Aunty’s makeover – DONE!

Years ago, Aunty paid ChicagoSlim on fiverr.com $5 to review her website.

It was brutal.  HonoluluAunty scored an “F” for layout, too much going on, difficulty in navigating, yadayadayada-ness, and more.  It was good to know and have an unbiased expert review, and after that report card grade, I had to spiff it up.

So, Chad Lamotte of GoodfellaMarketing.com totally revamped my website and for a few years, it worked great.  However, WordPress changed a bit and the website started having problems.  Chad wasn’t able to help.  I was too much of a non techie to know what to do, paid a local company a lot to fix it but ran into problems with graphics and that went kaput.

Meanwhile, I just let it slide until I happened to see the Fishcake.us  website because I took a few ceramic classes there.  I discovered Janis Lee, their manager, who designed their chic modern look and flyers.  She was willing to redo Aunty’s website and sent me over to Wix.com for ideas and themes.  Turns out they are a great company BUT there are sign up fees and subscription fees.  Not for me who likes free and comfortable, i.e. WordPress.

Janis had no experience with WordPress, but took a look, touched a new theme called Twenty Eleven, and shazam!  HonoluluAunty had a new clean look, for free, and still comfortable for me to post, navigate, and be “Aunty”.  Much mahalo to Janis!!!

Better than lipstick on a pig, happier than Christopher Columbus in a speedboat…

 

I love those GEICO commercials!

19 thoughts on “Aunty’s makeover – DONE!

  1. I really like your new layout! Your header is fabulous too. I’m wondering who those other two are.
    I have a back-up blog on WordPress, but I stopped copying my posts on it because it got to be too much of a headache for me. I also noticed they changed their format and I just couldn’t figure it out. I’m too stuck with Blogspot, I’m afraid.
    I really like the way your blog is set up now. It’s really easier to look at.

    • Hi Kay! I also like how much simpler my blog became – just by choosing a new “theme” on WordPress that Janis tried out for me. Like you, I couldn’t figure out the jet pack, themes, etc. But then, it was super easy and it just took a younger more techie person to take the plunge, which was actually more like a little step over.
      Those other two? It must be the picture of me and my two girlfriends when we went to a show at the Academy of Arts (now know as the Honolulu Museum of Art). The header photos are on a random rotation and I wish I could figure out how to label them – maybe I can with a bit of exploring.
      Thanks for the kind words!

    • Hi Kay! I also like how much simpler my blog has become – just by choosing a new “theme” on WordPress that Janis tried out for me. Like you, I couldn’t figure out the jet pack, themes, etc. But then, it was super easy and it just took a younger more techie person to take the plunge, which was actually more like a little step over.
      Those other two? It must be the picture of me and my two girlfriends when we went to a show at the Academy of Arts (now know as the Honolulu Museum of Art). The header photos are on a random rotation and I wish I could figure out how to label them – maybe I can with a bit of exploring.
      Thanks for the kind words!

  2. I have had WordPress since I started my blog in 2006. That’s more than 14 years ago. However, I now have to pay them $96 per year to have 13 GB of memory for media space. If I exceed 13 GB, then I’ll have to pay even more. The way around that is to go back and delete photos to free up space for new photos. So, you should look into that.
    Your blog looks beautiful, better than mine. I love the background colors.

    • Mahalo, Gigi! The background is of a photo in my wordpress media file. In my dashboard, I went to “appearance” and then “background”. It gives me the option of changing the color or using an image – so I chose an image of ginger flowers.
      Regarding you paying for media space – that is a lot! I don’t pay anything but I also shrink my photos to 1000 mpg before I upload it to the media file. I also use hostgator to host my site – maybe you use WordPress’ hosting?
      It really is Greek to me and I bumble along. I think I began in 2010 when my son came to visit and so help has been sporadic at best, as well as my posts. I admire bloggers who post something new regularly, like you.

  3. I once tried to learn how to use WordPress and gave up. I’m still (and will probably always be) using Google’s Blogger interface. I like your new look! I didn’t mind the old one, though. Everyone’s a critic. 🙂

    • Hi DJan,

      I started with WordPress because it was free and it did take awhile to navigate through it but now it feels like an old friend. I like how the appearance can be changed by choosing a different theme but the editing part as its administrator is the same. I forget the theme and look that I started off with, but it was random and cluttered. It went through a major change with Chad, who customized his theme in WordPress, but he didn’t update it for years, and I was due for a change again. Hopefully I don’t have to do much from now on!

  4. My appreciation to Janis & Honolulu Aunty for the website that promotes practical & useful info & ideas on many topics like shopping, brands, places to dine, how-to-do-it-yourself projects, unique information that keep me educated as well as entertained, in engaging writing style with great photos.
    All for free too, mahalo, Aunty,

    Forever grateful,
    Tutu

  5. I will check in with you to see how the makeover goes- maybe I will hire Chad too. I also got an F from Fiverr on my wesite layout. They said mine was ‘boring’ and not engaging enough. It’s about cancer.. it’s not supposed to be fun! Oh well- we’ll see.

    • Erica, I think your website looks great! It is also such a good resource for woman with breast cancer. I cracked up when I saw your “Man-O-Gram” cartoon.
      Mahalo for your visit,
      Aunty

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