[dba-Tech] WordPress or something else?

[Arthur Fuller]

After lo these many years, I have decided that it's time to create my own
website. Given my limited fixed income, cost is of the essence, the ideal
being Free. It appears that WordPress will at least let me start a blog for
free, but it also appears that this option alone will cover some of the
bases but not all.

Besides wanting the site from which to launch my frequent opinions on
various subjects, I would also like to provide access to to the hundreds of
articles I have written on Access, SQL Server, MySQL, and Data-Modeling in
general; in addition, I have written a lot, and intend to continue writing
about, various topics related to Philosophy, Politics and Science. The
first three would seem to demand the ability to attach zip files to the
articles of interest, of which there are several dozen articles with sample
code in various forms, ranging from code blocks to sample databases, and I
don't think that's possible with a simple blog. The latter three topics
could be all lumped together at random into a single blog, or perhaps
categories might be a better approach. Not sure about which might have
greater appeal (assuming that anyone shares my interests in these subjects).

I do have a spare computer that I could turn into a web-server and run it
from home, but I'm guessing that the I/O will suck.

I can afford a few bucks a month for a genuine host. Assuming that's a
better direction, then I need to figure out how to design and develop the
site locally, and then post updates and additions to the actual host. I
won't need massive GB for the zips, since they all consist of small sample
databases or SQL scripts.

Maybe the idea of starting with a blog is all wrong, and that I ought to be
thinking of a site which distinguishes items by topic rather than content
(which would sometimes be pure text and sometimes text plus a link to its
associated zip file.

In short, I have very little idea how to implement this, and am seeking
free advice. I'm cruising the WP site and reading its materials, and trying
to absorb as much of this material as I can, but I'm way out of my depth.

Please don't swing an oar at me (c.f. *The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.0*,  a
tale combining quantum mechanics with witchcraft, a strange brew indeed,
co-authored by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland), as Tristan did when
Sent back to a previous time.

-- 
Arthur