web. Many companies introduce a CMS, or content management system, to their content managers, and expect them to be fluent in posting content. I’m a technical communicator, and I can help with the ins and outs of creating and posting content.
Education
- Associate of applied science in advanced computer multimedia graphic design
- Bachelor of science in technical communication with a focus on interactive media
Career
I dedicated my career to working on web sites, mostly just on the front-end of things. I’ve seen Netscape Navigator rise and fall, I’ve witnessed the fickle rendering engine of Internet Explorer go from being a thorn in the designer’s paw to something much more reliable. I remember when Microsoft Word had the cutest talking paper clip help-bot, and I was there when ‘pay-per-click’ became a hot buzzword that sounded just like “paper clip” when you said it aloud. I’ve made banner ads, maintained web order forms, run an affiliate campaign and optimized so many images of oscilloscopes, publication covers, and bio headshots that I can’t count them all.
The tutorials I have seen online seem like coders talking to coders, you know? Do you really need to know everything about HTML and CSS to help your company maintain their web presence? No, but we web content people are building the web together. There are things I really think you should know.
About You
You are more than an occasional blogger or Facebook user. You are a subject matter expert in a subject that is not the web. And now you have been asked to maintain web pages and web content.
Suddenly, you have been tasked with looking after a part of your company’s web site. I see this happening at lots of companies and organizations. Budgets are tight, and management says, “Hey, let’s invest in a content management system so our subject matter experts can handle their own web content. Then we won’t need to keep the expensive web development company.”
If you’re panicking at the thought of posting to the world wide web, don’t worry, you won’t break the internet. You may accidentally delete a database or lose an entire day’s worth of work, but you can recover from that.
Perhaps you are an entrepreneur and you’ve been told you can build a beautiful, engaging, and profitable web site all by yourself without knowing any code. Whether you’re a life coach, fitness trainer, artist or accountant, you’ll find nuggets of information on my blog that will assist you to maintain your own site.