Welcome to the new version of martinridgway.com – a project that’s been in the works for way too long!

This iteration of my site sees a number of fundamental changes:

1. A switch to a new CMS – ExpressionEngine
2. A shift in primary focus to my portfolio, and – secondarily – to this blog
3. A new design!

The new CMS

I love WordPress. It’s a great blogging platform, and it’s very easy to develop for, once you understand its nuances. I’ve had many happy years using it, and I still recommend it as a solution for a good many clients. Its ease-of-use and ease-of-customization make it a solid product.

Having said that, it can be limiting. Developers have done a lot with WordPress to wrangle it into being a “true” CMS. But it isn’t. Different types of content are a pain. Explaining custom fields and their power to a non-techie client isn’t going to fly. The sheer number of add-ons means security is constantly being addressed by plugin authors who – bless them – may not have security at the forefront of their minds.

Over the last year I’ve had the opportunity to use ExpressionEngine to develop a number of websites, and after a lot of research felt it was absolutely the best choice for the new version of my own site. It’s robust, a “true” CMS, and security is a key concern for EllisLabs (the authors of the software). Additionally, it’s up to you as a developer to both determine your content types, and then figure out how best to display that content – no decisions are made for you. It’s incredibly freeing in that respect.

Focus shift

With a new version of the site I wanted to bring to the forefront that which is most important to my life (and that which keeps me employed!): My portfolio. As with all projects, organizing the content takes the longest time – in this case it was setting up the newer portfolio pieces that hadn’t made it into the old site. All my portfolio pieces are fully-coded HTML/CSS/JS templates (after all, that’s what I do, so why would I show static images?), and importing all that for each piece, as well as the required imagery, took time.

Once that process was complete, I created several fields for preview images, a “Project Description” field, and a few categories for the pieces themselves, and set about displaying them as best I could…

A new design

I’m no designer.

I state that loud and clear on every project I undertake. I’m. No. Designer. But I am a web developer, and a web developer understands grids. So that’s how I designed my new site – around a grid. I’m sure it’s too rigid. I’m sure it’s simplistic and overbearing. I’m sure it’s many things. But for one reason above all others it makes me happy: I did it. I didn’t outsource the design to any of my (extremely talented) designer friends. I sat and struggled with Photoshop until I created something that didn’t make me want to vomit. For me, that’s quite an achievement.

I deliberately chose a muted palette – one that would (hopefully) make the portfolio pieces themselves the stars of the show. I also chose to set the entire site in one typeface – Georgia. I like serif typefaces online, especially at larger sizes.

In conclusion

So there you have it. The new version of martinridgway.com is up and running. I hope you like what you see. Please, if you have anything to say about the new site, leave me a comment!