Been a while since I’ve written anything here. Actually, since completing this “test” site back in 2023 I just left it where it was and never returned to it. A lot has happened since then, a lot of bad and a whole lot of good, and I recently had a need to list a few things for sale. I wanted a quick way to do so, a way that I could then easily share with family and friends. I remembered this site, remembered the process of updating it using Jekyll and Github Pages, remembered how much I enjoyed using Nova and tinkering with websites, and made a page showing items for sale.
Since I dusted it off, and since I’ve scrubbed every other area of “me” online, I thought this may be a good place to call home. Now that I am actually me I think this one will stick.
I’ve been building websites and writing and publishing online since the early 2000’s. All of those websites are gone, my social media is not used (if they exist at all). I love the freedom of how this website is built and maintained, I love that it is something I can make and maintain myself, and I love the process. I love (and miss) writing. And so, here we are.
As part of getting this place ready for other people to see I did update the about page and also the author “bio” that appears beneath each post. Thankfully, since I built the site using config files based on the Jekyll framework, I just had to update these items in data/people.yml. Making that change there updated all necessary pages/posts. I also updated my picture to reflect much more of who I am instead of the previous version (which was very much in the mindset of “fake it ’til you make it). Again, just replaced the photo in assets/img that had my name on it.
I digress.
Enhancements worth mentioning
Since getting back on here, and since wanting a place to put some of my words, and since I now feel like I actually have words of value to put out into the world (eventually), I’ve made a few enhancements, which is the entire purpose of this post.
Improved Image Handling
A large part of websites that can really bog things down is images. I use a max width of 1280px, use ImageOptim to reduce the file size, and then most recently implemented Calibre Image Actions on this site’s github repository. A recent run of the Image Actions workflow reduced image file sizes on this site, which were not many, by 78.3%. The same workflow will run with each pull request, making sure the images you see are using the smallest amount of data as possible, which leads me to my next improvement…
Improved Source Control
The image actions workflow kicks off with each pull request initiated in the GitHub repository where this website lives. Learning that process encouraged me to be better at the source control mechanisms I utilize. And so now, with the help of Gihub documentation until I get comfortable with the terminology and process, I will begin to utilize branches, pushes, pulls, merging, etc for all changes here. Keeps everything organized and documented. And keeps those image files sizes as small as possible with each pull. Automation is fantastic.
Bye-Bye Analytics
Now, granted, I didn’t actually use or look at the analytics I had enabled. Tinylytics doesn’t put a huge footprint on any website they are used on, and I recommend it to those who may “need” simple traffic data, but I just don’t have any interest in the traffic this website may or may not get. And I don’t really have any interest in manipulating that traffic through traffic/data analysis of any kind through deeper tools like Google Analytics or even going so far as using Facebook Pixel.
I’m not going to make any bold statements, I’m through with doing those, but the writing I believe I will do in the future will find who it needs to find when it needs to be found. Analyzing traffic makes me feel as though I have control, and that is, quite simply, not the case.
So, bye-bye analytics and hello dear reader, wherever you may be reading this from, on whichever date you stumble across it, and at whatever time of day. Happy to have you here!
And More to Come
I’m not yet at a place to write consistently, but I do feel a pull, as always, to write. I’m excited this time around in a way that I never have been before. Before it was always: “how can I write to make money?” (Money has been my goal in every endeavor since I can remember).
Now, my goal is to help as many people as possible through telling my testimony, through sharing how God has changed my life, how Jesus has taken the absolute chaos and destruction of me and turned it into something filled with grace, mercy, love, forgiveness, salvation, and how the Spirit continues to move me day by day…topics will most certainly cover marriage, being a husband, divorce, “co-parenting”, reconciliation, parenting, being a father, porn, Church, what it means to be a Christian, work, and so on.
Again, I digress. All of that to say that I am going to begin using this website as a place to share my life, my story, the story that Jesus has given me, and because of that I want to make sure it is running as well as it can within an architecture that God has put into my heart. I know, I know, spiritualizing how a website is built…come on. But I mean it! I want to be a good steward of all that God has given to me, and that includes this website, not to mention the talents and abilities to make and run such a simple thing. I’ve got a laundry list of improvements to make after running a website speed test provided by Calibre and I plan to work through as much of it as I am able to in order to steward this website as best as I can, to further the transformational message of the Gospel one published word at a time.
And so that’s where I’ll leave this.
Thanks for reading!
Until next time, subscribe to the RSS feed so you catch the next post. (RSS is better than any social media feed, btw. Take your attention back. I recommend NetNewsWire for fetching your feeds).
Cheers!
Aaron
