You computer geeks are ridiculous!

I foolishly decided it would be fun to create a Web site. About 10 hours and several tears later, I have conceded that my small brain cannot wrap itself around this mysterious technology.

I followed directions on the kind-looking Web site I started using early this morning. The author gently explains purchasing a domain name, picking a host, . . . and yes, it just sort of trails off from there. She makes much mention about how confusing and frustrating it can be to build a site for the first time (thanks for that acute observation). And she mentions that it appears that everyone out there thinks the beginner already knows how to work code and create pages, links, etc.

For someone who clearly saw a need to dumb it all down, she really didn't explain a damn thing to me. I purchased the domain, paid for a host, and then wandered all day getting very little accomplished, besides, perhaps, broadening the size of my backside.

My brother was very helpful in getting me through a couple tangles that seemed indecipherable to me, and left me with a couple tools/sites he used in creating his own site. These sites, however, are mind-numbing. They are heavy on ads and not inviting or friendly to the end user at all. Holy crap. I was afraid to click on anything because no where was it clear what I was going to connect to.

Web geeks, I respect your technological acumen and your ability to create code as easily as I am able to eat Doritos, but I'm surprised by the lack of design sense. Are you too hungry for ad revenue to keep your site clean? Too excited about slapping it all on there to think about heading levels or clear directions? While it's clever to have the download button in the shape of a frog, it scares the hell out of me to click on it. I don't know where that frog goes to. So I'm paralyzed. I can't click the button; therefore, I cannot download; therefore, I wander back and forth between sites reading the same info over and over and I JUST WANT TO BUILD MY DAMN SITE.

I'm going to go ice my carpal tunnel and consider what a good beginner tutorial would include.