New Projects and Blog Move

I have been thinking about how bloated this WordPress site/blog is, and have decided I will migrate some of the content to a custom coded, minimalist blog instead, and run that blog as a stand-alone site. 

When I started this blog I was completely new to web development and all I knew is that I wanted to make money working with computers on the internet. I knew (or at least I think) that I needed a blog for SEO and marketing of any potential products I was planning on creating. But this supposed blog ended up being a mish-mashed site without a definite purpose. In addition to that, if you look at the sheer volume of PHP code that has to be generated just to run this little mess it’s way overkill!

So, to let everyone who’s reading this know, I have started working on a very basic, minimalist blog where I can update people within the web development community of my projects and endeavors within that field. 

I will keep this site/blog up and running until I have everything ready, but ya… this site is just too messy, and WordPress charges too much for the value it brings. It’s still a great option for people who don’t know/don’t have time to code. For perspective, with WordPress, if you’d like your own domain name (not a .wordpress.com one) then you have to get ‘premium’ which is 10$/month. But I only pay 40$/year for the hosting and domain name of my custom coded site johnmckirdy.com!

I also need to start writing more, so in addition to this new blog (which will be viewable by everyone), I am starting a monthly newsletter, where I will update those who have signed up to it with great content like: favorite podcasts, new YouTube videos to watch for, books, some humor, and events/happenings within the development community.

I actually have a really cool product (in development) that I will be giving out free for anyone who signs up for my newsletter. I will never spam you, and I only have time to send out 1 per month. I you are interested in web development or even a seasoned veteran, just get a hold of me (use the contact form at the bottom of the main page of this site), and I will add you to the list. 

What do you think? Do you prefer using and ‘all-in-one’ service like WordPress, or do you feel it is better to code your own website/blog from scratch?