From caccd81c3eb7954662d20cab10cc3afeeabca615 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Christian Cleberg Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2023 11:23:08 -0600 Subject: initial commit --- blog/2023-01-03-recent-website-changes.org | 82 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 82 insertions(+) create mode 100644 blog/2023-01-03-recent-website-changes.org (limited to 'blog/2023-01-03-recent-website-changes.org') diff --git a/blog/2023-01-03-recent-website-changes.org b/blog/2023-01-03-recent-website-changes.org new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6988da8 --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/2023-01-03-recent-website-changes.org @@ -0,0 +1,82 @@ ++++ +date = 2023-01-03 +title = "Recent Website Changes" +description = "A quick review on this website's recent changes." ++++ + +## The State of This Website + +Over the years, this website has changed URLs, styles, content focus, and much +more. However, it seems that I am never done, as I am yet again changing this +page to fit my current needs and wants. + +While this site was already minimal (~12kb), it contained a lot of disorganized +content and some poorly chosen color schemes. + +The recent updates attempt to fix these items while focusing on what I truly +care about here: the content within each page. + +## Recent Changes + +I've made quite a few changes to the style of this website today, both in the +CSS and in the HTML. + +Here are some of the key takeaways from today's changes: + +1. Reduce the width of the website from `60em` to `40em`. +2. Remove breadcrumb navigation and replaced with a simple "Return Home" link +when visiting anything other than the homepage. +3. Remove syntax highlighting from code blocks. CSS now loads from a single +file. +4. Move blog posts on the homepage to the top, pushing tertiary content down. +5. Update font-family from `monospace` to `sans-serif` for readability. + +## Future Focus + +### Accessibility + +My main focus amidst all the changes this past year was accessibility. +I tried to improve the accessibility of all pages on this site as well as I +know how. +For example, I added aria labels to identify different navigation menus in +November. + +I want to continue this in 2023 and learn more about the accessibility features +I can utilize to help those who may need them. + +### Content First + +Beyond accessibility, I am making a concerted effort to bring the content of +this site to the forefront and push the tertiary information (e.g., About Me, +Services, etc.) down below the content. + +Further, I want to review and edit previous blog posts for grammar, accuracy, +dead links, and more. Where necessary, I may even add a blurb at the top of old +posts that are no longer accurate or helpful. + +### Style + +As always, I will be searching for ways to reduce distractions and bring a +minimalistic approach to this site. While there are certainly more drastic +measures I could take, such as making this a [Shinobi +Website](https://shinobi.bt.ht) or a [No CSS Website](https://nocss.club), I +prefer to keep some modern features here. + +Two ideas have been floating around in my head, but I am not sure how I feel +about these approaches yet: + +1. Going all-in with Emacs org-mode and creating a script to auto-publish all my +blog posts from org-mode to plain HTML files and then letting my CSS style it +after the fact. +2. Focus on publishing for Gemini or Gopher and then utilize a conversion +program to translate the pages to HTML. + +## Looking Back + +As I sit here and finalize the changes, as well as this post, I am happy with +the current state of this website. It's certainly a long way from my first +attempts (parallax background images, anyone?) and it's good to see the +progress. + +I can only hope and work hard to ensure that I make more meaningful progress by +this time next year. -- cgit v1.2.3-70-g09d2