First things first, the site has a refreshed look. It’s the same basic design it was before, but I’ve changed several things.
Before I get to the site changes, the other big news is that my site is now being hosted by HostGator. Previously I was on MediaTemple. Lots of great things to say about them, but the 1 thing that matters the most to any site owner is the availability and speed of the site.
All was great when I first started with MT, but things have been on the decline for a while….to the point that the site was taking 5-10 seconds to START loading. Crazy.
So I’ve heard great things about HostGator and things are MUCH faster. Good move Patrick.
Site Changes
Like I said, the basics are still here, but there were lots of kinks. Previously I meant to work in some fairly important features like, say subscribing to the blog and searching the site. Doh! Well, I wanted them in the design badly, but got stuck on how to actually make it work. I built the site upon the Thesis theme and because I was a newbie with it I failed to achieve everything I wanted.
Now, I’m no newbie.
That’s why I can comfortably tell you to download the Thesis theme for yourself (like right now!).
After playing with Thesis enough I was easily able to accomplish everything I wanted. Now I think the site is beautiful. Thesis takes care of so much and really makes my job easier.
So the actual changes include a sidebar with all the cool sidebar stuff. There’s better formatting in the blog, a subscribe button, and a smarter home page.