Today marks two years since going live with my custom CMS, (b)log-In. 🎉 It doesn't seem possible.
So much has happened in those two years, I've added many new features and learnt more than I ever dreamt possible. A summary of the first year can be found here.
The site has continued to develop and evolve. Features have been added, the way things work has sometimes been changed, and it has become a real home on the web rather than just a blog.
The last year has seen the addition of /reader (my public/private feed reader that integrates with the blog) and /start (a different way to look at certain labelled topics). For private use I also have /notes which is as it sounds.
It has all developed into a little ecosystem which I am immensely proud of.
Taking a five month break from blogging in 2022 due to mental health issues made me re-evaluate what I was doing. Although the blog itself still works on a daily basis the importance of that has been downplayed to an extent. A new homepage was created as a launchpad with a new menu system and everything given a cleaner look. There are some areas which haven't been touched in a while that need freshening up but nothing public facing.
To mark the anniversary I've been undertaking a major refactor which should improve and simplify the code. I've never really done any OOP in PHP but thought it's now time to bite the bullet and start introducing classes (and their associated methods) for database connections and queries. I may extend that to items like feeds in /reader but don't know how much utility they will offer in that scenario.
I'm also continuing my foray into converting various parts of the site to HTMX. Again, I'm unsure as to what improvements I can get in certain areas (the blog page might be a bit too complex to get it working as I'd like) but it's already playing nicely on the Journal.
As I said a year ago, developing this has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. Being able to ditch WordPress for something self-built feels wonderful and I am constantly amazed that I've managed to pull it all together.
So, here's to the next year and, as ever, thanks for accompanying me on the journey.
@colinwalker I think this is fantastic. To have ownership and add features to your own blog platform is the best! Only the other day I asked if @manton could edit something for my bookshelves, he did, and I just thought wow you know most products you have no say and no control which is why I have enjoyed my own code project nodenogg.in as you say you can really tune it and iterate live as you go. Another current Vue project effectively has a blog part hmmm interesting times 🤣 Well done ! Inspiring
Thanks Adam, yeah it does feel pretty special. nodenogg.in has always looked like fun.
@colinwalker I like this, I don't know how many times I've started to write my own CMS but I've always stopped. The main reason being that I get bored after I few days and think "why do I do this?". I'm glad that you have created something you find useful and enjoy.
Thanks Jan 🙏
@colinwalker congrats on being incredibly as I say SavvyIndie! I just started using a CMS for the first time with Webflow. Must say it's weird switching from the mindset of 'Create new Page', to 'Create a Template' and add new instance.
If you ever decide to market your service to others, consider dropping the punctuation in the name (you can still style it in on the logo). blogin has quite a nice ring to it as a single word, like
Thanks. I originally wanted the separation as it was both a play on blogging and having everything on the blog 'inline' – no backend, just write, edit and delete all inline.
There is an old version of the CMS on GitHub but it's changed and developed a lot since I stopped updating that repository.
@colinwalker triple entendre huh, the Elizabethean Globe would love it