This week has been move-in day for me, moving into my new domain name that is – DerekDesigns.com. I “finally” found a domain name that works. I had tried a couple before now (maybe you heard of em, avotive.com / tru-dynamix.com) and they just didn’t illustrate the creativeness I was trying to make. I wanted to be creative, but unfortunately, I was the only one who thought they were *shrugs*. I tried this time to not be so “creative” but rather be simple and direct.

Domain / Hosting

I made a drastic change in this area but it’s proving to be a good move. Before now I was partial to only one web hosting provider and domain registrar. Well that all changed, when the hosting company allowed access to my account to someone who “magically” was able to guess my security question (they have very weak security questions by default, but I believe they used the online support to gain access posing as me). So I lost all that I previously had and was forced to start over. No worries, change is good. I’m happy with what I have now and I will most certainly recommend services to future clients. Hosting powered by Dreamhost (thanks to a very good friend!) and domain registered through GoDaddy.

Powered by WordPress

As usual, my site is powered by the powerful WordPress (and version 2.7.1 I might add). I love working with this new version. The vertical navigation was a dramatic change, but really proved to be awesome.

Theme

I wanted to create a personal custom theme for this project but time right now is a bit lacking for my own personal projects, as I am focusing more on current clients. So I decided to use a nice portfolio theme, I went with Sharpfolio from WebRevolutionary. I’m having to tweak a few things, but so far it is looking rather nice.  I still have a lot I want to add, so the work continues.

Plug-ins

I’m still installing my favorite plug-ins, but so far I’m having no troubles with that what so ever. I am hoping to write a blog post very soon on the plug-ins I use and recommend. There are really some great plugins out there that make WordPress that much better. I mean really “Hello Dolly“, best WordPress plugin EVER!