Back in early October, I mentioned that a change was coming. If you’re a regular reader, by now you’ve probably noticed things look quite a bit different. While on vacation last week, I took some time to redesign the site and move some things around. Some of this was to prep for the coming of Gleam Upon the Waves, and some of it was to reduce the amount of time I dealt with random web stuff. So… what’s new? Let me tell you.
New Domain
Well, kinda. There was always a KMAlexander.com, but before it took you to a static page. Now it brings you here. I’ll touch a little more on this in a bit. Since the domain changed, it felt more appropriate to be a little more professional with the title. The form blog title “I Make Stories” is no more. (Don’t worry, I’m still making stories.)
Sub-Domains Are Gone… Mostly
My book sites used to be on separate webpages nestled under subdomains most of those are now gone and only a few remain. (store.kmalexander.com is one.) If you came from thestarswereright.kmalexander.com, chances are you’ll have landed here. This is part of the redirect process and I’m still trying to figure out a solution. But, those webpages still exist. All my books can now found up on the menu. Which brings me to the next part…
New Book Landing Pages
As I mentioned, in the before times, I had different sites for each book, and each of those had subsites. It was a lot to juggle. With this new site, all those have been merged here! You can find them up under the Bell Forging Cycle tab in the menu. They’re a bit cleaner and will look so much better for those folks using mobile devices. Moving to a more mobile-friendly approach was a big consideration for this redesign. You should check ’em out (share them with your friends.) I think they turned out great.
New About Section
I’ve streamlined all the stuff about me. The Appearances and Contact Info pages are now consolidated under the About section. Those pages will continue to get streamlined, but it made more sense to group them together than have them divergent. Also freed up more room in the menu and simplified things a lot more.
A New Home Page
This one is a bit odd. Since, if you come to kmalexander.com, you’ll land here, on the blog. That’s by design since this is the best place to get news and updates, and I’m not one of those authors who only post once a year. The homepage is currently a catch-all page, and it’s modeled after my old homepage. Still feeling this one out. It might eventually go away. I like the idea of the blog being front and center, but I can see an appeal for a homepage focused mostly on books. So, we’ll see how this goes.
New Sidebar & Footer
Juggled a few things around in the sidebar, and I’m still rearranging the footer. Search is now clearer, as is access to the archives. Overall, I think it’s a bit more streamlined. I’ve got plenty of working space, so don’t be surprised if I add some other stuff in that area as well.
So that’s some of the new changes you’ll find around here. Overall I think this is a solid step forward, and it’s nice not to have to fiddle with many different sites whenever I want to make simple changes. Also, being more mobile-friendly doesn’t hurt. What do you think? Leave a comment below and let me know.