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Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy

What is this?

Briefly: I wrote down here all that I needed for creating my cycling website, and keeping it running swiftly, and securely. How to make a (WordPress) website, security, backups, finding good web-hosting, website-optimization (“speed” and the famous “SEO”), privacy etc.
BikeGremlin author/founder – Relja Novović (link to the “main,” bikegremlin.com site)

Don’t let the “Spartan” design fool you – there are hundreds of informative articles here!


Where do I start?

  • Here’s a complete list of the website contents – logically sorted by topics.
    That’s a good place to start and find what interests you.
  • There’s also a search box near the top of every page – powered by Google, so it is rather smart. 
  • Finally, there’s a menu at the top, with a list of topics sorted by categories.


What can I expect?

The basic idea is to explain even the most complicated things so that the absolute beginners can understand them.

I think it is great when you can build and maintain your website (and computer) on your own, with minimal costs. Why?

  • You are less dependent on the others (developers, hosting providers, technical support etc.).
  • By reducing costs, you are also less dependent on any sponsors – so you can remain objective and honest with yourself and the others (if that’s your thing, to me that’s important). Without the need to make any paid reviews, or sponsored articles where even the bad products get praised, etc.
  • Learning new things is fun. At least for me – I thoroughly enjoy figuring stuff out and experimenting.

If you have any questions, use the comment section below each article, or the Q & A page.

Most articles here are for my own personal reminder (“how do I do this-and-that”), or for answering the questions I get frequently (so I don’t have to explain the same stuff over, and over again 🙂 ). Some articles are very long, but most have a table of contents at the beginning, so you can jump straight to the part that interests you.

I try to keep this as up-to-date, objective, and informative as possible. If you find any errors, don’t hesitate to note them in the comment section. Likewise, since English is not my native, if you find any “bed spilling,” feel free to let me know so I can correct it. This way you are helping make this even better and more useful for all the visitors.

Companies supporting this website are listed under “Partners.” My main condition when discussing sponsorship is that I remain independent: writing only what I really think (about any product), and not writing what I don’t think. Those listed as “Partners” understand and support this.

Disclaimer: I am not, nor do I claim to be a WordPress, or a web-hosting expert. Take all the information provided here as: “to the best of my knowledge,” or “what’s worked for me so far.” Nothing more, nothing less. Any additions, and especially corrections are more than welcome.


Frequently asked questions

This site is dedicated to website, and computer-related topics, but you could visit this page if you are interested to find out a bit more about me. Some other things people often ask:

Almost forgot: when I recommend a particular product, I often use an Amazon affiliate link, and “as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” Now that legal disclaimer is out of the way, you can see: why BikeGremlin uses Amazon affiliate links (link to my cycling-related website).


My IT-related credentials

Regarding formal education, I’ve got a degree that says “Informational Technologies Engineer,” and one that says “Bachelor of Internal and Foreign trade.” I’ve always loved computers, and also thought it was a good idea to learn how to run my own business. 🙂
Theory vs Practice

Where the rubber hits the road, I’ve got over two decades of work experience in the IT profession – ranging from a computer technician, through technical support, to a lead systems specialist. With a ton of written manuals and tutorials.
My Linkedin profile

You could say that I have a reasonable amount of experience and knowledge of how the computer-related stuff works, both on the hardware, and the logical (software) level – signals, communications, file systems, you name it.

Since 2015, I’ve been using the services of various shared and reseller hosting providers.

Even though I’ve never worked for a hosting provider, I think it could be said that I’ve got a lot of experience from both sides of the “counter” when it comes to web hosting services.

This can also be said about me: 🙂

Still an idiot :)
Marketing tip No1: Shorter is better!

That’s it. Enjoy. 🙂

Relja

This is my best profile… disregard that photo-bombing hiker in the background!
This is my best profile… disregard that photo-bombing hiker in the background!
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