Year In Review - 2019

I am glad to report that this year was a year of new learning. Not just about things from a technical standpoint but from a personal standpoint. I feel I started the year with a single-track mindset. However, as the year progressed I have become open to new ways of thinking and finally accepting that even though certain personal milestones I set for myself may not have been accomplished, I am content on lessons learnt from failure. Failure may suck, but it’s progression! It also gives me something to write about. :-)

2019 in Words/Phrases

Kentico 12 MVC, Umbraco, GatsbyJs, Azure Dev Ops, Maldives, Hiking, Drupal (yes I had to do that along with a bit of PHP), Cloudflare CDN Configuration, Google Lighthouse score, Headless CMS - strategic asset, Prismic, Netlify, Kontent, CaaS (Content-as-a-Service), Automated backups for personal hosting, iPad for improved productivity, A2 Hosting Issues, Writers block, New desk and office, Failing Macbook Pro battery, Considering an iPhone 11, Fondness of Port.

Site Offline and Lessons Learnt

I was welcomed with the first bit of failure in April where my website was taken offline (along with many others) for a lengthy period thanks to my previous hosting provider, A2 Hosting. They had no backups, no disaster recovery and no customer support. Their whole operation is a disaster.

Failure = Lesson learnt.

The only benefit of this experience was that it led me to a chain of events to reassess how I host my site and come to the realisation just how important my online presence is to me. Luckily, I was able to get back up and running by moving hosting provider. Thank god I had a recent enough backup to do this.

Popular Posts of The Year

This year I have written 26 posts (including this one). I've delved into my Google Analytics and picked a handful of gems where I believe in my own small way have made an impact:

• Switch Branches In TortoiseGit
• Automatically Backing Up Plesk Data To Synology
• Responsive Images In ASP.NET: Converting Image Tag To Picture Tag
• Digitising Photos With The Plustek ePhoto Z300 Scanner
• Kentico 12 MVC: Get List of Widgets Used On A Page
• A2 Hosting - Can Any Hosting Provider Be Trusted?

I think my crowning glory is Google classing my post about “Switching Branches in TortoiseGit" as a featured snippet. So if anyone searches for something along those search terms, they will see the following as a top post. I don't know how long this will last, but I'll take it!

Statistics

My site statistics have increased considerably, which has been amazing. However, I have to remain realistic and grounded in what to expect in future comparisons. I think the figures may plateau over the next year.

The stats I post below is based on organic searches and I haven’t actively posted links on my social. Maybe this is something I should get back into doing for further exposure.

2018/2019 Comparison:

• Users: +50%
• Page Views: +47%
• New Users: +48%
• Bounce Rate: +0.8%
• Search Console Total Clicks: +251%
• Search Console Impressions: +280%
• Search Console Page Position: -15%

Syndicut

I am so close to hitting the all-time milestone for the length of service when compared to any company I’ve worked in previously. In fact, I have already surpassed any previous record three-fold. As of next July, it will be 10 years! Wowsers!

I can see the coming year will be a time to reassess how we approach our technical projects to accommodate new markets, technologies and frameworks. It’s always an exciting time to be a developer at Syndicut, but I am looking forward to sinking my teeth into new challenges ahead!

Greater Emphasis on CaaS (Content-as-a-Service)

Over the last year, I have noticed a shift in how content is managed. Even though I have been busy working away on headless CMS’s at Syndicut over the last few years, it seems to be the year where its properly been given global traction and market awareness. You can just tell by the number of events for both developers and clients.

Through this exposure, clients are becoming technically savvy and questioning how and where their data is housed. Content is a strategic asset that should no longer be siloed, but distributed across multiple mediums, for example:

• Website
• Mobile Applications
• Digital Billboards

The key to a successful Headless CMS integration is not the development of an application, but the content-modelling. Based on what I have seen from other implementations, sufficient content-modelling always seems to be missed. Data-architecture is key to ensure data is scalable across all mediums.

I am also a Kontent (previously known as Kentico Cloud) Certified Developer.

iPad and Now iPhone???

This subject matter truly alarms me.

I’ve been considering getting an iPhone 11 after Google released their dismal spec of the Pixel 4 and on top of that, finding that I am really happy with my iPad Air purchase. This is coming from an Android fan!

I have no regrets in getting an iPad, especially when combined with the a keyboard and Apple Pen. It makes you a productivity powerhouse! We live in a world where finding quality Android tablets with sufficient accessories is difficult to find.

If I can get my head around being locked into the Apple eco-system, I might make the move. Why oh why is Google putting me in such a position. :-S

I guess we’ll have to wait till I write my “Year In Review - 2020” on what I ended up doing.

Coffee Tables and Desk Purchased!

In my last year in review, I jokingly added a footnote stating I needed to get a coffee table set and desk. I can mark a massive tick against these two items for a job well done. In fact, I went a step further with purchasing a desk by converting a part of a room into a small office with the following additions:

• Ikea desk chair
• Corner shelves
• An array of potted plants
• Laptop stand
• Very cool desk lamp
• Nice grey rug with some pleasant subtle abstract patterns

It’s now a perfect place where I can work and write without any distractions. The room still requires some finishing touches - in my case, it’s always the small jobs that take the longest!

I was surprised at how productive I’ve been by finally having a small office setup. Gone are the days where I would be reclined on my sofa in front of the TV working away on my laptop.

Redeveloping My Site

It seems like I can’t go through a year without looking into redeveloping my site. It’s the curse when being exposed to working with new technologies and platforms. I like to ensure I am moving with the times too.

I have been considering ditching Kentico as my content-management platform and opting for the static-generator route, such as Gatsby. Resulting in simplified platform-agnostic hosting, site architecture and with the added benefit of portability. I am in the middle of replicating my site functionality using Gatsby to see if it’s a feasible option.

I will be posting links to my “in progress” site hosted on Netlify in my “Journey To GatsbyJs” Series, where I will be writing about things I’ve learnt trying to replicate my site functionality.