Colophon - how this site is currently built

Over the years I have used a lot of Content Management Systems - as at 2024 I think it is 18 – could be a few more! Not all have been used to run this site which is currently in version 8 and I have tended to version number based on the system I am using to build the site out.

Version 8 – Eleventy

What's Eleventy I hear you ask! It isn't that well know, yet, but has been around for a few years and getting better all the time. Eleventy is an engine that builds out a flat file site. There are massive advantages for a flat file site, and of course a few disadvantages.

It's really really quick - both to build locally and to load when someone visits. There is nothing to hack - not on the html. There is nothing to upgrade on the server - no dependencies. I can build locally, version control using Git and deploy automatically to the server when I am ready.

Eleventy, 11ty, the simple static site generator also has an active and very helpful community and a site that gathers posts about peoples exploits, 11ty Bundle where you can find useful links catagorised into topics.

Writing

Still not using AI - though perhaps I should feed content like this page into AI to make it more readable - but hey, perhaps not! I do still use Hemingway Editor when I am writing the articles and that allows me to jot down a lot of thoughts and then come back to it a while later and sort it into an article.

Images

I have been using Affinity Suite, now part of Canva, for some years now and they are a subscription free professional-level alternative to Adobe design and image products.

Build

I use Microsoft Visual Studio Code to write my code because it is free and it has a terminal integrated allowing me to quickly, and easily (that important as I am not a Git pro), build the site and even run a local server to view what I am building. VS Code also has Git built in again allowing me to press a button to create a Commit (snapshot) and Syncronise those pages with my private Github repro.

Hosting

I'm currently hosting on Netlify as it is free for the amount of usage I use and it auto deploys whenever I change my Github Repro. That means I can press a button to create a Commit and then press another button to syncronise it, that pushes the files to Github, Netlify spots the change and pulls the site onto my account and deploys them. It's more complex than that but that is the gist of it. This takes about a minute and often I will pop up my Netlify dashboard in a browser to see if I can launch the matching pairs tile game they have for while you are waiting for the deploy to finish. I have never completed the game before the deploy but I have done it in 11 moves!

Analytics

These days I pay for my analytics using Fathom Analytics as they allow me to run multiple sites on one account so I have a lovely dashboard with all my multiple side projects all together – great overview! And I can dive deeper into each site to see whats going on. It is a lot less complex than Google Analytics and easier to use.