Content Is King, pt. 307
May 6, 2008
There’s been a lot of great discussion lately about content on the web. I’ll sum it up like this: content is more important than the wrapper it comes in. It’s an old, battered trope.
I hear you, internets. And thanks. I needed a kick in the ass. Badly. The length of time between my posts here at TNF has increased dramatically over the last few months, and I feel that much less plugged in with every posting opportunity I miss.
I started redesigning TNF – what? – probably three months ago. The problem with my mockups: they did nothing but reproduce the current functionality in a slicker, shinier wrapper. I couldn’t figure out why I was so unexcited by work that so nicely fit the look I’d wanted to achieve.
Then all of this talk about content caught my ear. And then, even more importantly, I discovered Dean Allen’s recently relaunched Textism. If Dean only made his posts available via fax, I’d subscribe. They’re that good. And I hate faxes.
Just keeping the gears oiled and turning is the hardest part. This blog helps me engage with ideas, and to stay inspired I need something that makes it easy to post whatever inspires me, whenever it inspires me. Smaller content chunks need a place right alongside the bigger chunks. My stuff and found stuff.
So there’s a redesign, and it’s coming soon. Partly because I’m switching from WordPress to ExpressionEngine – and partly because I feel the need for a fresh start – I’m considering dumping my entire post history and starting fresh. And this first design, we’re talking very little in the way of bells and whistles. This will be scaffolding with a purpose: Get re-engaged with the content. Write more, worry less.
And by the way: I completely recognize the humor in citing Textism here, with Dean so recently proclaiming that you “couldn’t give a flying roll of monkey doughnuts” about my personal site redesign.
He’s probably right. I just say “pbbbbt.”