I recently created a new website for a sports fan group I have belonged to for more than ten years. We are die-hard fans of everything related to Brigham Young University sports, especially football. We had been using a forum service, YUKU, for a lot of years and finally got tired of the poor service and goofy advertisements they slipped into our forum. We had to pay a fee not to see advertisements. Finally we got so fed up with it that we began to talk about looking for a new home for our forum. As we discussed it, I realized that it would be a pretty simple solution for us to buy a domain name and create our own website and forum. So, that’s what we did, using my web hosting account with Bluehost. So, I created byufans.net. It is a closed group, though, so membership is limited to the current members and those individuals who are personally invited by a member.  Sorry.

Anyway, what does that have to do with Western Trail Rider? Well, the new website looks so good and works so well and is so easy to manage that I was quite impressed with myself (hehehe). But, when I switch over to my WTR site, well, it started looking a bit drab and old. Now, every time I look at WTR I think I need to update it.

So, I’m going to be looking at new themes and other apps and programs that might sort of dress up the site and make it more user-friendly and easier to manage. Once I decide what to do, I’ll let everybody know that it may be down for a few hours…that is, if everything goes well…or a few days, if I mess up. Now, nobody need suppose that I am a website developer or otherwise expert, or even knowledgeable, about websites and blogs. I just trip along until something looks pretty good and works ok. WordPress has made things pretty simple for guys like me. It is mostly a matter of figuring out what I like, then plug-and-play. Still, I seem to be able to mess things up pretty well, as I try mixing and matching different services on the site. The challenge is going to be ensuring that I don’t lose any of the photos, information, posts, and serviceability of the current site.

Also, I understand how each provider of an app or service can spend thousands of hours developing a simple app for dummies like me to “plug-and-play” and that they certainly deserve to be paid for their efforts. However, when a guy like me starts adding up the various fees and subscriptions and donations, the cost starts to reach a significant level per year, particularly when I am not making a penny on the website.

I created the website shortly after I started planning my big horse pack trip a few years ago. A number of folks suggested that I start a blog, so they could keep up with my planning, gear purchases and reviews, and other developments, as well as documentation of the trip itself. It occurred to me that I might just as well purchase a domain name, start a website of my own, and invite other horse and trail riding folks to blog along with me. The thought was that we, together, might create a website where like-minded people might come to find information about horse trails in the western U.S. and to get first-hand information from people who had actually ridden those trails. I’m not talking about state and national park trails – there are numerous websites for those places. I’m talking about the backtrails and places that are almost unknown except to riders from the local areas. Places folks hear about, but few ever see. I figured that eventually there might be enough bloggers on the site that a little advertising income might be generated, to pay for the website maintenance. That hasn’t developed, so I’m content with simply using the site as a place to document my horse adventures for a few faithful followers to enjoy.

Still, I’d like to make it an attractive and interesting website. So, I’ll be working on updating it over the coming couple of months.

Stay tuned to see what I come up with!

P.S. The invitation is still open for anybody who would like to start their own horse-related blog under the WTR banner or to link an existing blog through WTR. The only requirement is that it be related to horse trails in the western U.S. or some aspect of horse or mule packing. There is no charge and I maintain the site at no expense to you…unless you would like to help out.  If you have interest, send me an email at tony.henrie@westerntrailrider.com.