Hidden Logins: Why oh why!
Read ArticleThere's a trend amongst modern websites and web apps that is becoming increasingly irksome: hiding the damn "Login" button! If you require me to have an account to use your service (which makes …
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Monthly Media: Coming Soon
Read ArticleLast month I wrote up a post detailing the films I'd seen in March. When I initially started blogging again last year I had hoped that mini-reviews and similar content would become a mainstay, …
That Anti-Diversity Googler & Self Introspection [#32]
Read ArticleStandard workday, standard work lunch catching up on RSS feeds. Of course, quite a few of them are discussing the leaked "Anti-Diversity" manifesto from the, now infamous, ex-Google employee (name …
Crafty Asset Management
Read ArticleMigrating assets to a new CMS can be a complete pain, but working out which files go with each page or article on a website doesn't have to be a nightmare if you start with a solid foundation. For me, that means tightly coupling my folder structure on the server with my content structure on the website, a workflow that Craft is particularly nifty at automating.
Editing Commit History in Git/GitHub
Read ArticleI was recently given a new laptop at work (🥳), but failed to realise that my Git author details weren't syncing correctly with GitHub for almost a month... 🤦 Rather than simply accept those white squares, I decided to rewrite the repository history. The process turns out to be quite simple, but I still hit several snags so figured it could be useful to document my fixes and errors.
Installing Craft on Arcustech
Read ArticleA step-by-step guide to installing Craft CMS 3+ on the Arcustech hosting services, because sometimes all the command line steps can seem a little daunting if you aren't used to it!
2019 In Numbers
Read ArticleAn amalgamation of all the data you get fed at the end of a year. From Spotify Wrapped, to Google tracking, to my own beer journal, a look back over 2019 from a (mildly) data-centred viewpoint.
Classy Microformats
Read ArticleIn which I begin by questioning why microformats are defined on the class attribute, instead of somewhere more bespoke, and end up concluding that I don't understand what microformats are actually for... and I'm not sure anyone else does, either.
Self Categorisation
Read ArticleIn which I start off asking a simple question: what content categories should I use on this website? Four hours later, I've discoverd information gardening, now pages, digital-me libraries, and oh so much more. And yes, I think I've answered that first question. Fancy a trip down the rabbit hole?
Sparkbox Notes
Read ArticleNotes from my second fully remote conference, this time Sparkbox's UnConference. Being able to freely access talks from the US is a rare bonus of everything going on right now, and this did not disappoint. Musical cameos, great talks on UX, accessibility, design systems, and amazing speakers. Great event (despite the time difference).
Progressive summarisation or how to create discoverable notes
Read NoteProgressive summarisation may not be ideally suited for me right now, but it's an idea which stuck with me whilst I was undergoing my own taxonomy building process. It's worth stepping through the …
Racism in palaeoart and #BlackLivesMatter
Read NoteThere's some really interesting/disturbing stuff here. Cuvier worked on academic papers outlining biological divisions within races – i.e. racist pseudoscience – whilst De la Beche (the first …
Dark mode in Gatsby
Read NoteJosh outlines the various steps required to get a dark mode theme working properly in Gatsby. I've been wondering about adding a dark mode at some point and, honestly, I'm amazed by the number of …
Accessible animations in React
Read NoteI've long wondered whether there were any particular gotchas with React when it came to using the prefers-reduced-motion flag. Well, Josh has written up the answer (and, as usual, extremely well). …
Why a skip navigation link is useful
Read NoteI'd never heard of a "skip link" before but it's a neat idea that's clearly been around for some time. Basically, it's a link placed at the very start of the <body> that's …
CSS @property superpowers
Read NoteLooks like the new CSS @property extension has landed in Chrome. Una has put together some interesting examples and explanations on the fallback mechanism in particular. Usage appears to be the same …
Submitting a form with datalist
Read NoteThe <datalist> element is super useful for autocomplete-like functionality, but there's no native way to automatically submit a form when an option is selected. Jeremy has come up with a neat …
On the Indieweb
Read NoteStephen has some interesting views on the Indieweb movement. I'm not sure I agree with many, but it's useful to understand the angle they're coming from and I can, at least, respect their …
Why I'm losing faith in UX
Read NoteA sobering look into the history of the UX industry. I think the outlined three "phases of UX" seem pretty on point from my own experience: from idealistic, trusted advisor; to oft-ignored and …
One Year in the IndieWeb
Read ArticleIWC London was one year ago today. When it came to an end, I felt like I finally understood the IndieWeb. I was wrong.
A Local Data Store in Astro
Read ArticleA quick (and dirty) way to fetch local data from a JSON file and modify the look of a page in Astro, completely natively.
Modern CSS for dynamic component-based architecture
Read NoteA lovely overview of much of the new CSS that has landed (or is landing) in browsers recently, and how that relates to component-led …
European Accessibility Act
Read ArticleI read the entirety of the EAA – including all supporting documentation – so you don't have to.
What's new in WCAG 2.2
Read NoteA complete overview of the most recent WCAG 2.2 spec as it enters RC status, including quick overviews on the most common solutions to meet each new success …
New success criteria in WCAG 2.2
Read NoteA thorough overview of the new success criteria added (and removed) in WCAG 2.2, including clear guidance on how to test and pass each …
Complex images can paint a thousand words
Read NoteWhat is the best way to provide descriptive text for images that are both complex and the main focus of a page? Paul has tried to tackle this on pages dedicated to their personal art, and found that …
IndieWebCamp Brighton 2024
Read ArticleI finally made it to an IndieWebCamp! It was a huge amount of fun and left me with many ideas, thoughts, and questions.
No More Damp Stories
Read ArticleStorybook encourages setting the same arguments over and over and over again, but this is a pain to maintain. There is a better, DRYer approach, it's just not well documented.
Crafty Field Migration
Read ArticleMigrating content between fields in Craft is not as simple as it might be. In the wake of Craft 5, I've been getting a lot of practice, and wanted to write up some of the techniques I've been using.
Buh-bye Netlify!
Read ArticleNetlify suspended my site, due to a sudden resource spike on a completely separate domain. Now, for the first time in five years, you're reading this on infrastructure that Netlify does not own.