Since I’m starting to think about my website as more than just a blog, I’m also starting to venture outside the realm of using WordPress itself as “just” blog software. I’m starting to think of it as a content management system (and a blog as a secondary purpose). So, that’s something new. I’m thinking that, instead of my random thoughts being the main focus, I should let my work do the talking. I’m starting to feel like it’s getting good enough to speak for itself anyway.

I’m also thinking about using some HTML5/CSS3 (Ah! Scary!) in my new and improved website. For mostly the non-essential stuff like masking images into text and using crazy typefaces. That way, if non-supported browsers happen to come along, they won’t be missing anything except some pretty effects. The content will be there regardless of browser version. (But my heart belongs to Webkit. Always.)

Anywho, I’ve been thinking about how to automate everything (where pages/slideshow/whatever are updated automatically when I create a relevant post). Everything will be integrated better sitewide, instead of this half-WordPress stuff. So that’s something else.

I really want to push myself out of my HTML4/blog box. And I think violently thrusting myself into HTML5, PHP, and a non-traditional blog (or even non-blog-centric) layout is the way to go. It’s the only way I’ll learn. Because I’m to stubborn/lazy to do it at any other time.

I’m starting to gather some resources on how to build various aspects of my site. (Like the slideshow, and the masked text-image things, and the triple-blog… I’m starting to play around with @font-face and other CSS capabilities, too.) Because I want to build this whole thing from scratch. I’ve explored some options regarding how to make this all work. And I think I’ve got a doable (and I mean actually doable this semester) solution to work towards.

My main goal as far as backend functionality is to make WP do all the work. When I create a post and, say, tag it “slideshow,” I want my slideshow to automatically update with an uploaded image, the post title, and first sentence or two of the post. And when I post to my “KCAI” category, I want it to show up on my front page as my most recent post for “Learning Design.” I don’t wanna have to manually put content in a folder for the PHP gods to grab. I want the PHP gods to worship me. So there.

…So that’s where I’m at. Oh, and sketches too! This is what my site is gonna look like!

I’m in love with the Univers/Clarendon combo. I know, I know… Clarendon doesn’t exactly work for body copy… I’m working on getting Clarendon Text (with a web license, of course) for all my @font-face needs. Yes, I’ll have some backup font options in my CSS file. Don’t worry about that.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I’m super-excited about this project. I can’t wait to get it all done!