Sunday evening finally saw the launch of a completely rewritten version of LloydyWeb, and the seventh incarnation of this site. The previous site had been around for over two years, so the code has been massively improved upon (and bursting at the seems with microformats), and I’d like to think the design is a little more up-to-date with current trends too.
One of my key goals with the new design was to removed a lot of the redundant content that had been hanging around like a bad smell in previous versions of this site. However, interesting essays and articles have been archived in the new Vintage section, or incorporated into this blog (where some of this content probably should have gone in the first place).
The same is true for the few reviews I have written, which are now a category within the blog rather than a dedicated (and sad looking) section. Hopefully this means I’m more likely to jot down any thoughts I have after watching a movie, going to a gig, reading a book, or listening to an album.
If you read my post earlier in the year about this site (see Paul’s blog still 1.0), you would have known that this re-design wasn’t far off. Re-reading that post I would like to think I have achieved a lot of what I set out to do all those many months ago, but yes, it has taken me this long to build the damn thing!
Interestingly, not only have I decided to backdate the blog (is that a blogging crime by the way?), but I also decided to keep the really old (and embarrassing) entries, and indeed they should now be easier to find, with the improved categorisation.
Finally, this initial release is very much about setting foundations to build upon. There are a few pieces that I’ve had to compromise on, areas that remain unfinished, and I can see me playing with the design a lot over the coming months and years too.
Good work Monkey!