Choosing the colour scheme of a website is by far the aspect I love most about site design but it is also an activity that I find equally challenging. This is in part due to the fact that I am not an artist. I don’t even have a GCSE (O’Level) in Art and haven’t studied the subject since I was about 13.

Another reason why choosing colours for a website can be hard work is because the colour of a site is affected by a number of things e.g. browser, screen type and colour depth of a monitor’s display. These factors can cause the appearance of a particular colour to vary from one machine to another.

To make the task even harder, when defining a colour in CSS or HTML, each colour selected (be it for fonts, backgrounds or borders) has to be coded using the individual colour’s unique hexadecimal (hex) code.

For example, the colour white has a hex value of FFFFFF and the colour black has a hex value of 000000.

With there being countless colours to choose from there are equally as many hex numbers one has to be aware of.

Thankfully the internet is awash with tools that provide you with lists of colours and their corresponding hex numbers. Of these internet resources there are two that I use all the time.

The first one is the Colour Scheme Generator which allows you to create good-looking, “well balanced and harmonic web pages.” It is available from Well Styled and for a given base colour; it provides a range of colour schemes and variations that can be used in deciding on a theme for your site.

The second is a free small utility available from Nattyware called Pixie. Once downloaded Pixie works by pointing the mouse over the object/colour of your choice and “it will tell you the hex, RGB, HTML, CMYK and HSV values of that colour. You can then use these values to reproduce the selected colour.” When working on the header of this blog I used Pixie to make sure the shade of orange around the image of the woman in the left corner was exactly the same shade as that of the header’s background.

Other colour scheme resources that I find useful include:

• VisiBone Webmaster’s Color Lab
• The Browser Safe Web Palette
• W3C HTML Colors

As much as I loved the previous colourful and slim Mama JunkYard design I couldn’t help but envy the versatility and practicality of those wide width blogs with lots of white space such as Mshairi, KikuyuMoja and White African. In fact it was White African’s elegant customisation of Michael Heilemann’s Kubrick that led me to K2.

K2 is:

an advanced template for the blogging engine WordPress developed by Michael Heilemann, Chris J Davis, Zeo, Steve Lam and Ben Sherratt.

After staring at the design of White African I decided I was going to re-install Kubrick and perform only the basic customisation thereby retaining the best feature of the theme; its simplicity. With Kubrick being the default WordPress theme and having used WordPress for the past two years, I consider myself fairly competent at tweaking it. So when I learnt that K2 was being developed as the successor to Kubrick I assumed that I would find it equally straight forward to customise.

In fairness K2 is built for customisation and is quite easy to modify – if you approach it with the right attitude. I approached K2 as if it was a bog standard WordPress theme and from that point forward I was destined to fail. K2 may have the outward appearance of a theme but in reality it is so much more that that (most K2 aficionados refer to it as ‘mod’)

I experienced my first bit of K2 ‘drama’ whilst tinkering with K2r167 beta. I was fully aware of the problems associated with beta versions in general and I was quite happy to spend time just to getting to understand how K2 worked. After two days of a non-stop K2 crash course I discovered that K2 0.9 had been released replacing the beta version that I had been working on. So it was back to square back one. This experience certainly brought home the one aspect of K2 that I had chosen to ignore; K2 is under constant development. There are people working on a daily basis to put together a more stable version of K2. While this may mean the occasional re-install, in the long run it can only be a good thing because with every version released the developers are getting closer to K2 1.0. (As I type this I notice that K2 0.9.1 has just been released)

Another advantage that stems from the ongoing development of K2 is the extent to which the development team rely on user feedback. There is a Bug Tracker set up for users to report any bugs and there is also a Support Forum to discuss K2 issues. For someone like me who doesn’t know my PHP from my TCP the forums have been a Godsend. Nearly every question I thought of had been asked and answered.

As mentioned earlier, K2 is built specifically for user customisation. Everything that can be classed as ‘front end’ (in relation to K2) is fairly straightforward and a basic knowledge of CSS should be enough to get you your own unique look. The ‘back end’ is what distinguishes it from the average WordPress theme. For instance, K2 comes with it’s own Sidebar Module which is described as being “like WordPress widgets, on drugs… the good kind” So that is one less plugin to install, though installing plugins with K2 is fairly straightforward thanks to its ability to recognise a range of WordPress plugins – such as Extended Live Archives which can be seen in action here. A full list features can be found at the K2 Blog.

