The Technical Details:
The joy of running multiple websites is that I get a chance to experiment with the sites with little traffic, plug and play, see what works. In its original form, this web-journal was an experiment in prose. See where the words went. Still is, and there is material here that will eventually find its way into print.
I’m also a big fan of simplicity. A dozen years ago, I started moving towards web-based solutions, now known as “The cloud.” It was in 2001 that I became acutely aware of the need for decentralized, web-based services. Multiple hardware and server swaps got me where I am. Multiple backend swaps go me here, too.
As an active member of the Holistic Chamber of Commerce, I came up with offer through them to help establish businesses on the web, quickly and cheaply.
Advert: astrofish.net/hcc
After popping out a few of those, I realized the relative strength of the WordPress motor, just as is, right out of the box.
It’s dead-simple to run a single, blog-style site with a stock WordPress backend.
Everything can be managed from a web-browser interface.
The biggest challenge like this, though is the “theme.” WordPress has a number of skins called “themes,” and each one has merits. Some look great, some offer superior functions, and others are just crap, scraped together with single, artful element that sets it off. Good and bad, like many things in life.
Software frequently suffers from creeping functionalism. Bloat. “New” is not always better.
The recent spate of development, getting new sites launched for clients, new sites that take less than 20 minutes to get going?
I looked at the backend of my own site and realized I was getting bloated.
“Does this Plug-in/Theme/Function make my site’s ass look big?”
So, I’m seeking opinions, and none of this is set, but which site responds faster? Looks better? Is something you want to read every day?
The two options, and I might change them before I get answers, but the two test places are —
Just variation on a (WordPress) Theme.
I left comments on both sites. Sky Friday seems to respond faster. One functionality I really they had would be the ability to edit comments after they’ve been submitted. If you do have that function, I can’t find it.
One thing I prefer about Xenon is that the “stuff” is on the left hand side.
According to the most recent design guidelines and suggestions, the left-hand column is the visual hot-spot. Ads, etc. should go there. If you login as a registered user, I think that gives you the ability to edit comments you’ve made.