People have been blogging about questions about blogging. Steve tagged me. There are multiple projects I haven't procrastinated on nearly enough, so let's go!

Why did you start blogging in the first place?

When I went on a one year trip and had been asked by worried family members to provide regular updates on my whereabouts. I ended up really enjoying capturing moments, surprises and stories.

Later, I loved the idea of having a place of my own to put my (mostly) tech-related thoughts, learnings, notes… to refer back to at a later time. By making it a public place I could also send links to others and get feedback.

What platform are you using to manage your blog and why did you choose it? Have you blogged on other platforms before?

My blog is basically a lot of Markdown files in a folder. I currently use Eleventy to turn that into HTML files and wrap the rest of a website around the blog. I keep a very minimal approach to adding other things to the mix, no preprocessors,

Previously, I used the Perch CMS.

I try not to focus too much on process and tools, at the expense of actually writing, I wanted my process as simple as possible. To have very little between my writing and the publishing.

Various times, I resisted the urge to make my own blogging platform.

How do you write your posts? For example, in a local editing tool, or in a panel/dashboard that’s part of your blog?

Most posts start off as Markdown files in iA Writer. This is usually on a phone, waiting for a bus or something. They end up in my text editor whenever I'm close to publishing and ready to add images or other illustrations.

I have a folder for blog posts that contains many drafts, that I return to every once in a while. Many never make it to live, some do after a while.

When do you feel most inspired to write?

It's a cliche, but this is usually when I am doing something else. During a walk, swim or shower, for instance.

I can also feel inspired to write if I figure something out that seems useful for later, or for others. Or when I am working on something that puts me in the position to have information that isn't readily available elsewhere… not secrets, but the kind of thing that could be hard to piece together.

Do you publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?

It stays in draft until it's finished, but when it's finished, I publish it almost immediately, except for when I need to ask help from others to factcheck.

What are you generally interested in writing about?

The web platform, and front-end development, but also the ethics of technology, and things I learned about web accessibility. Sometimes about something more personal.

What’s your favourite post on your blog?

This is so hard to say.

The one I return to most is Console logging the focused element as it changes, because I'll never remember.

Maybe as a favourite, I'll nominate this one: The web is fast by default, let's keep it fast, as I remember being baffled at the time that something that could be 2KB was 1.3 MB. I still struggle to accept that organisations have $reasons, however real, to overcomplicate their websites to such degrees.

Who are you writing for?

Similar to Steve, I write mostly for myself. It does depend on the post though… some of my posts are intended for a broader audience.

Any future plans for your blog? Maybe a redesign, a move to another platform, or adding a new feature?

When I find the time, I want to expand my log part of my blog. On my regular blog, I want to add more ways to comment. I will try hard not to update the architecture, because it's working fine.

Next?

The format dictates I nominate other people to write a post like this. I'd like to tag Hui Jing, Bruce, Sara and Kilian.

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Originally posted as Tag, you're it on Hidde's blog.

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