Getting Inspired

It’s been a while since I have worked on the site. I go through these phases where I have a lot of ideas and motivation to work on the site and put my thoughts into this blog. The other 99% of the time I have no motivation due to lack of creativity.

Recently some events in my personal life have inspired me to get back into it. In working on a website for someone really special to me, I have realized I enjoy the effort of web development when I can help create a vision for someone else.

I expect to post a bit more on this site and get back into sharing more of my photos I have taken over the last year. While COVID has restricted me from getting out and about I have certainly made the best of the situation and have some fun photo galleries to share.

Galleries Landing Page

Some site news. I’ve created a new landing page for the Galleries section of my site. The reason for this change from a drop menu style was to prevent the drop down from getting to lengthy and more importantly, was my non-technical way of getting around the problem I was having with CSS styling the folder menu in dark mode.

Either way, I believe this provides a better, more visual user experience. Each gallery section will have a summary of timeframe photos were taken, total number of photos and device used. A handy table of contents as well as a map visualizing all locations, has been created here.

Enjoy.

Site Wide Dark Mode

In an effort to keep up with the latest and greatest, I’ve spent some time over the last few days tweaking the CSS code for the site. This was done to automatically enable dark mode when your device has dark mode enabled. There are no toggles or buttons to hit on the site to make this happen as it automatically detects your device setting and “flips the switch” for you.

This will work on both mobile and desktop versions of the website. You can download the code here. You may need to adjust based on your template.

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Some of the sample code I used can be found online at the Squarespace support forum. The original author of the post runs a website.

Stop by and show him some support as his post was a major help.

Enjoy!

OneSignal - Cross Platform Push Notification Delivery

I've recently added the ability to push out website notifications to this here small website. While I will very rarely use it, OneSignal offers an excellent, user friendly experience to add cross platform push notification delivery to your website or app. 

By adding a few lines of code to the code injection section of your Squarespace CMS, you can easily sent out alerts to visitors currently on your website.  Here is how it works.

When you first visit the site you will receive a small pop up asking if you would like to opt-in to the push notification service.  Once you answer, you will never be alerted again when visiting the site. If you change your mind and would like to opt-in in the future, you can click on the bell icon located at the bottom right of the website.  

OneSignal's Handy Dandy Subscribe Bell

If you are an app or website developer and looking for a low cost push notification service, give OneSignal a try.

OneSignal

I was not paid for this endorsement and just like sharing quality services with my reader(s).  

Portfolio on YouTube

Quick site note.  I have now setup a YouTube channel to host all demo and instructional videos. I was surprised to find out that Squarespace, who hosts this site, does not have video upload/hosting capabilities.  

If you're into subscribing to YouTube channels feel free to add the channel by clicking the button below.

Subscribe on Apple News

If like me you enjoy reading your news in the Apple News app, you can now add this site as a favorite within your app and receive new articles right on your home page.  Additionally, you can view this site directly within the app under the Following tab and view a list of all recent articles. Click the button below on an iOS 9 device or newer to get started.  Enjoy!

Site News - New Twitter Account

I decided to setup a standalone Twitter account for this here little website. I did this mainly to separate my personal account with my "professional" account. This will allow me to keep better metrics on who and how my posts are reaching my audience and who has actually found me via Twitter. 

Follow @JDigitalBlog

Thanks for following!  

Site News - Connect

A few small changes I made to the hierarchy of the contact page. I decided to create separate pages so you can connect with me more easily. The old style had a single page that to me was a bit too busy and included all the ways you can connect up with me in one location. 

Now you will find separate pages for the site newsletter, social links including the RSS feed and the contact page itself.

Enjoy the new layout. 

Updated Site Logos

After a few weeks of messing around with my rudimentary Photoshop skills I decided to throw in the towel and ask for help. My original logo was taken from the idea of a camera shutter icon but I've always wanted something more personalized that didn't have a stock image feel to it. I inquired with a buddy on Twitter about taking the camera shutter logo to the next level.  

What you see above is the new header image for the website. You will find this in the weekly newsletter as well. I'm using a different color combination in each but the style is the same. The footer of the website is using a modification of this banner that is a logo only. 

I want to give a huge shoutout and thank you to Adam Smoot who helped come up with the modifications and had the creative mind to come up with the signature logo idea. Check out his new blog here and give him a follow on Twitter. 

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Portfolio on Facebook

I decided to bite the bullet and create a Facebook page for the Portfolio. The main purpose for the page is to cross post all articles and galleries. I'm not active on Facebook as I prefer Twitter but if you are one of the many who enjoy reading their news on Facebook please feel free to like my page and enjoy the content in your newsfeed.

Thanks and enjoy.