Notes from rebuilding a personal site
What stays, what goes, and why a personal site should be calmer than the internet around it.
Rebuilding a personal site is a good excuse to ask what it is for. Over the years it is easy to collect pages, widgets and links that no longer mean much.
Starting again makes those choices visible. Some things stay, many go, and what is left tends to be calmer.
Calmer than the internet
A personal site does not need to compete with the rest of the internet. It can be slower, quieter and more considered: a place to read rather than a place to scroll.
“A personal site should be calmer than the internet around it.”
Fewer, better parts
In practice that means fewer elements, readable type, pages that load quickly, and writing that is easy to find again. It also means being comfortable with empty space.
Never quite finished
The rebuild is never really finished. But a simple foundation makes it easier to keep adding things slowly, which is the only pace a personal site really needs.