Webmaster Corner

On Being Organized

or how I was drug kicking and screaming into organizing my stuff

By Jojasa

Hot Slut's Links

First let me say I am *not* a highly organized person. I have my own systems for things and in the larger scheme of life they have worked out just fine. My house might be a tad messy, but I can generally find what I need when I have to.

My computer was probably the most organized thing in my life... or so I thought. I was actually fairly proud of how organized my computer was, until I started building the TTT. At the rate I was going, it was going to take me at least a year to build those 27 sites, all the FPA's and the hubs.

What I have learned about being organized in the last couple of months could have saved me hours and hours of time over the last year. But I have to do things the hard way, always have. It didn't matter how many times I read or was told what the secrets are to building good sites quickly, I continued to do it *my way*.

Since this is the time of New Year resolutions, I'd like to suggest that one of YOURS should be... get organized! Even if you think you *are* already, there's always more you can do. I can't really tell you how to do it, but I can offer a few suggestions that will help you build those sites quicker.

Banners
I was always searching for banners. As you know, going to the sponsor every time you need a banner takes forever. I now have a directory on my hard drive labeled banners. Inside is a separate directory for each sponsor, inside each sponsor is a directory for each of their programs. In those directories are all the banners, and a text file named info.txt where I have the sponsor code ready to cut and paste and any other info I need to remember about each one. I also have a text file in each directory that contains text links that are relevant to each niche, all ready to simply cut and paste onto the page.

I have a FPA directory that is set up the same way as the banner one. There is also a file that tells where I have put each FPA and what it links to. This is invaluable when building the TTT.

Content
I have a content directory that includes all the original picture files, copies of the contract, and any information that I might need about where the pictures were bought. I keep these files zipped so they don't take up so much space. I also have copies of all this on a CD just in case.

Domains
I made a directory for each of my domains and in those I have sub-directories by niche type, and inside those, directories named for each of my sites. What I keep in the site directories are the optimized pics, thumbs, html pages, and a text file with the info of when and where each one was submitted. In each main directory I have text files with whatever information I need about that domain including passwords, when they expire, etc.

Hubs
This directory has all my hub pages with linking and console information.

TypeItIn
This has to be my favorite program of all for building sites. I have the most common html code on buttons. It's very simply to insert them into a page. I have my sponsor code on buttons, complete with the mouseover code. I have a group of buttons for submitting sites to link lists, tgp's, and SE's. I have literally cut my submitting time in half by using this. I have buttons for each niche with basic meta tags, keywords, etc. so I don't have to make them up each time. If you've never tried TypeItIn, you really should.

Getting all this stuff organized is an ongoing project and it does take time to do, but when you have these things organized you'll be surprised at how much quicker and easier your work goes. I'm still not totally organized, and not sure that I ever will be. It's not really in my nature to be so... but what I have done so far has had an amazing effect on my time. Make a New Year resolution to start getting better organized... and keep it!

Happy New Year!
Jojasa