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July 21, 2008
Forks in the life design
I've been noting the changes to the blog interface since Dr. Jerz updated to Movable Type 4.12 and (today) 4.13, and among the first dealt with design. Not the design of the MT interface (though that's changed a little too, and for the better, I think), but the user's ability to modify the design of the blogs.
I've been messing around with my blog since I knew what a hex code was. The rest is history, really, because it's just taken time and exposure to decent resources for me to pick up things that literally anyone could. Sometimes I wish I would've gotten a degree or certification in web design, mostly because I have tried learning things on my own for so long.
But having my blog to play with was a great impetus. I had a place to create as my own. I learned the hard way to have original copies of code before modifying anything... To say that it's been a long, hard road learning through my own mistakes is an understatement. Don't misunderstand this as complaining--I enjoyed it, reveled in it. Better, still, it's helped me professionally.
I know I'm not a professional web designer in the sense that I should be paid the big bucks for the work that I've done or that my stuff will change the world somehow. (I'm well aware that I don't have a degree in this stuff and that a degree doesn't guarantee a big paycheck anyway.) I'm professional in the sense that I'm not an amateur (any longer)--I'm being paid for my work.
That said, I was shocked to find that the "Design" tab in MT was disabled after the last update. Surely this was some kind of error. Karissa? Not able to tweak her blog? Blasphemy!
It struck me that I would be a lot different if I had not been exposed to elements of design through my blog. First of all, my blog would be boring. (That's obvious.) But more than that--I wouldn't have any of the skills that I need to do websites and online management that I use now in my freelance work because I wouldn't have had a need to develop them! Incredible! Or, as Mike said, "Holy moly!"
In other words, I wouldn't have been able to support myself for the past nine months doing freelance web design. (Sure, the freelance writing would still have been a viable opportunity, but surely I wouldn't have subsisted on that alone!)
So the intellectual challenge and the financial support I've enjoyed would never have been, if I had entered blogging under these conditions... Strange that this powerless setting should be the default in the design aspect since MT seems to have gone to lengths to make templates almost "skinnable."
I've recognized one of those millions of forks in the road, so to speak, because had I chosen another path--or never had the choice to begin with--I know my life would be significantly different... I wouldn't have a third eye or anything, but life would certainly change.
Posted by KarissaKilgore at July 21, 2008 10:22 PM
Comments
When I was first introducing blogs to SHU in 2003, I could have gone the safe and easy route, and just asked students to get a LiveJournal account, or sign up with some other blog hosting service. But I wanted students to be able to tweak their blogs if they wanted to. (I wanted to be able to tweak my own blogs, too, of course.)
The vast majority of students just leave their blogs with the default settings I issue, but I'm always glad to see someone take advantage of an opportunity to learn. Good for you!
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at July 22, 2008 1:01 AM
Are you able to update your blog design yet, Karissa? I just noticed that I had the same problem today.
Posted by: Mike Arnzen at July 29, 2008 2:01 PM
It looks like I have to go through a few extra steps to give users template privileges on their blogs. I've done that for your blogs now, Mike.
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz at July 29, 2008 2:19 PM
Yeah, Dr. Jerz fixed the problem for me. Bizarre that all the permissions should be changed by one update. Oh well--thanks, as always, for the extra help, Dr. Jerz!
Posted by: Karissa at July 29, 2008 4:41 PM