Webmastering on the Road

Keeping your Website updated while you are on the road can be a challenge, but with prior proper planning no one will figure out that you are lying on the beach in Puerto Vallarta instead of hunching over your desk in San Antonio. Unless you want them to.

Of all the variables you should consider, the most important is whether you will take a laptop or rely on the kindness of strangers for your Internet access. Each solution has its pros and cons.

With a laptop you have access to a computer with all the right software, templates and passwords. The downside: you will need a way to connect it to the Internet.

Dialup, wireless, broadband. If you're staying at a hotel or RV park, check before you go to see what kinds of connections they offer and make sure you know how to connect. Check into the High Tech Traveler for some suggestions on hotels with in-room high speed access and wi-fi and onto Linkspot for some RV parks with broadband. Many other resources are online; search for them before you make reservations.

If you have never attempted a wireless connection, work out the kinks ahead of time. (As of this writing, you can get a free day pass for T-Mobile HotSpots at Starbucks and could test it there.) You might normally use your laptop as part of your home or office broadband network, but if you are staying with friends you might need to dial up: do you know how? Some broadband providers - SBC DSL, for example - have dialup numbers you can use while you are on the road.

Make sure you have all your passwords and local access phone numbers - carry them in your wallet instead of your laptop case so if your computer is stolen (heaven forbid) the thief doesn't grab your passwords as well as your laptop.

Using a borrowed computer is easier in some ways - you know you'll have access and you won't be lugging a heavy laptop around. The issue here is software and peripherals.

I recommend taking an HTML editor, a photo editor and (absolutely essential) an ftp program. My recommendations are freeware - small programs that you can legally and easily install (and this is important) uninstall when you leave. Practice using them before you travel.

Here are some suggestions:

FTP:
• Coffecup Free FTP
• Ace FTP Freeware
HTML:
• Sothink HTML
• Ace HTML
Graphics:
• Serif PhotoPlus 5.5
• VCW VicMan's Photo Editor

Most computers you use will have a CD-ROM drive, so put the software on a CD rather than a floppy. I have a portable hard drive small enough to wear on a lanyard around my neck that plugs into a USB port on any computer. Mine is a Crucial; all the software fits on it. Hint: although USB is supposed to be plug-and-play, the device may need a driver. Take all the drivers you may need on a CD.

Most places will let you install your own software, but some won't. Some places may have similar programs already installed, some won't. Prepare for the worst.

When you leave, uninstall the software. At the very least, log out of all programs and make sure that your user name and password is not lingering anywhere for the next person to use.

I also take a card reader for my photos: look at some options at www.xpcgear.com/memorycard.html. Many hotels have a business center, often free, where you can use a computer and access the Internet. You can do the same at any Kinkos. There are cyber cafés all over the world. You can look up a list online at www.netcafes.com/, but if my experience in the Middle East is typical, old ones die and new ones spring up constantly. The list I took with me was useless.

If all you want to do is post a travelogue about your vacation, there are easier roads to travel. I recommend a blog combined with a photo archive site. This might not be as fancy as a custom-designed Web site, but you will get the information out fast and won't need any Web design skills or special software. Gussy it up when you return.

A blog is shorthand for Web Log, a simple online journal. Sites such as Blogger use an online, Web-based interface that makes it easy to add and amend content. If you have never seen a blog, here's one I created last year susansbooks.blogspot.com/.

The service is free and easy to use. Again, practice before you travel.

Blogger doesn't accept photos, so if you want to include a link to vacation photos you will need space at a photo sharing site. I have free space at Yahoo; other options are PhotoBucket, Sony Image Station and Picture Trail.

You will want to keep up with your e-mail. You should have a Web-based e-mail account if you are using borrowed computers. It's too complicated to set up a stand-alone e-mail program for short-term use. Most Internet Service providers have a Web-based system. It's slower than using Outlook or Eudora, but at least you can keep up with your mail.

Mailboxes overflow up quickly, so if e-mail is crucial to your business be sure to check it frequently so your clients don't get bounced mail messages.

A vacation traveler will have different needs from some running a Web-based business, but the principles are the same. When you are on the road,

• Assess your needs
• Seek solutions that meet those needs
• Rehearse everything ahead of time to make sure it works
• Accept everything will take two to three times longer to accomplish than it will at your base computer.
• Enjoy your time away: if you are unplugged for a few days the world will not end.