Hello everyone,
I've decided to start building my dream layout. After years of planning and dreaming I'm just going to do it, one module at a time.
I'd like to document my ideas and progress as I go. For those of you who have done this, do you reccomend a blog, a dedicated website (with a blog too) or what? Who do you use to host your site? I know certain railroad related websites offer blogs for readers, but I want control to share lots of historical and model data in an easy to read format. So, what's the best option, in your opinion?
My layout will represent the Florida East Coast K Branch (Lake Harbor Branch) circa 1996, in n scale. I spent a lot of time back them wandering around the K Branch and can't wait to replicate all of the interesting operations I witessed every day.
Thanks for any forthcoming advice.
John Kurth
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
I would suggest that you have a definitive title, ie “FEC Harbor Branch Build” so it doesn’t get lost in the generic “My Layout Build” threads.
Alton Junction
RR_Mel I went simple with Blogger, it’s a freebee and really works very good. You can check mine out by clicking the link below.
Mel, what are the legal problems that you mentioned?
Rich
richhotrain Mel, what are the legal problems that you mentioned? Rich
I'm documenting my new layout build on my personal website as well as build threads here (and another model RR website).
My personal website: http://www.onewolf.org/Album/LayoutConstruction/index.html
My build thread here: http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/t/244850.aspx
I find I don't have enough time for a full BLOG given a (more than) full-time job, home projects, and layout building.
Modeling an HO gauge freelance version of the Union Pacific Oregon Short Line and the Utah Railway around 1957 in a world where Pirates from the Great Salt Lake founded Ogden, UT.
- Photo album of layout construction -
LION builded a WEB SITE. Is broadwaylion.com
If you want to see my cats, you can try broadwaylion.com/ramu.
LIONS build websites for part of his assignment here at the monastery. It was a simple matter to explain to the abbot that I needed a deparate url for testing things without them being attached to our website.
There are many places where you can build a website for free, if you can tolerate their ads. LION uses a commercial site that we pay for, but... him also runs an in house server where at the website of the LION and all of the LION photos that you sea from time to time are hosted. Actually all Microsoft operating systems come with a built-in web server so that you *could* host your own web site right on your computer, but of course if you did not already know that, you certainly do not want to ditz around with it. It makes an open door for gremlins to get in. Of course LION thinks that gremlins are fun. You can chase them, and they make wonderful squeaking noises just before you eat them.
But for most peoples the LION would suggest and recommend a FaceBook page, they are easy to set up, easy to maintain, and you can get lots of replies. LION on the other hand seldom updates the website of him, so it gets rather stale.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
It's just part of the layout, but the major recent addition of the Cascade Branch is something I've documented here in the MR Forum, with the aid of my ImageShack pic hosting site.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/219241.aspx?page=1
ImageShack had a meltdown a couple of week's back and they're still sorting it out, thus the number of broken pic links up on the trhead right now. They'll likely get straightened out eventually, but it points out that whatever you do, keep at least one archive copy of everything you put online.
The MR Forums do limit some things you might do, but most of those can be overcome through the images you host off-site. Someone else doing the admin work is OK by me -- and the price is certainly right, free.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I am a frequent reader of layout progress websites, blogs, and forum threads. As a reader, I can tell you that I like the dedicated websites best - by a lot. The others all have problems that make them less interesting.
As mentioned above, the forum thread is dependent on some other site to hold pictures (at least here) and most importantly the ongoing pats on the back or miscellaneous posts from other forum members (relevant or not) are a distraction to someone trying to understand your story. These are always chronologically rather than logically organized. Since most builders don't do all the benchwork, all the track, all the scenery... stuff gets mixed up and hard to follow.
The blog format is the next easiest to create but they are still almost always organized chronologically and suffer from the same issues as the forum. Some have the option to use some form of indexing which can make them better than forum threads, but most don't seem to use them. You can at least keep visitor comments separate from your posts.
A well done website is always the best. You can logically organize the posts by categoy like prototype, design goals, track plans, scenery, benchwork... which makes it much more useful to the reader that wants to understand what you are doing.
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
RR_Mel richhotrain Mel, what are the legal problems that you mentioned? Rich There are two areas that I can get myself into trouble pretty easily. 1) I can be pretty bad about telling how it really is and some manufacturers may not like that. 2) I brag up products I like and that can be a problem too.
carl425 I am a frequent reader of layout progress websites, blogs, and forum threads. As a reader, I can tell you that I like the dedicated websites best - by a lot. The others all have problems that make them less interesting.
Rich you are correct about copyright, having delt with that during my working career I try very hard to comply. Very very few pictures that I post are not from my own camera. I watch very carefully for the copyright symbol.
