Year 3 has begun - the plans and thoughts for next year

So yesterday was my birthday. My 47th, actually. It marks the beginning of year 3 as I started the new website based on Invision Community back in 2019. In 2019 and 2020 I have done quite a bit on the website and I aim to continue that in year 3 as well. The sections are finally getting some attention and I feel less focused on databases and more focused on pages to build up more structure. Year 3 will be a bit more focused on Pages in general, I think.

About Me

This section is missing the about me part, actually, which is a bit annoying. So I am focusing on that right now, where my focus is on building components for the About Me section. This page will focus on a few key areas:  My Competence, My story and probably a section about Who Am I. The Competence area are focused around four components: The Holistic Consultant introduction,  The Section Roles, The Hire me banner and a block with reviews.

The Section Roles will be a node in itself where I will make sort of a CV for each role. It will act as a landing page of sorts where I will present myself in that role. I will bring in relevant projects, downloadable CV,  some images and so on. I will probably also connect to the roles database and tools that seem relevant. With 19+ roles that I need to have in two languages (English and Swedish) this will take a while, but I am in no hurry.

For my Story, I will have multiple pages, I think. I have not quite ironed out how I want this yet, but there will be multiple sections for sure based on the different periods in my life. Early years, running my own company, the consultant years and so on. I am toying with a sort of timeline, but I fear it will be too much work to maintain in the long run. I do not aim to create a record of my life after all, just a background to who I am and why.

The Sections

Another area that is sorely missing are the Section areas. I had this idea in my mind, but it never really manifested the way I wanted it. Now I feel I have at least a little idea on where to take them next. I am still looking into the focus areas, as each section will have certain products are services that should have their own little spaces. I have used Clubs for this in the past, but I am not 100% sold on that setup yet, even if clubs absolutely will be a prominent part of that setup.

The landing page of each section is divided into two subsections. I am doing this for consistency, but also because I feel all areas have at least two subsections that make sense. I will start with Development, where I will divide into backend and frontend on the landing page. As my area of expertise is in the frontend aspect, I will then focus on that area in particular. The frontend section will in term be divided into two new subsections: HTML/CSS and JavaScript.

Since there are plenty of products and services that are frontend focused rather than HTML/CSS or JavaScript focused, I will need to find a good way to present this and also to create focused areas where needed. Bootstrap for example is a framework that includes all frontend, so it should be at the frontend level. Same thing with IDE's like Visual Studio Code or IntelliJ that even works on the Development level since both frontend and backend can use them. This is where it would be useful to be able to add a product or service to multiple categories...

I do plan on focusing on one area each month, which should mean that all nine areas will be updated by the end of Year 3.

Writings

Writing is an important part of the site and although I am not unhappy with the way things are set up, I want to encourage more guest blogging. So there needs to be a page that describes this and a set of benefits that fit that as well. So I am going to create a new page for guest blogging and promote it with a block on the articles section. This way, I can at least add some attention to the fact that you can guest blog here.

The second thing I want is to drive in some attention to the site itself by posting on other websites. Medium is a popular area and I might look at that, but I am more interested in guest blogging on other websites. Since I am planning on building a new links section, it makes sense that I also reach out to prominent bloggers as I find good websites. I will try to write at least one guest blog each month as part of that month's Section focus.

It has been slow lately on the writing front. It is not that there is nothing to write about, quite the opposite. It's more that life in general has been a bit challenging and I have not had the calm that I need to sit down and write. Not only that, but it has also been very hot and more troubling with my SHR that has caused some issues. I do think that once the sections are more in place, I can find more focus on writing as I can focus on the products and services that I define myself.

Databases

On the database side, I don't feel any rush to extend the databases I have so far. The exception would be the Roles database that I need to update and get setup properly. I will create two new databases as well: The Atlassian add-on database and the Profiles database.  The Profiles database I will take some inspiration from the About Me section to build up a database where you can present yourself. The idea here is to provide a connection between people and companies, but also with products and possibly even articles and more. It is still early in the ideation phase for Profiles, but it is a focus area for Year 3.

Contact and Jira

Right now I have a setup with customer support in Jira and I want to move away from that I think. Not that it is a bad thing to have Jira setup for that, but because I want to focus things on this site. I also will attempt to make some videos based on Jira and Confluence, and it is best if that can be done without live data. So I will change this setup and use a forum instead. At least until I decide I want to make a custom solution based on Pages in the future.

Year 3 is also Year 0

Starting today, I am also making a fresh start in regard to health. I am getting older and I have gained a lot of weight lately since I am just sitting around all day. I need to address this and since my son is very keen on training I will get back to that again. Like the site, this is not a quick fix or a short term solution, but a long term one with focus on losing weight and increasing flexibility. I have a big belly that needs to be tightened as well.

How this will play out depends a lot on the way the pandemic will affect life. Travel time is always a factor, but I have found a way to get things done before, and I can do it again if I put my mind to it. So it is time to get back to the gym and to get the adrenaline flowing again.

Year 3 is here and it is full of marvels!