I am tracking the history of changes to the site here. It's intended to be brief and catalogues a history of failing forward.
Published: Dec 4, 2024
Added a React island (see Astro documentation on [Islands Architecture](https://docs.astro.build/en/concepts/islands/)) that presents the tag list above the article list to the [articles page](/articles). Click on a tag to filter the list.
Published: Jun 12, 2024
One of the purposes of this site is to play around with different things. Astro looks so much more appropriate for a content-based site like this one. Let's rebuild the site in Astro. Frankly, it just seems like less trouble than NextJS for this kind of site.
Published: Nov 4, 2022
Switching to static site compilation with a Markdown content layer has been relatively easy. Managing my content in a git submodule is likely to cause its own headaches - especially around images - but at least content and site design are separate. So far most basic functionality exists, even if there's a lot of refactoring required like inlined paths and duplicated components. Getting to "done-ish" is important so that I can focus on content and projects, rather than builing the site.
Published: Nov 2, 2022
Content is back in Markdown. With free Heroku plans gone, putting content back in Markdown in my code repo is just the easiest thing to do.
Published: Nov 1, 2022
Heroku is dumping free plans, so that's the end of my Strapi CMS on Heroku. I was becoming concerned about increasing project complexity and this is really part of the impetus to simplify back to content being stored in Markdown. However, this time I want to separate the content from the site design - this mixing created a problem with my older Gatsby site where site design changes and content changes were in the same repo.
Published: May 9, 2022
Getting closer to releasing my site on NextJS with Strapi backend. I have a fairly solid basis for development. I suspect there are a few hacks to create the API I need. There is likely to be a more Strapi-like way of doing it. The backend is on Strapi v3.x, which is out of date considering v.4.x is well and truly released. The upgrade path is unclear and I've prioritised getting an initial release. I also want to host images are to be hosted in Cloudinary, which is also TBD. Staying up to date with product releases is important in order to avoid ending up several major versions behind and having a lengthy upgrade path.
Published: Apr 8, 2022
Controlling heading levels is an issue, especially when I'm re-using components. It's important to be aware of how headings are structured in a site as it has a direct bearing on accessibility. Perhaps more deliberate thought to information architecture would be the solution to my woes but I not yet convinced it's worth it, given the scope and purpose of this site.
Published: Mar 30, 2022
Implementing authentication for reading content. Not caching JWT led to HTTP 429 - Too many requests. Must cache JWT when building the site. I forgot about that one... Note to self: don't do that again.
Published: Apr 8, 2021
Static site generation needs work. When I create new content, it isn't being reflected on the site. I'll need to see how the `revalidate` property of `getStaticProps` actually works; whether a rebuild will be forced or not. If not, what are my options? 1. Use Server side rendering instead 2. Implement a hook in Strapi so that once new content is posted, a rebuild of the front end is triggered on Netlify I'm not sure there are other options right now: to be determined...
Published: Apr 8, 2021
Sorting out authentication for reading content is being put on hold as it's just sucking up time I could be spending on other elements of the site. For now, reading content is publicly available. It's not ideal but that's how it is for now.
Published: Mar 13, 2021
I'm having some trouble getting Netlify Forms working. I followed the instructions to get a basic HTML form working. I can see the form registered in Netlify Forms and can see the POST request happening, however the form submission never appears in my Netlify console. As an interim solution, I've gotten a Google Form working. It doesn't look offensive at least but it doesn't really belong but it looks better than the Microsoft Forms solution I tried a while ago.
Published: Mar 13, 2021
Added a Projects section. For now, it's essentially a copy of the Blog page format. I expect to either change it or to refactor Blog and Projects to use the same template.
Published: Jan 29, 2021
Well it's been a lot of work implementing a new design into my site. It's not perfect yet but it's well on track. I had initially tried to bring in the design as a whole and then get it working. It was more trouble than it was worth and I bogged down. I cut out a new branch and implemented the design a page / component at a time. It was a far better approach. So far, I've only evaluated the design on desktop - no responsive design as yet. It's worth it to me as this was taking a long time and I want to do other things with the site. Upgrading the design will be a progressive undertaking from now on. I'm not sure the Contact Us form works, so that's definitely the next step and I've opted to hide it for now. It's certainly the next cap off the rank for me. Ultimately, I want to undertake some project work using React and OIDC / OAuth 2.0. This is one of the mmain reasons why I chose to host my own site on Netlify.
Published: Jan 13, 2021
My initial attempt at implementing a new visual design bogged down - I don't think the approach was sound. I created a new branch for a new approach and an initial deployment has made to my test site. Things are looking better and I'm discovering benefits and limitations of the design. For now there will continue to be a lot of gaps as I pick and choose what to tackle. The designer used SVGs to create the diagonal lines separating the sections on the home page. It's an interesting idea, though I think I could use a single SVG programmatically modify it to suit. I have basically no experience with programming with SVGs so it will be an adventure, however I have bigger fish to fry. One bigger fish is that there's little use of Flexbox and Grid which I think could benefit the responsiveness of the design.
Published: Dec 21, 2020
Implemented gatsby-plugin-sitemap to create sitemap. Submitted sitemap.xml to Google and Bing.
Published: Dec 19, 2020
Added a site log where I can briefly indicate site updates. You're actually looking at it! Added initial design, which will have to be updated along with the VD re-design.