Lessons Learned

Sometimes the best "teaching tips" come from lessons learned along the way. This has been the case for me throughout the years and right here - right now. I've decided to leave that other post up regarding the email subscription issue as an illustration of this and to hopefully encourage others to hang in there when perplexed or driving down what appears to be a dead-end road.*

So please, allow me to recap this lesson learned:

• Follow directions (I did but was still confused)
• Use various resources at hand (viewed the online tutorial video and placed my email subscription code on my page - SUCCESS I thought!)
• Don't assume things are working as planned - find a way to self-check (subscribed to the feed myself and found out subscription notifications were not getting updated)
  • Review your work (checked code and settings)
  • Reach out to experts for help (contacted tech support twice - was told to be patient as the subscription service updates once in a 24 hour period - but I am not patient)
  • Be persistent (contacted tech support a third time and was told the help ticket had now been "escalated")
  • Keep people informed of your learning curve (posted my announcement of "issues" - wondered if that would make me look stupid - decided I'm not stupid but sometimes do stupid things, and it's okay for others to know that)
  • Don't wait for someone else to fix things for you (unless it involves electricity)
  • Try at least a couple ways of doing things (created a new feed and placed the code for both feeds in different spots on the blog)
  • Ask for help from your friends (yeah - that announcement - and a few emails)
  • When you think you've found the answer to your problem, check it one more time (thus the rambling "Check. Check. Check." post)
• Admit your mistakes (emailed the tech people back - admitting my lack of patience - and explained I had figured out the problem and that my help request could be "de-escalated". No answer - I think they've blocked my emails.
• Take notes (I made mental ones in this case but often write things down for future use when necessary - sometimes on my left hand!)

So, long story short - I learned the problem was with the location of the code insertion. Hopefully, I didn't lose too many subscribers along the way, and hopefully, those of you who stuck with me will be encouraged to stick with yourself as you learn those life lessons that serve to make you the outstanding teachers you all are.

REAL SUCCESS!!!

*For "the rest of the story", check out the Winsome Ways blog.