# Fresh lick of paint

> Redesigned this website to add simple search, simplify the navigation and clean up the styling for a modern feel.

> Last updated: 2024-12-24

So many internet people work on personal projects over the festive break that it’s basically a tradition all of its own. You’ll notice that I’ve joined that throng this year.

Redesigning this website has been on a to-do list for ages, and yesterday I found the time to finish off what I’d started in between jobs in February.

The main changes I made:

- added simple search
- simplified navigation
- cleaner look with more spacing

Search is very simple, not sophisticated in the slightest. It will find every instance of `the` in my posts, for example. But it should help people find things more easily. It’s dead easy to find all the posts in which I’ve mentioned OKRs, for instance.

Adding search means I could simplify navigation, adding fewer links to the header. You can still find posts by topic but I expect more people will want the finer-grained controls of search. I’ve kept a short list of related posts at the bottom of each piece, as those are far more popular than any other feature.

The new styling is a lot cleaner, more modern, than the previous theme. It looks a bit less 2015, a bit more 2025. It’s a single column layout on mobile still, but two-column on desktop with navigation on the left. I’ve removed the footer for now but I’ll bring this back once I get my head around flex CSS. Overall, there’s less stuff to distract the eye. Oh, and I've added dark mode.

I think I’ve ironed out the kinks in the design but please let me know if anything’s clunky or doesn’t work. First on the list is adding a button to search, but shout if there’s anything else.