A new creation

I’ve been thinking about the future of my web site since the latest redesign, which was in February 2005. It seems that tu quoque (I never know how to write my weblog name without hyperlinks…it always looks indistinct unless I add some kind of text styling) has grown and evolved since its nervous, tentative beginnings on Upsaid, then on Movable Type. Through the three main redesigns, tq has always remained as a weblog only – it has grown appendages (such as my gallery and the obligatory ‘about me’ page), but it has never really expanded beyond its role as a repository for various observations, thoughts, statements, and the occasional insight.

I was introduced to content management systems a few years ago, when I began contributing to the church website; I then discovered Textpattern, purely by chance, when I was looking for alternative weblog engines for Lorien. At the time, I disregarded it, because I was happy with Movable Type and didn’t really have any ambitions to create bigger and better things. But that was when Dad really latched onto Textpattern – it’s become the content management system he’s used for everything from his own weblog to ministry-related sites to his coffee stash page. Other Sydney bloggers use Textpattern, too, including Simon, Pete, and Danny.

So, since I used Textpattern for a paid web design job, I’ve been thinking about uprooting tq and turning it into a Textpattern-based weblog, which will then be but a ‘module’ (albeit a significant one) in the grander scheme of ben.atwood.com.au. This restructuring has two primary advantages:

• I can create new ‘modules’ for content that wouldn’t ordinarily fit into my weblog, e.g. articles, essays, photographs, etc. The weblog will probably act as the unifier of all these disparate elements, though


• Content will be managed more easily

Of course, using Textpattern means doing a fairly hard-core redesign, both aesthetically and structurally. This is the part I don’t know if I’m up for (particularly since there’s just over two months before the the thesis is due). Still, all these wonderful new site features keep popping into my head, including incorporating photographs into the site style (I like Simon’s use of ‘the spice shot’ from his holiday in Egypt…I’d like to try something similar with a photograph from Bangladesh), use of flavicons, a more original layout, syndicated comments, etc. Gives me something to look forward to.