Summary

- I am a computer programmer who has been developing and maintaining web - applications and services since 2018. I have also been providing systems - administration services and technical learning assistance since 2016. + I am a computer programmer who has been developing and maintaining native + and web applications since 2018. I have also been providing system + administration services and technical mentoring since 2016. I aim to + create simple, performant, and well-documented software with no surprises.

- I am fluent in Rust, C#, Python, JavaScript, Bourne Shell, and HTML. I am - also familiar with Java, PHP, C, C++, TypeScript, and PowerShell. + I am fluent in Rust, C#, Python, JavaScript, Bourne Shell, and HTML+CSS. I + am also familiar with Java, PHP, C, C++, TypeScript, and PowerShell.

Software Development

Systems Administration

Technical Leadership

Technical Mentoring and Leadership

Experience

Automatic Data Processing | Application Developer | June 2018 to present +

+ Angelshark saved money (dial plan tool, password rotator, termed + user cleanup, monitoring), got it open-sourced +
Narwhal reverse proxy for authentication, security
Technical mentoring and knowledge sharing

Freelance | Web Application Designer & Developer | July 2019 to present +

Delivered results ahead of schedule
Quickly adjusted course for shifting requirements

The College of William and Mary | Technology Support Specialist | February 2015 to May 2018 +

+ Worked directly with customers to diagnose issues and install and + configure software +
Accepted requests in person and remotely

Make Your Web Site Boring!

How to Make Your Website Boring and Why! Tue, 20 Apr 2021

How to Automate Certbot Renewal with HAProxy Fri, 19 Mar 2021

Louis Vierne Is a BAMF (and Proof That Organists Are Metal) Fri, 12 Feb 2021

Undefined? JavaSript Is Undefined. Thu, 28 Jan 2021

diff --git a/posts/computing/2021-04-20-how-to-make-your-website-boring-and-why-.html b/posts/computing/2021-04-20-how-to-make-your-website-boring-and-why-.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d2f5d03 --- /dev/null +++ b/posts/computing/2021-04-20-how-to-make-your-website-boring-and-why-.html @@ -0,0 +1,214 @@ + + + + + + + + + + + + + 53hornet ➙ How to Make Your Website Boring and Why! + + + + + +

How to Make Your Website Boring and Why!

+ +

+ I took the time last year to make my website more boring. Here's how you + can do the same and why you'd want to. +

+ +

+ Up until recently I was using a static site generator + (cobalt-rs) and a fancy CSS framework/library (Bulma) to + build my website. I also had one or two scripts to do various fiddly + things in the browser. I took the time to gut it and now I have a much + more boring website. I don't use anything but HTML to write all of the + posts and pages. This eliminated the need for a static generator or + script to turn something like Markdown into HTML for me. I also scrapped + all of the customized CSS framework style sheets that I had been using + for a very small (145 lines including whitespace and braces) single-file + stylesheet. I also dropped all of the fancy links, banners, most of the + icons, and any JavaScript that I had originally. Now, my site is much + more boring. And it's so much better. +

+ +

How does one make their website boring?

+ +

+ Typically, ask yourself whether you need something. If the answer is + "no", you can safely remove it and you won't need it again. Your website + will become more boring (read: simpler). Here are some of the things I + evaluated: +

+ +

+ How many 3rd-party assets, templates, CSS libraries am I using? How + big are they? Are they slowing down rendering or annoying to + maintain/upgrade? +
Do I need a Sass interpreter to "build" my styles?
+ Am I using a static site generator? Does it make my life easier or + more difficult? +
+ Am I using a bunch of JavaScript? What does it do and does it really + need to do it to make my site work better? +

+ +

+ Do you use a lot of third-party assets, templates, or CSS for your site? + Do you have to run a SASS tool to generate your stylesheets? Are your + stylesheets really big (> 1000 lines I think anyone would consider on + the bigger side)? Consider whether or not you really need them. + Oftentimes, with CSS, less is more. Especially if your site is just a + collection of pages of text with links to other pages of text. You can + make your site attractive and compatible with 100% of browsers by + keeping things simple. And then you don't have to worry about rebuilding + your output stylesheets or keeping up with libraries and frameworks. +

+ +

+ Do you have a lot of dynamically-generated content on your site? Does + the document need to change based on user input? Do you have a large + number of script tags importing minified files from third-party CDNs? + Odds are you don't need those either and you can completely get rid of + them. Now you don't have to worry about making sure all browsers can run + those scripts, or whether or not the CDNs are online, or you're + requesting the latest version. +

