A few weeks ago I started updating my site for the new semester: making sure dates were correct, moving a couple things around, etc. When I did that, for a reason I still don’t understand, my site broke. Pages I am absolutely positive existed disappeared. Menu items led nowhere. I swore a blue streak.
Once I calmed down enough to sort things out, I came to realize the truth: my website was pretty dated. Its not surprising, really: I switched to Domain of One’s Own in 2012, maybe? The last real big redesign consisted of moving my blog to my main site, and changing the color scheme to red/black instead of blue. I spent so many hours making the Graphene theme act *just so* that I really really didn’t want to change things.
But, if I’m being honest, the design was getting pretty long in the tooth.* For one, the mobile interface stopped working right and I had to revert to an earlier version. For another, the menu structure looked too complicated, and the dropdowns were annoying. Finally, it all just looked… Busy. And Old. So, time for an update!
I could lie and say I spent hours and hours with the new layout but really, I input “single column” and tried only a couple options before I hit on the current one. I particularly love the menu drawer. At first I had all my pages listed there and then took most of them out. Now it’s just general info about me and my current courses. The others are still there, under “teaching”, but the menu requires zero thought, which is exactly as I want it.
Anyway, I’m pretty sure I’ll go back to fine tuning the layout eventually, but for now this is easy and feels new. Gotta love that new website smell!
* “Long in the tooth” is a weird expression. “Long in the ear” or “Long in the nose” would be more relevant, no? Teeth don’t keep growing, but noses and ears do.