Website Redesign and Thanks
Hey Everyone,
As you can probably tell I have finally updated the site with a new layout.
The site has evolved quite a bit over the last 2 years. Originally it was created with the intention of being a Wiki site where people could sign up and contribute their own articles and ideas. It never really took off in that regard and was mainly hosting my 7.1.5 Ret Guide with a few miscellaneous pages. It was using the MediaWiki platform which happens to be quite resource intensive so it was not a great option for a small site like mine. This led to it being slow in terms of page loading as well. It also did not have much in terms of customization for future expansions.
After a bit of thought I abandoned the MediaWiki platform and moved the site to WordPress. I want to point out that I do not know anything about web design so I was looking for something that was supposed to be easy. WordPress seemed simple enough and my webhost had a simple install script available for use. That is what the site has been running on for the past year. The site is mostly functional and that is about it. The “Table of Contents” is long and not mobile friendly. There are Nav bar links that don’t lead to anywhere. Some general elements just seem out of place. WordPress is also a bit of a resource hog as well so it is not as fast as it could be.
In the background I’ve experimented with other WordPress themes and site builders such as Squarespace but was never able to find something acceptable. The sites offer some level of customization but not enough to do what I needed.
Today we are now just using HTML5 and Bootstrap. It doesn’t have any sort of simple to use Page Builder but it does allow me to have complete control over what I want to do. The site should be easier to navigate as well as having additional guides exposed on the Nav bar for visibility. The “Table of Contents” functionality is built into the dropdowns. And it is much more responsive and visually appealing. It also works very well on mobile. Overall it should provide a much cleaner looking and faster experience.
This was all made possible by Patron’s and Donor’s. Without them we would still be stuck on a less than ideal WordPress solution. Over the past year the amount of money generated by everyone has been enough to cover hosting costs as well as our new layout. I am very grateful to these individuals and hope to continue to produce quality guides and content that is free for everyone to use. If anyone is able and willing though, please feel free to visit my Patreon.