Ask and You Shall Receive
Remember how I have trouble asking for help?
On Sunday I was playing around on my blog, writing a few posts and going along with my October goals by updating and adding a few plugins. I went to add the Feedburner Feedsmith plugin and boom, warning messages attack my blog header (so it’s live for all to see). As I panic I quickly delete the plugin, warning message is still live and then I can’t access my WordPress admin.
I’m sitting in a room with a couple of my girlfriends. A few are intently studying the other is working on a project for a non-profit she’s starting up. None of them blog or can even begin to fathom what just happened.
I began to feel uncomfortable that I didn’t know how to fix the problem. I feel very alone. I’m solution based but soon realize as I troubleshoot in the forums that even Googling my problem isn’t going to work. I’m stuck. I’m not even sure who I could call. It’s a Sunday afternoon. So I tweet for help. The next best way, right?
Within one minute, along comes Ken Dawes. He doesn’t know me, we’re not even following each other on Twitter and he offers his assistance. I see that he’s a Web Mechanic and specializes in WordPress. Quickly, we begin to email back and forth discussing exactly what happened, he offers solutions. I am still pulling my hair out because I’m not sure I’m geeky enough to fix the problem without actually causing more damage. Finally, Ken mentions another plugin that could be causing the problem. Because I like to be self-sufficient I tried again with Ken’s advice and delete another few plugins through my FTP client and boom, I fixed it. The warning message is gone.
I literally jump up in relief. My girlfriends stare at me (they were supportive but told me to call ‘the webmaster’ for help).
Sometimes, we just have to trust. Trust in ourselves and the support of others. Sometimes strangers even, like Ken. His support, ideas, reaching out and sending troubleshoot links to me kept me sane. Although this problem was trivial (in the grand scheme of things) it was the first real live problem that I had no idea how to fix. And no, I don’t have a ‘webmaster’ or ‘tech guy’ to call.
Lesson learned: Don’t panic. Ask for help. Be creatively cautious. Understand the problem is part of the process. Then if you need help with your blog or web problems, contact Ken Dawes. Seriously. Thank you, Ken. I always say, it’s the little things that count.
