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Last month I began the slow and painful
process of deployment of the first redesign for my professional
writing website - what was previously chris.boots-faubert.com and is
now www.boots-faubert.com - in something like eight years, which has
been a rather slow and involved process due mostly to my commitment
to ongoing writing projects that prevent me from dedicating the time
required to pull it off in one-smooth-act.
I thought that nobody would even notice
the redesign until it reached the point where I closed down the
previous version. Boy was I wrong.
I was shocked and even slightly
dismayed when, after just an hour online, the first email message arrived in my in-box asking me what the reason was behind the redesign?
I honestly was unaware that there were
that many regular visitors to my site or that they might find its
design to be a quirky and interesting one.
The Original Plan
When I originally set out to create the site it was intended to be a landing page for our family pages, with sub-sites below it that represented me as a writer, and then personal sites for each of the family members.
The first few design ideas going back more than 10 years ago were quirky but for the most part rather silly - starting with a basic site that transformed into something of an homage to Star Trek the Next Generation (think the stylistic and instantly recognizable font from the show along with design elements that quickly brought to mind the data pad displays from the show.
That lasted all of a year or so, and then I tried something different, and did not like it but kept it for another year or so and then, finally, I settled on the puzzle design and, with a little help from Peter made that happen.
The Puzzle Design is what I just retired, opting for several reasons to go with a new, cleaner and more businesslike design that, this time around, was pretty much created by Peter with general goals and desires provided by me.
In addition to being easier to maintain, there was another pressing reason behind the redesign - as unfortunately I have recently learned that the theme and the rather informal contents and structure have actually cost me writing gigs I might have otherwise been considered for -- had I presented a more professional presence online.
Yeah... Sheesh! Unfortunately that sort of news is not something I can afford to ignore.
If I am, indeed, being judged by the presentation of my online presence - and I am - then that presentation should be a businesslike and mature one. Hence what we now have - which is a more professional site that is suited to a writer who is organized and committed to the craft.
The first few design ideas going back more than 10 years ago were quirky but for the most part rather silly - starting with a basic site that transformed into something of an homage to Star Trek the Next Generation (think the stylistic and instantly recognizable font from the show along with design elements that quickly brought to mind the data pad displays from the show.
That lasted all of a year or so, and then I tried something different, and did not like it but kept it for another year or so and then, finally, I settled on the puzzle design and, with a little help from Peter made that happen.
The Puzzle Design is what I just retired, opting for several reasons to go with a new, cleaner and more businesslike design that, this time around, was pretty much created by Peter with general goals and desires provided by me.
In addition to being easier to maintain, there was another pressing reason behind the redesign - as unfortunately I have recently learned that the theme and the rather informal contents and structure have actually cost me writing gigs I might have otherwise been considered for -- had I presented a more professional presence online.
Yeah... Sheesh! Unfortunately that sort of news is not something I can afford to ignore.
If I am, indeed, being judged by the presentation of my online presence - and I am - then that presentation should be a businesslike and mature one. Hence what we now have - which is a more professional site that is suited to a writer who is organized and committed to the craft.
So I apologize to you if, as a regular
visitor, you are unhappy with the change. But it really needed to be
done and I hope you will understand.
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