One of the biggest frustrations I hear from authors who are working on their websites is that WordPress can be complicated. Finding the right plugin, determining what features you need or want, updates and security, all of that takes time and knowledge to navigate. But even when you know what you want to do, often it’s not straight forward, and that’s something that is simply a part of any project–not everything is linear. Accepting that helps to ease the frustration that website updates can cause.
Let me give you an example. I was working on my author website and I wanted to add an opt-in at the bottom of my post. Sounds easy enough since I have them set up other places, but the design of the opt-in I want, I could only do using a certain module and that module didn’t integrate with my newsletter provider or store emails for me to export. I had to use what was built into my theme. That meant setting up an account on another provider (using a free plan) and then setting up an integration to feed that email into my funnel. While I have the knowledge and ability to do this, and I accomplished it, what this process made me realize is that the rabbit holes that website updates and changes can send you down are probably one of the biggest reasons why authors struggle with their websites.
Ways to Avoid Frustration
Know how you want the feature/update to look
Starting with a plan is great for books or websites. If you’re adding a new feature, such as an opt-in box, knowing how you want that box to look will help you decide what tool(s) to use and if your current plugins or software can accomplish it.
Know what systems need to talk to one another
If you want your opt-in box, to keep using that same example, to add names to your newsletter, then you know your website or the specific plugin/aspect needs to speak with your newsletter provider. Searching “connect A to B” helps you find tools if you don’t already have one.
When in doubt, reach out
I’ve been seeing a lot of questions lately about various website features like pop-up boxes or opt-in features. That’s great. Reach out to your groups, but also feel free to join Author Barn, my FB group for authors seeking help. (Group name may be changing soon; I’m thinking about it at the moment. But it will still be a place where you can ask tech questions.)
No matter what you’re trying to do or how you reach out for help, the thing I hope eases your mind the most is the fact that website updates are hardly ever straight forward, and sometimes, discovering the twists and turns can be the most interesting part of the journey.
