New Site Launched

Posted: 29th September 2008

Without much trouble, the new redesigned site is now uploaded and running.  I'll be keeping a close eye on it as it gets through its first few weeks, ironing out any bugs and adding new features if necessary.  The changes I have made include:

Site (as a whole)

Blog has gone
I decided that my blog was not worth keeping up - I hardly wrote on it and even fewer (I think) read it.  I do intend to write special articles but I will add a new section to the site if I want to do that.
Projects has gone
Since I don't have a build server application (such as Cruise Control) installed the project updates were effectively out of date as soon as I wrote them, along with being too sporadic.
Services has gone
My About page has enough detailed information as to what I am capable of.
The site is fuelled by CodeIgniter
Previously the site was completly bespoke which was a great challenge for me at the time (partly to see if I could complete a project of this size).  However maintaining the site become troublesome as variations between the sections of the site caused confusion in the general plan.  CodeIgniter is a PHP MVC framework which allows me to change various aspects of the site without too many consequences.

Front End

The layout has changed
I've gone from dark to light and based it on the K2 theme that is used for Wordpress.  I like its clean and efficient design, not to mention it probably makes it easier on the eyes for more visitors.
More appropriate/personal links have been added
From now on I intend to add links to sites of people I have directly met, rather than a mixture of things that I "like"
Comments have gone
It's easier if you just contact me directly - I'm more likely to respond then!

Back End

The Xinha WYSIWYG editor is used
Before the update I had to manually enter the HTML to write a news article which could be tiresome and less easy for me to see mistakes in spelling and grammar.

Thank you very much for your patience while I uploaded this new version - hopefully this will inspire me to more proactive in my updates.