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The Server
This is an nginx based site housed on an Akamai Virtual Private Server (VPS) with a SpinupWP control panel system.
CMS & Custom Theme
The Content Management System (CMS) is WordPress featuring my own custom hand-rolled dark mode enabled theme based on the Underscores starter. It utilises the built in Gutenberg content editor with additional custom blocks created using the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin.
Talking of plugins, they’re managed by Composer with all code updates handled via the Git version control system. It’s heavily cached and also uses Cloudflare as a Content Delivery Network (CDN.) When it comes to JavaScript, I try to use the barest minimum possible.
Analytics with No Tracking
There is no tracking software installed or used on this site as I really, truly, despise that crap.
For transparency, I do garner some statistics using Cloudflare Web Analytics, a privacy first alternative to the ubiquitous Google “Big Brother is watching” offering. This permits me to view the popularity (or not) of posts and lets me know the health of Core Web Vitals. I can then quickly fix potential problems meaning a better all round experience for users. For further information about its usage see this sites privacy policy.
TL;DR No personal information is collected, it’s just a fancy page hits counter that also scans for technical issues.
The Typefaces
For the typographic aficionados out there I thought I’d add a little background on my font choices.
Sans-Serif Font
After much experimentation I chose Inter as the main body font that’s been subsetted to reduce size for reasons of performance. It’s a variable font therefore allowing me to fine tune the weights required for both the dark and light themes.
Monospace Font
I decided on JetBrains Mono as it’s creators made it with an increased height for a better reading experience. In fact I liked it so much I also now use it in my IDE and Terminal software.
Format and Preload
Both fonts are in woff2 format and preloaded for enhanced webperf.
<link rel="preload" href="/fonts/Inter.var.woff2" as="font" type="font/woff2" crossorigin>
<link rel="preload" href="/fonts/JetBrainsMono-Regular.woff2" as="font" type="font/woff2" crossorigin>Further Information
For further details see the humans.txt file or Uses page where I outline some hardware and software preferences.
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More Information
Further Reading
- ACF Home (advancedcustomfields.com)
- Akamai VPS Home (linode.com)
- Font: JetBrains Mono (jetbrains.com)
- Font: Inter Family (Variable) (rsms.me)
- Cloudflare Web Analytics Home (cloudflare.com)
- SpinupWP Home (spinupwp.com)
- Underscores Starter Theme (underscores.me)
- PHP Composer Home (getcomposer.org)
- Git Version Control System Home (git-scm.com)
- Variable Font Info (wikipedia.org)