Small Web September Kick-Off/Check-In 1: Goals!

[enchantedsleeper]

Somehow it's September already and the kick-off point for Small Web September has arrived! \o/

As a reminder, this is the first of five ‘check-in’/comment points that will be published during the event – you can check out the schedule and dates of these posts over on the event intro. There’s no cut-off point for commenting on these, so you can add something at any time – you also don’t need to comment on them all or do them in order! The themes are a loose guide, but all discussion is welcome.

This first post will be for introducing yourself and your project(s) and talking about what you’re planning to do during the month. Of course, there’s no obligation to stick to what you’ve set down and no-one will be checking up xD But it can be a nice thought exercise! You’re free to make the goal(s) as broad or as specific as you like – it’s totally up to you.

There’s no set format for this check-in, but here’s one you can use if you’d like (just copy-paste and replace the placeholders with your own answers in the comments):

<strong>Name:</strong> (Username, nickname, whatever you like to go by)
<strong>Project(s):</strong> (Share a link to your project(s) if you’d like to, and/or describe what you’re making or would like to make!)
<strong>What are you hoping to work on for SWS?</strong> (This can be as general as “add to my site”, or as specific as “archive X fanworks” or “implement a responsive layout”. You could even include ‘bonus goals’ – more ambitious things you’d like to get to if you have time!)

Also, if anyone would like to answer it, here’s a discussion starter: What interests you about the small/indie web, and how did you learn about or get into it?

Comments

[your_local_grubdog]

Name: Grub
Project: Moving site development to an SSG
What are you hoping to work on for SWS? I want to use an SSG to make running my blog easier! I've already started it, but the fall semester has also started too. As college work will take up most of my time, I think it's a reasonable goal to simply have that done by the end of September!

[ljwrites]

Ooh! Are you using a particular SSG framework?

[your_local_grubdog]

Yes! I'm using 11ty :3 it's the one that scared me the least lmao

[ljwrites]

It seems popular, I have a mutual who's building his own site with it!

[your_local_grubdog]

I've had some hiccups with it, but it absolutely is popular for a reason. It's so simple to use; the most intimidating part is setting it up for the first time.

[enchantedsleeper]

I think that sounds like an ideal goal! I've seen a few people talking about SSGs here and - not really knowing anything about them myself - I'd like to learn more about how they work and what they do.

I wish you the best of luck with balancing academics and small web-ing!

[your_local_grubdog]

Thank you very much!

And a quick overview of static site generators (SSGs) - they're tools that let you create templates that you can reuse again and again. So you can code your primary layout with navigation and a footer just once, and if you ever want to change them you edit just the one file instead of every file on your site.

They do have a learning curve though. The one I'm using also had to be installed via command line, which was intimidating. Still worth it IMO, especially if you run a blog like I do.

[enchantedsleeper]

Oh, thank you very much for the explainer! That sounds really handy. It would probably be a bit ambitious for me right now, but I might come back to SSGs for a later project ^^