+ +

+ Do you use a static site generator to build your site? Is your content + complicated enough to write that you can't write it in plain HTML? Is + Markdown really easier or more powerful? Odds are, it's easier to write + directly in HTML without having to tell your generator what to do with + your tags. And for the oddball tag that Markdown doesn't directly + support, you might often end up writing HTML into your Markdown files + anyways. And, you can better control what the output formatting looks + like, making your site's code more readable. Furthermore, you won't have + two acting copies of your site, a pre- and post-generator one. For me, + it was annoying having "source code" for my web site that was different + from what I was actually hosting. It's so much nicer to have a 1:1 + mapping between what I write, test, and deploy. +

+ +

+ Still not convinced? Still need to automate some part of building your + site, like generating an RSS feed? Is there any chance you can write a + quick Makefile to do that for you? I was able to do just that, and it + was way nicer not having to install and learn how a generator worked to + automate assembling my site. +

+ +

+ If you answered "no" to any of the above "do you need"-s, you just found + a way to make your site more boring. Boring equates with simplicity. + Simplicity is a good thing. +

+ +

Why should you make your website boring simple?

+ +

+ Not relying on a bunch of libraries and assets is a good thing. It + seemed like every time I wanted to add a quick post, I would notice + there was an update for some library I was using and I was spending time + upgrading and learning about it. You know, that thing that computer + programmers enjoy doing and are good at but often doesn't actually help + them accomplish anything: fiddling with shiny new stuff that doesn't + solve a problem. Now I get to just focus on adding things to my site and + I'm never worried about whether it looks broken. +

+ +

+ I also didn't like having a pre- and post-build site. If I wanted to fix + one typo I couldn't remote into my live site, fix it, and then leave it + there. I had to do something like fix the typo in my Markdown, commit + and push it, and then re-run the generator and upload the new "live" + files. The generator step wasn't making things easier, it was making + them more annoying. +

+ +

+ You'd also be surprised at how easy it is to make your site fast and + reliable on all modern and old browsers when it's boring (read: simple, + again). Internet Explorer doesn't care about my site, it's a breeze to + render and there's nothing in it that hasn't been in existence for at + least a decade. (Alright, I do have a few SVG icons which it probably + wouldn't know what to do with. You can't tell the difference between + Firefox's and Chrome's renders of my site. And Google's PageSpeed + Insights score is a hilarious 99. +

+ +

+ My site is also more functional now. It's less distracting. It's really + easy to navigate and read. There's no runtime, no JavaScript that has to + execute before the reader sees the page they're looking for. And there's + practically nothing to maintain except my posts. It's also really easy + for crawlers to quickly ingest all of my posts and turn them into search + results. Hopefully, it's also easier for the visually impaired to zoom + in and not mess up the document, or use a screen reader that extracts + the article tags. +

+ +

+ The benefits are through the roof. My site used to be about tinkering + with tools and libraries and frameworks. Now it's just a boring website. + That leaves me with time to focus on tinkering with other stuff that's + more interesting, and only focus on writing when I'm working on this + site. So make your life easier and go make your website boring today. +

+ + diff --git a/rss.xml b/rss.xml index 6efc861..976bdfa 100644 --- a/rss.xml +++ b/rss.xml @@ -141,5 +141,6 @@ Undefined? JavaSript Is Undefined. Thu, 28 Jan 2021 https://www.53hor.net/posts/programming/2021-01-28-undefined-javasript-is-undefined-.html https://www.53hor.net/posts/programming/2021-01-28-undefined-javasript-is-undefined-.html Louis Vierne Is a BAMF (and Proof That Organists Are Metal) Fri, 12 Feb 2021 https://www.53hor.net/posts/life/2021-02-12-louis-vierne-is-a-bamf-and-proof-that-organists-are-metal-.html https://www.53hor.net/posts/life/2021-02-12-louis-vierne-is-a-bamf-and-proof-that-organists-are-metal-.html How to Automate Certbot Renewal with HAProxy Fri, 19 Mar 2021 https://www.53hor.net/posts/unix/2021-03-19-how-to-automate-certbot-renewal-with-haproxy.html https://www.53hor.net/posts/unix/2021-03-19-how-to-automate-certbot-renewal-with-haproxy.html + How to Make Your Website Boring and Why! Tue, 20 Apr 2021 https://www.53hor.net/posts/computing/2021-04-20-how-to-make-your-website-boring-and-why-.html https://www.53hor.net/posts/computing/2021-04-20-how-to-make-your-website-boring-and-why-.html -- cgit v1.2.3