Blog Questions Challenge
I saw a post from Brandon about a blog questions challenge doing the rounds on Bear Blog and figured, even though I'm not on Bear Blog, I'd do my own. 🙃
I know some people hate this kind of meta post, but I really like them. I find it fascinating learning how other people who manage their site and workflow. Mainly to see if there's something I can steal.
So anyway, I've adapted the original questions from Ava to be more generic ,and I'll tag a few people at the end who I hope will take part too. I'd love it if they in turn tagged others.
The questions are:
- Why did you start blogging in the first place?
- What platform are you using to manage your blog and why did you choose it?
- Have you blogged on other platforms before?
- How do you write your posts? For example, in a local editing tool, or in a panel/dashboard that's part of your blog?
- When do you feel most inspired to write?
- Do you publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?
- What's your favourite post on your blog?
- Any future plans for your blog? Maybe a redesign, a move to another platform, or adding a new feature?
So without further ado, here's my answers to the questions...
Why did you start blogging in the first place?
I started blogging back in 2011 for a couple of reasons. My written English was piss-poor (it's still not great). Like, so bad that I didn't know the difference between your and you're, or there, they're, and their. I decided I needed to improve those skills, so I went to night school and did a written English fundamentals course.
As part of that course, I learned that I actually enjoyed writing - even though I hated English in school. At this time I was also getting more into tech, and wanted a way to share some of my thoughts and opinions on these topics as there was no-one in my friends/family group who were interested in it. So I decided to start a blog. I spun up a Blogger site and the rest is history.
What platform are you using to manage your blog and why did you choose it?
I'm currently using Kirby for this site. I've said, many times how much I love Kirby as a platform. It's lightweight, easy to use, and hugely flexible.
Flexibility is the main reason for me choosing Kirby though. I like to be able to customise the workflow of my writing, and I don't like UI clutter, so Kirby is perfect for my needs.
Have you blogged on other platforms before?
Oh god yes. I've tried them all. To name a few, I've tried Blogger, WordPress, Ghost, Grav, Jekyll, Blot, and many others.
Before discovering Kirby, I changed blogging platform as often as I changed my underpants. Mainly because none of these options ticked all my boxes. Kirby does, however, and I don't see myself moving any time soon though.
How do you write your posts?
I write all my posts in the Kirby Panel. The Panel can be customised so much that at this point I pretty much have a CMS that's tailored to my exact needs, so using the Panel is a joy for me.
When do you feel most inspired to write?
It's mostly when I'm doing something completely unrelated to writing, like walking the dogs, lying in bed, or getting a shower. It's times when my mind is free to wander, I think. Obviously I can't write at these times, so when an idea hits, I jot it down in Apple Notes, where I maintain a list of high level drafts.
A fair chunk of my posts are also in response to things I've read by other people too. This post is a perfect example that.
As for when I actually write, that's usually in my lunch break in work, when I'm working from home, or during the evenings once the kids are in bed.
Do you publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?
Most of the time I publish right after writing the post. I tend to give them a quick proofread, then hit the publish button. Occasionally I'll let posts sit, especially if I only have time to bash out some text and not proofread (that's the bit that takes most time for me).
Immediate publishing is to my detriment though, I think, as I often publish posts with ideas that aren't fully formed and therefore poorly articulated. I should try to let things marinade sometimes.
What's your favourite post on your blog?
I have no idea. I've published hundreds of posts over the years, most of which are meandering thoughts/opinions, or technical posts on how to do something.
I don't get too far into my personal life or profound topics on this blog, although I do have a couple of posts in draft that go into that more. I'm concerned they're a bit too personal though, so have never gone ahead and written them.
Any future plans for your blog?
Not really, but I'm always tinkering. I re-wrote the dark version of this site last night as I wasn't happy with it, but after a recommendation from Pete Moore, I re-did the colours using the Nord theme and now I'm really happy with it.
I'd like to improve my open graph images too, but they're good enough for now. So that work tends to fall down the list.
Who's next?
Ok, so those are my answers to the questions; now I want to hear you answer them. I'm tagging Jack, Sara & Jarrod. I'd love to see Manu do this challenge too, but I know he's not a fan of meta posts. So I'll leave this open invite out there, just in case you fancy doing this challenge, Manu.
If you haven't been tagged and just want to take part, be my guest - the more, the merrier. 🙃
Want more?
So you've read this post and you're still not satisfied? Ok then, here's some other stuff for you to do: