All 3 readers of this blog might notice that the URL is different and things have been restructured. Or not. I mean, I do this for myself. It took me a year, but I think what I did was pretty fantastic.
My goal was to keep as much control over WordPress as possible, reduce the number of plugins I need, clean up the content, make things consistent, and, most importantly, make it look like I want it to. This involved cutting a lot of WP bullshit out and decluttering my plugins. Anything to be as independent as possible within the convenience of the WordPress1 platform. I had a lot of assistance from AI. Sue me. I still have some things to go, but I’m now comfortable saying “good enough” (for now). I’ll scrub the baseboards as I go.
DUN DID
Assume that each of these items had a gazillion sub- and subsub-tasks, and in no particular order:
- child theme
- replaced NextGen Gallery/Imagely plugin with my own code (and a lot of elbow grease)
- resizing a whole lot of images for the galleries (see above-mentioned elbow grease)
- a whole lot of graphics work
- replaced Page-list plugin (for the site map)
- replaced Simple Yearly Archive plugin (for the blog post archive)
- replaced Redirection plugin with my own code
- replaced TablePress plugin with my own code (x6 contexts)
- replaced Customizer with my own css files (x4)
- replaced Customizer footer with my own code
- replaced Customizer options with my own fonts and code
- cleaned up, coordinated, and standardized image file names and folders
- cleaned up broken links
- cleaned up the blog posts to make them pretty and consistent
- restructured the site index to accommodate Kenard Chronicles and Mechanical Mage
- dug out old images from ancient files
- fixed a perennial problem with Easy Digital Downloads plugin
- forced https/ssl
- revamped book pages
- added a bookstore page
- rejiggered categories, deleted tags
- updated soundtrack pages
- aligned audio player
- a whole lot of false starts
TO DO
- SEO
- reformat a couple of technical blog posts
- fix various font annoyances and problems
- add more cast images and text
- get the “update WordPress” nag to go away2
- figure out global bullet symbols
- clean out my SQL databases
- post and page meta spacing
- style archive and site map pages
- new favicon
- write 3 more Dunham outtakes
- configure a mobile-friendly presentation3 9
- possibly replace the Easy Digital Downloads plugin with Linklok4
- make thumbnails for YouTube playlists
THINGS I TRIED/RETHOUGHT/ABANDONED
- Snazzy Maps5
- Spotify6
- different page backgrounds for each of my universes (i.e., Dunham, Kenard, Mechanical Mage)
- build a whole different different mobile-friendly site7
- ClassicPress8
1. “Conscious uncoupling,” per some out-of-touch insignificant little twat in Hollywood.
2. I avoid updating anything ever (except my plugins) as long as possible because updates break my shit and I’ve had to rebuild this site twice because of WP updates. I also have a plugin that kills Gutenberg because Gutenberg sucks a big fat donkey cock, and that’s to say nothing of overall, ubquitous, and pervasive enshittification. Redundant? You decide.
3. YEARS ago, I used Carrington Mobile theme. It’s still out there floating around, but probably doesn’t work now and it’s 15 years out of date. However, I have hope I can figure out how to do this.
4. I used Linklok way back in the day (2006) when I first started selling my cross stitch patterns off my site. It was advanced for its time for an individual without web infrastructure. I’m honestly still not sure Easy Digital Downloads is better, so I’m keeping this in my back pocket in case (until) Easy Digital Downloads fucks me over.
5. This is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO cool. It also requires many hoops and much money I was not interested in jumping and spending.
6. he Spotify playlist interface is lovely, whereas YouTube’s is … not. However, I didn’t realize that you have to have an account and be logged in to listen, so I had all the lists, graphics, and pages all built, and then had to re-do.
7. As opposed to a mobile theme layer.
8. I tried this. Great idea. I might be hanging drywall and painting in WordPress’s house, but I’m not equipped to build a whole house just because the foundation is supplied.
9. 8/24/2026: I was able to do this relatively quickly with a plugin (WPtouch). It’s rough (to me), but a little css voodoo will get it to a nice place.