Back in April I mentioned I was redesigning my site. It's now far enough along that I feel comfortable releasing it to the public. It's a total conversion from Squarespace 5 to Squarespace 6, and I moved over everything individually as opposed to using the import feature to make sure everything is as optimized as possible. There are many changes, but very few people will know what they are as I didn't advertise my site previously. Here are the big ones you should know about:

1. Responsive Design - The site will automatically adjust its look based on what resolution and device you're using. It can look a little wonky if you're using a smaller resolution, and it's not possible to account for every possible size and device out there, but overall it works pretty well. I designed it mainly around 1920x1080 as that's what I use on my primary monitor.

2. The Front Page - I now have a proper front page. Before, my site took you straight to the blog page where all the content was displayed at once and you had to scroll down to see it all. With the front page, I can more easily feature specific pieces of content without worrying about it being drowned out by smaller, less significant posts (which means I can post more stupid stuff). The old way is still there if you're into that, however.

The first section of the front page is the most important and is used to highlight whatever I want people to see first. This can be the latest video I've uploaded or post I've written, though it will often be an embedded livestream from Twitch when I'm playing a game.

The second section will often be where I showcase the latest posts, though I will also feature more important content from time to time. I will also have an ad in this section. I know. If you use an ad blocker and like my content, please consider whitelisting my site. My ads will never have audio or be obnoxious.

I may have more sections, as well. Whatever section is at the very bottom is where I will share content from elsewhere. These will be things I think you should check out from other sites and may also be used to promote content from people I know.

3. The Header - The tagline in this section will act as a real-time status update for whatever I am doing. "Charles is livestreaming The Last of Us" could be one example of something you'd see there.

And those are the most important updates. Feel free to look around, and if you find any issues with the site or have suggestions on how to improve it, please let me know! I may not get around to any issues right away, however; today's my 25th birthday.

Thank you.

CharlesAlanRatliff.com