A whole new look and location for this old blog.

I know, right? It’s crazy in here all of a sudden. Well, here’s the deal. The old Greyzed WordPress theme has served me very well for nearly a decade, but it hasn’t been officially supported for a long time. That has made maintenance and upgrades around here increasingly difficult. As WordPress continues to be updated, the theme was developing more and more problems. In any case, while I dug the art style, there were always things I didn’t like about it.

It was time for a change, but it turns out that in the intervening years, the entire web went to a “modern” style, and so went every single freaking WordPress theme. “Modern”, of course, means giant white screens with rectangles of color here and there, and more Helvetica than you shake a serif at. I’m not a rectangles-and-helvetica person, and frankly I’m weary of it being absolutely everywhere. That meant I needed to get my hands dirty, which is why it has been a little quiet around here.

I’ve spent the past few weeks learning way more than I ever wanted to about WordPress in order to CSS and PHP my way from a standard theme into something that says “Blondihacks”. I wanted to keep suggestions of the old look, while making it easier on the eyes, easier to navigate, and more friendly. You’ll note that comments are now available right on the front page article. No more clicking around to find them. The site is also now responsive on mobile, although it gets very “tall” as WordPress sites do on phones. “Responsive” in WordPress means “stack everything up”, as it turns out. There’s an old joke that says there are two hard problems in computer science- cache invalidation, and centering something in CSS. I can now vouch for that firsthand. I feel like a goram WordPress superhero now, which I never wanted to be. Anyway, if you find broken links, missing images, etc, please let me know. I think the migration went well, but it was a big job.

That’s not all, though! In addition to the familiar RSS button at the top, you’ll also find a Twitter button and an email address. I want it to be easier for readers to reach me.

But wait- I’ve totally buried the lede here. The site now has its very own domain! That’s right, you are now officially at:

http://www.blondihacks.com

Isn’t that nice? Seven years, and I finally got around to getting this thing off my personal website. That means you should update your links and bookmarks, because the old URL is going away at some undisclosed future time. If you use RSS, make sure to click the RSS button at the top to update your feed. [UPDATE: Well, not really. GoDaddy’s domain masking turns out to be super broken, so the new domain simply forwards to the old location for now. I’ll warn everyone if and when the old host goes away, so don’t worry about your bookmarks and such for now]

There are more big changes coming down the line. I’m working on some exclusive perks for Patreon subscribers, so those of you who had the faith to invest in me will be seeing some awesome new stuff that nobody else gets. Stay tuned for that.

As always, Patrons pay per post, and that does not include frilly administrative posts like this one. You only pay for the real content, and only when I get off my ass to produce it! Thanks as always, Patrons. You gals and guys are the swellest.

I hope you enjoy the new look, and watch for more regular content soon!

Yes, change is scary, but follow the lead of Sprocket H.G. Shopcat and let it all hang out. You’ll feel better!