This article has been superseded by Version 4.0 which discusses my return to the WordPress publishing platform.
By the time you read this, those who’ve had their coffee will have noticed something a little different about my blog. For those who are not caffeinated and staring at their screen through consequently bleery eyes, the migration of robert.winter.ink is complete and the experience is now being powered by Ghost(Pro).
Avid readers of my writing, and those who accidentally stumble across it in search of something else, will have seen my deliberations on whether or not to switch platforms. After a few weeks of not so secret testing at site Y, it became clear that the functionality would be of benefit in my attempts to transition from Operation’s lackey to writer in residence.
Part of the reason for this optimism is that extended functionality is baked into the platform. To explain, and to unpack the title of this article, is to note this is the third (3.0) version of my blog.
Version 1.0
My personal blogging life began back in 2009 when, after using WordPress for many years in the business world, I decided to launch my own Muse & Reason onto an unsuspecting public. The site was serviceable and as a platform continues to power many of the world’s biggest websites (37% if their marketing bumf is to be believed). In many ways it is a robust choice (and very nearly saw a ‘back to the future moment’ for my latest blog iteration), but something just didn’t sit right.
Version 2.0
Powered by the veritable Write.as platform, my blog’s second life manifestation was an exercise in pure minimalism. Out was the bloat of plug-in riddled platforms, in was a truly focused placed to write. But if I had found such a wonderful expression in the art of minimalism, why make the move?
Because my publishing platform is much like my writing platform. If I am looking for a daily jotting tool, then a Moleskine or LEUCHTTURM1917 notebook, or Standard Notes if I want a digital solution, is the way to go. But if I am engaging in a more complex research project, then I need a LibreOffice / Zotero combination to get the job done.
Version 3.0
This is where Ghost came in (synchronicity would have it the Ghost platform is also on iteration 3.x). It provides me with the focused writing experience I need, but couples this with the heavy lifting tools required to provide site search, social media integration, feature rich membership and member newsletter integration and eventually, the ability to allow for donations. It even provides me with tools to give users the choice between a light or dark mode so readers can pick their preferred experience (just click on the theme text at the very bottom of this page to toggle between options).
To that end I give you robert.winter.ink v3.0. May the old gods and the new bless the endeavour.
Good night, and good luck.
William Caxton showing specimens of his printing to King Edward IV and his Queen is is liscensed under Public Domain.
This post is day 060 of my #100DaysToOffload challenge. If you want to get involved, you can get more info from 100daystooffload.com.
