wezm.net/content/technical/2010/07/new-design.html

Welcome to the all new WezM.net. I've been working on this new version on and
off for the past 8 months, I hope you like it. The new site is more than just a
new design. I've also migrated away from [Wordpress][wp] to static HTML files,
with content written in [Markdown][markdown]. That doesn't mean I have to
manage everything by hand though. I use a [Ruby][ruby] tool, [nanoc][nanoc], to
compile the content, ERB templates and [SASS][sass] CSS into the site you see.
Some of the benefits of this arrangement are:

* Pages are fast to load, cache headers are set automatically
* No need for a database, cheap to host
* No need to keep up with Wordpress and PHP security vulnerabilities
* Content can be revision controlled (in [Git][git])
* I can easily write and preview posts offline on the train

[wp]: http://www.wordpress.org/
[markdown]: http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/
[nanoc]: http://nanoc.stoneship.org/
[git]: http://www.kernel.org/pub/software/scm/git/
[ruby]: http://ruby-lang.org/
[sass]: http://sass-lang.com/

The new site supports many of the features of the old one, with one exception:
comments. The new site has no built-in commenting. I considered adding comments
via [Disqus][disqus] but their commenting form feels very heavy and there was't
a mobile optimised version at the time I checked. In place of comments I have a
direct email and Twitter link at the end of each post.

[disqus]: http://disqus.com/

The aims for the new design were to provide more separation between the
technical and personal posts that I write, whilst at the same time allowing
them to co-exist on the same site. I also wanted a more minimal design with
some attention to the typography used.

The design is also partially fluid in that it will adapt to most screens,
however the width of the posts is capped at a maximum to prevent the line
becoming long and difficult to read. The design also adapts to the smaller
screen when viewed on a mobile device.