From WordPress to Squarespace
This website has been on a journey, so I thought I’d spend a few moments describing that journey. I find the journey I’ve been on to be quite fascinating.
In 2007, when this site began, I spent some time looking for the best system to manage my site. I didn’t know where this experiment would take me or how popular the site would become. I wanted to be prepared for anything. I was truly a novice.
I first selected Joomla for my site. As I began creating content, I loved that I could both create content and improve the look and feel of the site. I spent many hours, perhaps too many hours, making sure that every image appeared in just the right spot and that the color scheme was just right.
Then, in October 2013, I decided that I needed to follow the blogging crowd and start using the system they were using—WordPress. Following this transition, much like when I started, I enjoyed improving the look and feel of the site. Again, I was spending lots of time on the look and feel and less time on writing high-quality content.
About a year later I put this site away. I put the site away for three reasons.
I started a new position at work that required me to write all day. I didn’t feel like I would also want to write in the evening.
I started to realize that my investments in the look and feel of the site were yielding smaller returns.
I began listening to those encouraging the minimal use of technology. If I was going to be writing, and reading, all day I would need to use technology a lot less than I had been.
Since then, my children have grown up and are living on their own. And, as I began to explore how to spend the extra time, I realized that I was interested in pursuing interests, like data analytics, that heavily rely on technology. I was also unemployed for a little while. During that time I received a lot of encouragement to set up an online space that could serve as a digital portfolio.
All this led me to pull out the files I saved when I shut down my website and begin anew. I started where I left off—with WordPress. However, that platform’s environment is much different today than it was when I left in 2014. The environment is much more complex. And, if I wanted to do more than display a static web page then I was going to have to purchase some extension or service. I haven’t monetized this site yet, so I don’t have an income that could support those kinds of features.
Last week I decided to look for a new platform to manage the site and found Squarespace. I explored their features and liked how the system provided enough guardrails to keep me focused on writing—on developing content. Squarespace provides me with a lot of flexibility but doesn’t have enough features that I’ll work on the look and feel and not on the content. So far I’ve really enjoyed that.
Since 2007 I’ve used multiple website management systems, including some that never passed my initial testing. For now, while I am just writing and posting what I find interesting, Squarespace seems like a perfect fit.