Changes by Tom

Tom Roseveare

Documenting the code journey of this site

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v4.1
November 2024
  • Upgrade to Eleventy v3.0.0
  • Switch to ESM from CJS for internal configuration files
  • Eleventy Image now available natively, but not yet integrated
v4.0
June 2024
  • A design overhaul with more structured layout and componentised approach, this time designing Figma-first (not browser-first)
  • New art direction with tighter branding elements.
  • New experiments, including GSAP integration, JS-based animations, CSS Grid layouts, and soon, use of Eleventy Images.
  • It feels like a miracle to get this released, having dropped web development for over 6 months in late 2023.
v3.1
April 2023
  • Upgrading to Eleventy 2.0.0 brings a new i18n (internationalisation) plugin to the mix.
  • Groudwork for i18n requires transitioning most pages into layout templates and partials, with content moved to JavaScript data files and new logic added to config.
  • Pagespeed challenge: aiming for full marks requires numerous optimisations — far too many to list here.
  • Upgraded blog with native 'like' support powered by Firebase and experimental sharing via the Web Share API. Added new Content Security Policy headers.
v3
March 2023
  • Newly launched using Eleventy (11ty), a static site generator known for its fast build times and relies on Node.js and npm package manager.
  • Like the name suggests, 11 templating languages are supported out of the box. I rely mainly on Markdown *.md (for handling blog content) and Nunjucks *.njk (for handling partials and templates), besides *.html and *.js.
  • Code changes are pushed to Github which commands Netlify to rebuild the site each time i.e. continuous deployment. Cached and served by Cloudflare.
  • Full writeup on the technical stack coming soon.
v2
Jan 2023
  • Multi-page Site: Newly pushed and now with centralised CSS shared across pages.
  • Features: main changes include fixes to my personal timeline, handling of file extensions, and deploying wider use of CSS grid and flexbox.
  • Domain management was moved to Cloudflare and, piggybacking their free email offering, further adding free SMTP support via Sendinblue.
v1
Dec 2022
  • Public launch under my own domain, connected to Github.
  • Connected to Cloudlflare's CDN for better global distribution and more granular caching controls.
  • Features: Several new style experiments in terms of animation and AI-generated imagery.
Summer 2022
  • Single Landing Page: simple layout with multiple position:absolute sections that animate on-and-off screen, simulating a web app-like multi-page site.
  • Environment setup: setting up git, Github and new repositories. Switching from Sublime Text to Visual Code Studio.
  • Switched domain registrar from Mailchimp to Porkbun for more granular DNS control.
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