Whilst I enjoy all the bells and whistles that K2 comes with, from a customisation perspective I found it a bit intimidating because I had no idea what bit did what and I was too scared to change anything in case it broke. It is possible to redesign K2 without ever delving into its ‘internal elements’ however I find this approach has its limitations. I like to know how my blog works or failing that have a clear understanding of what I should or should not mess around with. Usually I mess with my site ‘just for fun’ and so I don’t mind taking weeks to learn something or even to try out different themes. On this occasion I am working on two separate websites and an unrelated fast approaching deadline. Time is not on my side. This leads on to the number one reason I fell in love with the K2 theme and the community who develop and use K2.

Since K2 is pitched as an advanced template there are many K2 bloggers who are working to ensure that any WordPress blogger can install and use it. They do this not just through the forums but also by compiling comprehensive tutorials on how to customise K2. Paul Stamatiou is just one example. His five part guide ranges from basic CSS to tips on how to improve load time. His along with JTP’s are two tutorials that I would recommend to anyone working with K2.

I know the site is far from complete but I can honestly it has been fun working with K2 and my only regret is not getting into it sooner. I still have a lot to learn about K2 but I am certainly a lot closer than I was two weeks ago thanks to all the people who have provided online support.

Beginsathome (and all her sub-sites) has gone through a number of changes; some of them are still ‘works in progress’ but here is a short summary of what has changed or may change.

Site Wide:
The entire site is now powered by WordPress v2.0.3 – this includes all the static pages. I am aware that there is a more recent version of WP available but that information has not reached my hosting service’s Cpanel and I am reluctant to do a manual upgrade/install.

Every part of this site is running a version of K2: Static Pages and mamajunkyard’s are both relying on modified versions of K2 beta 2 revision 145 where as A Thousand Words is using a Wiphey’s Photoblogging Theme v1.1 which is a customised version K2 beta r167.

mamajunkyard’s
No more light on dark. mamajunkyard’s has been tangoed! Orange is the new strawberry, wider width is the way to go and lowercase is how I like it. Add a few plugins like Gravatar and ELA and the geek in me comes out to play.

A Thousand words
That so-called photoblog was fooling no-one. It wasn’t a photoblog – it was just a blog, with pictures and little text. This new version sounds the same (blog, pictures, some text) but thanks to Wiphey’ K2 blog theme it looks a damn sight better than before (see for yourself). Apart from the comments section which needs some work and as the usual Internet Exploder hissy fit it is good to go. Most important though the entire photoblog is now stored in a new directory. The former pseudo-photo blog is still alive and from this day forth it shall be known as ATW(v1.5).

There are still minor things that need to be worked on. If anyone notices anything broken, wonky, dodgy or out of place please let me know.

Shortly (like sometime soon or maybe sometime later but not now) I shall do a post or two citing all the resources I used/ am to get this site complete….in the meantime…enjoy Begins At Home v4.0.

There are still one or two pages that need working on but hopefully there shouldn’t be a broken link in sight; please let me know of any errors.

The process of moving hosts has been an experience and a half. I am now off to crack open a beer and enjoy the rest of my bank holiday weekend.

Ideally the transition should be seamless however being the nincompoops that they are; my hosting company are dilly-dallying with my details.

Until they decide to respond to my numerous emails requesting the release of my domain name I shall be unable to complete my move. As a result of their inaction my site shall experience some down time. Hopefully it won’t be for too long but who knows.

The most frustrating aspect of all this is that my current hosting company appear to be based in Lytham St. Annes which is only a stone throw away from where I am. In the amount of time it has taken them to ignore my emails I could have walked over to their headquarters and demanded they complete the damn transfer!

Please bear with me as I attempt to move virtual homes…..

Recently someone has been sending spam and pretending it is from me (from beginstahome.com to be exact). A quick Google of the term “email spoofing� suggests that this problem is widespread and unfortunately it does not take much to spoof an address. All one has to do is change the “From� and/or “Reply-To� section of their email sending application. It really is that simple and it allows spammers to send mail without revealing where it originated from.