By the way, do copyright your blog!
Mel
I prefer a website for several reasons:
Total control over content – no ads, no trolls no mess, no fuss
I don’t post regularly. Blogs look stale when they haven’t been updated frequently.
I own the material. Many blog sites own whatever you post
Design of the site. I like to control how the site looks in terms of layout., Many other sites force you into a template, many of which look too busy or too packed in to my eyes. I tweaked Dreamweaver templates for my site and while it isn’t cutting edge, I’m comfortable with its early 2000’s feel.
No bandwidth issues. I buy a package that allows unlimited bandwidth. I have no quota issues or other anomalies around data limits.
I recommend getting a domain name for your site (most web host packages come with free domain names). I use 1 and 1 and have been very happy with the service. Never down, never slow (I have no ties with this company).
The downside to this approach is that you do have to have some experience with site design and know a little bit about Dreamweaver or other site building software. It is pretty time intensive to set up but that will be true of any web presence. It is also harder to update than a blog or build thread.
Here is a link to my site:
http://thewilloughbyline.com/
Other things to consider: Anything you put on the web can or will be borrowed or used by others in some way. Accept this as part of the deal. Don’t put anything up that you don’t want to give away. I keep lots of material off of the web for this reason. I don’t post photos that may end up in articles. I don’t post materials that I have developed in my day job: guitar performance/instruction that I don’t want others to freely copy and use. Also don’t post stuff you don’t have rights to publish - specifically images.
One more: It takes a fair amount of time to document modeling activities. The attraction of the website/blog will wear off at a certain point. I got to the point where I had to decide how much time I wanted to spend modeling versus documenting the modeling. I now try to write articles and I am not updating the site as much…Sometimes there are big projects that get done on the layout with minimal/no documentation.
I am grateful to those who take the time to post blogs and put up websites. It is always inspirational to see what others have done.
Looking forward to seeing what you decide,
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
I too prefer Blogger, but only because it's the only thing I've tried. As stated, its free and has little learning curve. If you're familiar with editing forum code to display what you want the HTML is pretty easy to pickup too.
So far my only gripes with Blogger are:
What I really like is it's not a forum, therefore comments are or can be limited to your preference, much like a personal website. Therefore pics and descriptions aren't interupted by multiple posts.
I too dont upload images direct to Blogger, instead right now I use Picassa because of its direct link with Google. However Photobucket would work just as easy.
I tend to stear clear of 'blogs' that are hosted on places like Facebook, Twitter, etc because of the amount of comments and the lack of organization to them (typically).
"Busy" backgrounds are another no-no for me. Blogger allows them (non scrolling images peeking around your scrolling material) and it's quite madening trying to look a blog or website or what have you and see that!
What about cost? Mel says that Blogger is totally free. What are the costs associated with a web site?
I built a free website on trainweb.org
It is pretty nice but I haven’t updated it in a very long time.
It is easy to share pictures from their server. Just right click on the image, click COPY, and then paste right here ->
Also you have total control over everything because it is simple HTML and can be edited with Dreamweaver or other WYSIWYG web design software.
Another good thing about a website is that it could still potentially be in existence in one hundred or one thousand years from now.
Thanks for the input everyone. I have a non railroad related blog and a professional website, so I'm pretty confident in my ability to handle my hobby related digital dabbling. I think I'm going to go with a dedicated website and updates listed on this forum and others. I may pay for my own domain or use a free service with their attached tag... I'm not sure yet.
What forums do you reccomend to start threads on to get others interested in my project? Obviously here, but what else? I'm familiar with most of them but I'd appreciate input from those of you who have active threads and why you chose the forum(s) you did.
Thanks again. Lots of good ideas have been shared so far.
Thanks Bear,
I think I'm going with a dedicated website with updates here and elsewhere. This way, readers can follow along without sifting through stuff that may have little to do with what I'm posting about!
I think your approach will work best for me. A website seems more organized and user friendly. Thanks for the inspiration.
cneme71 What forums do you reccomend to start threads on to get others interested in my project? Obviously here, but what else? I'm familiar with most of them but I'd appreciate input from those of you who have active threads and why you chose the forum(s) you did.
http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/content.php
Rich,
To answer your question on cost - I pay around $90.00 per year for a cadillac hosting package that allows me unlimited band width, the capabiity to host lots of sites and offers domains and e-mail addresses etc as part of the price. I have a couple of business sites so the hobby site is a bonus..
My IT guy advsed me against the free hosting and super cut rate hosts. Aside from ads on your pages and reliability issues, it can be difficult contacting real people when there are problems and getting your domains released when you stop doing business with them can be a hassle.