I finally have a functional blog

I have always wanted my corner of the Internet. The World Wide Web has had a profound effect on my life in ways I could never have imagined. I never thought it would be possible to access so much knowledge with a single search.

It’s truly an amazing experience to be able to take advantage of all the opportunities the Web offers

Keep It Simple

I want this blog to be simple and functional. When researching, I noticed that people who have been blogging since the word “blog” was coined are incredibly talented. They often tinker with their blog to make them work, which made me consider the learning curve I would face if I did the same. I would need to learn how to design the site, organize the content, and even figure out how to make it work properly. It’s not an easy task but it’s something that I’m willing to put my time and effort into to make my personal space on the Internet. And I certainly don’t want that to happen, especially not soon, when I have plenty of time to devote to this website. I like to think that this website is already a functioning one, with the RSS feed already in place. It was the first thing I wanted to get done when I first started building this site, and I’m glad that I was able to get it done relatively quickly and easily. Having an RSS feed was a priority for me and I’m glad that I was able to make it happen. It’s a great way for my readers to easily stay up to date with the content I’m adding to the website.

How it’s built

I wanted a website that was easy for me to access and navigate, and one I could trust with my data and content. WordPress and Tumblr were two of the platforms that came to mind, as I had used their services before and had found them to be reliable. But I wanted a space on the internet that was completely my own and I had full control over its processing and content.

My workflow last 2020 was very disorganized with only limited knowledge of how everything works, I settled in with HTML/CSS for my website and just hosted everything on GitHub. I did make use of Cloudflare for my website’s SSL. But that was it. I only had that knowledge and the process of creating pages also took a lot of time and effort so I decided to delay my project to redesign everything.

There are now much easier ways to create a website with built-in content management systems. Kirby, Blot, and Microblog are great options, but I have never been able to commit to paying $5 per month. (Yes, I’m cheap. Also, I live in a third-world country, so that’s already a high price for me.) My updates on my first website stopped when I encountered a problem with Atom. I couldn’t figure out why it wouldn’t connect to my GitHub account, so I stopped. The process was time-consuming and required a lot of technical knowledge, but in the end, I had a website that was completely under my control, and I was satisfied with the result.

After encountering that problem, I decided to dive deep into the world of Jekyll. I watched every video on how to make a website using this static site generator and browsed through the many themes available, but I couldn’t find what I was looking for. After a year of searching and trying different things, I found Hugo. Hugo has been a great tool for me, since it is very fast and reliable. I have had no issues deploying my websites to Netlify and I love how text-centric Hugo is and it’s very beginner friendly,

Content and Vision

As you’ve noticed, this website is heavily text-based, despite my desire to include photos as a secondary content type. When it comes to adding photos to a website, Mu-An Chiou’s Open Stories and Paul Stamatiou’s impressive photo collection come to mind.

I wanted a basic website that was easy to build, code, and use. It had to be simple enough that it wouldn’t be overly complicated and it had to have few accessibility issues. I wanted it to be user-friendly, so that people of all experience levels could navigate it with ease. I wanted to ensure that the design was uncluttered and straightforward, providing a clean and enjoyable experience for users. I also wanted the website to be functional, providing all the necessary features without being overly complicated. As someone who is still exploring the world of blogging, I understand that my knowledge of the features that I like may be limited. I also want to ensure that it is functional and provides all the necessary features without being overly complicated to me. Focus on the essentials. In particular, I place a high value on ease of navigation and user-friendliness. I believe that my readers should be able to find what they are looking for quickly and easily, without having to wade through cluttered or confusing design elements. At the same time, I don’t want simplicity to come at the expense of functionality. I recognize that there are certain features that are essential for a successful blog, such as the ability to search for and filter content, the ability to leave comments, and the ability to share posts on social media, which by the way, is not my goal and vision for my website but since this is an ongoing project (always a work in progress) I might look into creating those in the future. For now a clean and uncluttered design that is easy on the eyes will do.

My vision for my blog is one that strikes a balance between simplicity and functionality. I just really want you to read my writings when you visit my site, and to be able to engage with my content in a way that is seamless and intuitive.

Inspiration

Although I draw inspiration from many sources for my website, not all of them will be relevant or make sense for my project. Some of my inspirations are Craig Mod and Manuel Moreale both are really great writers inspired me to write about personal topics. Justin Duke, Matthew Smith, João Beleza Freire, Maggie Appleton, have websites that are visually stunning and captivating. Whenever I visit their websites, I tend to stay much longer than intended. And Frank Chimero has a simple website, yet I frequently visit it to read his writings and gain inspiration and information from them. They have all created beautiful and functional websites that I admire, but I know that I need to focus on what will work best for my own needs. It’s important to take inspiration from others, but ultimately I need to be true to my own vision and goals for my website. I need to pick and choose the elements and features that will be most useful to me and the readers/visitors, while also ensuring that they fit within the overall design and functionality of my website.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you notice any errors on my website, encounter accessibility issues, or feel that certain parts should be reiterated. This has been a long-term project that has taken almost a decade to complete due to limited time and skills. Through trial and error and research, I have learned a lot and am excited to continue developing and growing my website. I also hope to improve my writing skills so that I can write something that’s informative and engaging.