aendrew.com version 5

It’s been a long time in coming, but I’ve finally migrated from Drupal 7 to the static HTML-generating powerhouse that is Octopress. This is admittedly a bit of a departure from how I’ve previously done things — I’ve always been quite the server-side nerd, starting when I learned PHP in tenth grade — but so far I’m rather enjoying it. This marks the fifth iteration of the site, and I hope that I can finally focus more on posting content than on keeping Drupal modules updated.

Why the move?

Drupal is a nightmare to keep updated. While this is common amongst server-side open source content management systems, Drupal’s focus on small and modular bits of functionality means keeping a site up-to-date with the latest contrib code is somewhat of a challenge. And for a site I update maybe three or four times a year, the likelihood of having out-of-date code online is rather high.

That’d be the main reason, beyond the fact I never really needed the raw power that Drupal was able to provide. Yes, I tried making a “resume” content type at one point, but it wasn’t any easier to keep maintained than my LinkedIn account or the public Google Doc I sent as a PDF when I was still looking for work.

Additionally, I’ve started really enjoying the workflow provided by Git, particularly when combiend with the finesse and joie de vivre of GitHub. Not only can I host all my posts for free on GitHub pages, but I also have a great way of going back through my work and visualising the changes I’ve made over time. The hope is I can start publishing to my blog more regularly, as well as using it as a place to workshop writing.

Admittedly the theme needs a bit more work, but it’s nice to be back in Bootstrap Country.

I still think aendrew.com itself will always be more of portfolio site while my Tumblog will be more bloggy in content, but with any luck I can find the right balance to make both worthwhile.

-Æ.