Post #10 with Bear Blog
My initial goal was to simply have a custom domain for an email address. Many ham radio operators secure a custom domain matching their callsign. In a lot of ways your callsign is your brand on the air. It makes sense to have a matching email address for your ham radio activities.
Going through the process of getting a custom domain put the idea in my head to set up a basic webpage to supplement my QRZ page. QRZ is a major online directory of amateur radio operators around the world. I've also had the desire to write recently. I thought ham radio would be a good topic. It's fun, rarely offensive, apolitical, and I care about it. So I landed on the notion to start a blog. I really have no intention of anyone reading any of these posts. I really just want a medium that is convenient and fun to use. And indeed I've had fun so far!
I was, and still am, rather ignorant on how blogs and websites in general are created and maintained. I've learned a lot so far. My first attempt was with Wordpress. I thought it would be easy and simple! Ha! I'm surprised I didn't give up after that experience. I have nothing against Wordpress. But it is most definitely not the service for me. I would have never been able to use it long term. I kept thinking: surely there is a simple way to write a blog!
This led me to Bear Blog. It just plain works. It really is awesome and fits my personality well. I like things that follow the acronym KISS. Keep it simple, son. Usually following this advice creates beautiful results that are long lasting and adaptable.
Before Bear Blog, terms like indie web or small web were not in my head. If asked, I would have guessed that websites are more complex today than in years past. And I also would have guessed that they were chock full of trackers. I didn't realize this slowed things down or made experiences cumbersome. It is pretty amazing how fast a page on Bear Blog loads. It's almost instant.
I really like the layout, the basic themes that are available, and the ability to make something nice while focusing mostly on the words that have been written by the author. It's been nice to find help online from other Bear Blog users who generously offer custom code they've developed to modify the templates and add in functionality.
My only real complaint is the upvote system that is built into Bear Blog. But this is more of a personal preference than an issue with the system itself. I think upvotes or like buttons or whatever you want to call them modify behavior. Are you writing because it is what you feel, know, or believe? Or are you just trying to get clicks? I'm not a big fan of reading anything that is trending just for the sheer reason that it is trending. I am also not big on reading works by anonymous authors. There is no context.
My blog's upvote buttons are turned off and I set it to not be discoverable on Bear Blog's Discover page. I also turned off the Bear Blog analytics. I don't want to be tempted to chase numbers. I just want to write some stuff down. My suggestion would be to make the Discover page just a list of most recent blog posts and kill the upvote scheme. Not a big deal though. It's the world we live in...
I am having a blast writing about ham radio. It helps me identify what is important to me. It also helps me remember my experiences more fully and clearly. Time will tell, but I hope blogging remains a part of the ham radio hobby for me.
73 de AI5ZI
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