https://publishink.co.uk Writing, editorial management, and publication and web design Zola en Mon, 15 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Mon, 15 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Jeff Porter https://publishink.co.uk/notes/the-web-has-not-changed/ https://publishink.co.uk/notes/the-web-has-not-changed/ <figure> <img src="/img/original-next-computer.webp" alt="The NeXT computer used by Berners-Lee"> <figcaption>This <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXT_Computer">NeXT Computer</a> was used by Berners-Lee at CERN and became the world’s first web server. Photo: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=395096">Coolcaesar at the English-language Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0</a></figcaption> </figure> <p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee">Tim Berners-Lee</a> and Norwegian <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A5kon_Wium_Lie">Håkon Wium Lie</a> (alongside <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_Bos">Bert Bos</a>), laid the bricks and mortar of the World Wide Web back in 1991 and 1994, respectively, when they drew up their specifications for html and CSS. And, like a sturdy old Victorian house, the web has stood the test of time.</p> <p>This site, publishink, has survived more or less intact since 2002. It has done so as a simple html file and a CSS file, dumped in a folder and uploaded to my host. Not all that different from Berners-Lee et al. No PHP, Javascript, or database were involved in the building of this site.</p> <p>Don’t get me wrong, there have been a couple of times over the years when I’ve found myself with time on my hands and popped a version of this site into WordPress, added a blog element, then realised I didn’t really need one. Work was going well – mostly by word of mouth – so why bother? Why create more work? So I reverted to html and CSS files and the happy times returned. In that time, all that changed was the CSS file when I thought the site could do with a fresh lick of paint.</p> <h2 id="something-to-say">Something to say</h2> <p>Then around 2018 I discovered SSGs, or static site generators<sup class="footnote-reference"><a href="#1">1</a></sup>. Using an SSG allowed me to keep my site simple, without all the bloat and overhead that comes with a WordPress installation. That makes this site quicker to load, among other things. Better still, <a href="https://getzola.org">Zola</a>, the SSG I settled on, allows me to write all the pages and posts in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown">Markdown</a>,<sup class="footnote-reference"><a href="#2">2</a></sup> an easy-to-read and easy-to-write plaintext format that I’ve been using since the late Noughties.</p> <p>So, in the past couple of months I decided to add a blog<sup class="footnote-reference"><a href="#3">3</a></sup> and a few more pages, not because work wasn’t going well, but because I felt as though I had something to say.</p> <p>But, guess what? Still, all this site comprises is a bunch of html files – albeit a few more than originally planned – and a CSS file dumped in a folder and uploaded to the host.</p> <p>So, has the web changed? No, it hasn’t.</p> <div class="footnote-definition" id="1"><sup class="footnote-definition-label">1</sup> <p>This site may never had a blog element, but I’ve been writing at <a href="https://wordius.com">wordius.com</a> since 2012.</p> </div> <div class="footnote-definition" id="2"><sup class="footnote-definition-label">2</sup> <p>I’ve been using <a href="https://obsidian.md">Obsidian</a>, a markdown editor, since 2022 when version 1.0.0 was released. I’ve been writing in markdown since 2007.</p> </div> <div class="footnote-definition" id="3"><sup class="footnote-definition-label">3</sup> <p>Static site generators use text input files to generate static web pages. Unlike dynamic websites – WordPress, etc. – these static pages do not change based on the request. This simplifies backend and allows the site to be distributed via content delivery networks. The simple design also protects the site, making it harder for attackers to modify the website due to the smaller attack surface of these relatively simple backends. Some of the most popular static site generators are Jekyll, Hugo, Eleventy, Gatsby, and Next.</p> </div> Mon, 01 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Jeff Porter https://publishink.co.uk/notes/one-piece-advice/ https://publishink.co.uk/notes/one-piece-advice/ <p>If there’s one piece of advice I would give to anyone who writes – and that goes for most of us – it is that you should set aside five minutes of your time (okay, he says, ten) and read Matthew Butterick’s <a href="https://practicaltypography.com/typography-in-ten-minutes.html">Typography in ten minutes</a>. Here’s why:</p> <blockquote> <p>If you learn and follow these five typography rules, you will be a better typographer than nearly every writer – and even most graphic designers.</p> </blockquote> <p>Butterick is a designer, writer, typographer, programmer, a lawyer, and one smart cookie. In addition to <em>Practical Typography</em>, the web book which gives the above advice, he has written <em>Typography for Lawyers</em> and <em>Beautiful Racket</em>. They are both recommended reading, and not just for lawyers.</p> <p>Where most of the advice in <em>Typography for Lawyers</em> relates to that profession, there are some useful nuggets that apply to anyone. <em>Beautiful Racket</em>, on the other hand, serves as an introduction to programming, which is what ‘Racket’ is, after all: a language-oriented progamming language.</p> <p>Butterick is also the designer of a number of fine fonts, including Valkyrie, Century Supra, Concourse and Hermes Maia. They are available from <a href="https://practicaltypography.com/mb-fonts.html">MB Fonts</a>, along with the rest of his designs.</p> Sat, 30 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000 Jeff Porter https://publishink.co.uk/notes/coming-soon/ https://publishink.co.uk/notes/coming-soon/ <p>Promise.</p>