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For a person whose email has been spoofed there are two main reasons why this is annoying.

Firstly it undoubtedly damages the reputation of your site and your domain name. Being labelled a spammer is to a domain name what a record of bankruptcy is to one’s credit rating.

Secondly and this is perhaps the more noticeable of the two, once your email has been spoofed you are likely to see an increase in bounced email/mail failure notification emails. This is usually how most people have find out that their domain names are being abused. Unless a spammer/spoofer has a list of valid email address they will generate what they think are real sounding email addresses, relying on suffixes such as [at]hotmail[dot]com, [at]aol[dot]com etc. Often a spammer/spoofer will attempt to hit hundreds of inboxes using one email. A spammer/spoofer will also attempt to send hundreds of emails in just a short space of time. The result is that multiple inboxes are being hit by multiple emails all supposedly coming from a legitimate source and a good number of those inboxes do not exist. This in turn generates a large number of mail failure notifications being sent back to the legitimate domain name’s default email account.

This is exactly the situation I found myself in towards the end of last year and I emailed my web hosting company informing them of this. Within 24 hours I received an email from them telling me the problem should have stopped and indeed it had. There was no explanation as to what they did however I am used to my host not providing explanations for things that go wrong with my site.

A week later the problem restarted and this morning I emailed my host this time asking for an explanation as to what they did last time. About two hours ago I received this email from my host

Kui,
You will need to pull down your contact form as it is been exploited to send the spam, http://www.beginsathome.com/contact.php This issue is also overloading our servers so it is essential that you take it down immediately.

Best Regards,

Naeem
Customer Service Team
StudentWebHosting
Low Cost Web Hosting Solutions

Now, while I am not an expert in computer related matters I do however live by the motto “Google and Wikipedia are your friends.â€? Furthermore, my fiancé has a PhD in Computer Science so it is fair to say that I knows people who knows their stuff. More importantly (thanks to my “friends” and my fiancé) I know that my contact form can not be held responsible for email spoofing.

I fully appreciate that email spoofing is baffling business everywhere. I don’t expect my hosting company to wave a magic wand and eliminate the problem. What has really made mad is the fact that my host are suggesting that I am in some way at fault and are demanding that I remove what is an essential aspect of my site.

Can you imagine the furore it would cause if the people at Blogger demand their users immediately disable their comment facility as it was generating too much spam! I am not suggesting that this is the same, however I am aware that I have two blogs on this site. I also have 5 email aliases linked to this domain and I do not want to have to worry that at any given time my host will ask me to close down or remove one of these.

This is not the first time my host has let me down. A little over a year ago my blog vanished for a few days and my host’s response was almost laughable. I am one of those people who are anal about good customer service. I have stuck with our phone company despite them being more expensive than others simply because they have good customer service. The reserve of this is being that I am more than willing to leave what is a cheap hosting service with poor customer service for a more expensive one with better customer service.

I have written to my host informing that their response was inadequate. I have outline what email spoofing is and how my contact form is not to blame. I have also explained to them that I do take measures to combat spam from reaching my inbox however I can not stop spam from hitting their servers and that a contact form is perfectly acceptable element of a website which I am not willing to part with. I have made it very clear that should they feel that they are not in a position to meet my hosting needs then they should simply say so and I shall move my site (contact form and all) to a host who can.

If anyone knows of a good hosting company that has excellent customer service please let me know.

I would also like to take this opportunity to state that I have never, nor will I ever send out spam. I use my email account, as most people would, to either communicate with people that I know or to reply to legitimate queries that I receive either via my contact form or my blogs. I do not even send forwards.

At times all I get is an error. On other occassions it takes me to the blogger website(?!!?) and I have once been directed to PayPal.

Now that it seems to be ok; I shall try and blog as much as I can….just incase it goes all funny again!

Aside from being a wonderful opportunity to do some amazing work volunteering can be very expensive. Not only will I give up the opportunity to be in paid employment I will have to incur significant costs just to make it out of the country. I have estimated these costs to be in the region of £3500. This figure includes insurance, flights, food and accommodation for six months and general living expenses. A full budget and breakdown can be found on the Placement Costs page of the Belize 05 section.

In order to meet my costs I shall have to obviously work harder, spend less and save more but that alone would not get me to Belize at least until around 2010. So I have decided to launch a fundraising and awareness drive; The Belize Challenge 2005.

