Reboot Required [updated: March 17, 2005]
Coinciding, coincidentally (by the way how can there be two spellings of this word: coincidentally and coincidently) with the May 1st Reboot I am planning on overhauling a couple key aspects of Alt Text. Here are some things I am planning:
Upgrading (finally) to 3.x version of Movable Type[Thanks Mark]. I am hoping many of the things listed below this will become much easier once this is done, but who knows, some of this may require more creativity with changes to the system. [I am not as impressed with the base install of MT 3.15 as I had hoped but will look to extend it via plugins very soon. Once I define what Alt Text will be I will make a decision to stick with Movable Type or move to WordPress]- Update the look of the site - what actually gets modified is directly affected by what content/functionality is added or removed. Not sure how drastic this will be. This includes completely revamping the CSS and retooling the XML feeds.
- Integrate the new photo gallery with whatever the new look of the site is.
- Include a new element to some posts: snapshot. This is going to be a photo either from a webcam at time of posting or otherwise of something pertaining to the topic, perhaps. These images will reside within the gallery so graciously created by Mark
- Rethink much of the site from a content perspective and make full use of the plethora of tools and plug-ins Movable Type has to offer. I am specially thinking of categorization and making better use of dynamic content etc. Still in the discovery phase.
Do something to stop the comment, trackback[though I don't have anything yet to block referrer spam, I am optimistic about the new version of MT-Blacklist], and referrer spam that is out of control.- Create an about page because I know you all are interested in that.
- Change up a few things to allow for easier updates to particular content. Links and photos I am looking at you here.
- Post more. I think you will find, historically that March is a very busy month of postings here at Alt Text. And while there will always be ebbs and flows in post activity and volume I believe that 2005 will be a banner year for interesting links, observations and stories, as Alt Text finds its voice.
As always if you have any suggestions on any ways to improve the site or have specific recommendations regarding how I might implement some of the above changes, let me know by leaving comments.
comments