The idea behind my first fundraising activity came from Mental Acrobatics, who suggested I design and sell Begins At Home merchandise. After a few days tinkering with PhotoShop I am proud to launch the Belize Challenge 2005 online store (hosted by Café Press). For the duration of this challenge there shall be a permanent link to the shop on this blog (that animated GIF thing in the sidebar).

On sale are mugs, t-shirts, mouse pads, bags and pin badges amongst other things all bearing the Begins At Home logo. Café Press have set base prices for all their products and I have set the mark up price for most items at $5. This means for every item (apart from the pin badges and magnets) someone buys they contribute $5 dollars towards the Belize Challenge 2005.

For those who do not want to buy but still want to donate there is a PayPal button on the sidebar (and the Home Page, and in the Belize 05 section). This can be used to donate an amount of your choice.

The Belize Challenge 2005 is not just about the money. One thing that made my placement last year a lot easier was the support and encouragement I received from friends, family and strangers. I can not place a price on how good it felt to receive emails of encouragement. So for those who wish to show their support in a way that doesn’t cost a thing I have created an “I Support Belize 05� web site button. This idea came from Mshairi, and like other web buttons the idea is that anyone who so wishes can copy the HTML code found here and paste it on their site. Anyone clicking on the button will be directed to my site.

I will be more than happy to help place the code for anyone who is stuck. Alternately simple old-fashioned linking works just fine.

Lastly, if I could ask for just one thing, it would be please spread the word – The Belize Challenge 2005 is now officially launched.

Last year I spent three months working as a volunteer in Belize. I had initially planned to go for six months but sadly it proved to be too expensive and I was forced to return to the UK in December. The plan was always to go back and continue my volunteer placement. After having spoken with my former placement leader, Ms Lindy Jeffery, most of my family and my Belizean host family it has been agreed that if all goes to plan I should re-commence my placement around the end of October.

To summarise my last three months in Belize; I was working for a quasi-government body called the National Council on Ageing. My main role was to draft an Act for Older Persons. This was not possible to achieve in three months. I did make some progress including amending the Constitution of Belize so as to make discrimination on the grounds of age unlawful. There is a more detailed account of my placement over at the Belize 04 segment in this site. When I do return I shall be continuing with the work I had started as well as helping out with day-to-day NCA activities.

Two of the main reasons why I am keen to return are that firstly the whole idea of being an overseas volunteer is to ensure that everything you do is sustainable. At present the Government department responsible for drafting new laws (Attorney General’s Ministry) has a huge backlog. Any work that I begun, if passed on to the AG’s office is not likely to be completed in the foreseeable future. I feel that if I were to leave the work at the stage it is at now, it would almost seem a waste having started it as there is no realistic possibility of it being completed in a timely fashion.

Secondly, though the NCA is a national organisation it has only one paid member of staff. Owing the financial crisis that the Belizean Government is experiencing and the staff cuts that have hit all Government departments, the NCA are unlikely to receive funding to employ someone else. Ms Jeffery has a lot of work to carry out and I feel that not only does she work hard enough as it is, there is just too much work for one person to do. I feel that returning to Belize I shall be able to assist with the general day-to-day running of the office.

I have a host of other reasons but these are explained in full in the Belize 05 section of this site.

Over the next few days I shall be blogging about how I plan to make my return to Belize a reality and why the work I shall be doing is important and necessary.

The photo blog has now been named A Thousand Words. I am hoping the new grey and white look shall inspire me to update a lot more.

My About page has been updated. I am still unsure whether to put back the picture of me in my Grace Jones sunglasses.

Belize related information, including a summary of my final report is now stored neatly in the Belize ’04 section.

Even the Front Page is brand new!

I am really proud of me and my fantastic ‘test team’ who were always on hand to give feedback on my ‘sneak previews’.

King Street Hobo, MentalAcrobatics, Mshairi, and Nicholas Gichu – Thank you very much for the support.

Rod – thank you for the encouraging emails.

Torments – the music motivated me.

Mich as always you were there to help, make coffee and do cigarette runs. I know you are glad that we have finished.

Right…I am about to embark on a blog reading/commenting spree.

Anything not working? Let me know.