Kilian Valkhof

Tag, you’re it

I got tagged by Hidde to blog some answers to questions about blogging, and since I definitely don’t use this blog enough, I’m taking him up on it …roughly a month later.

Why did you start blogging in the first place? #

This is what I wrote back in December of 2006 (19 years 💀) in the first post:

I’m gonna use this online space to talk about CSS, Design, the web in general, GTD, and maybe some javascript and php once I become a bit more familiar with it (That is, once I’ve crossed the border between “I think this should work” to “damnit, this should work!”)

Which.. yeah, tracks pretty well. I particularly like that the “GTD” category has existed since 2006 and has zero posts.

I also wrote this:

Short story: I make websites, I like to be involved in the online community, and (perhaps unfortunately) I think I could add something to it.

Which I’d like to think I also managed decently.

As with most people’s blogs, mine is also terribly neglected. Reading back on that makes me pretty happy with the past 19 years though.

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

I used WordPress and have since 2006. It’s nicely full-featured with RSS and categories and tags and widgets and I don’t have to think about anything. It has also survived all WordPress updates since I first put it up on WordPress 2.0.

I’ve played around with a bunch of blogging systems for other projects but I’m pretty lazy when it comes to platforms so I’ve never felt a strong need to move away from WordPress.

That said, if I ever, ever get around to doing a proper redesign, I’d probably move to Astro and have a static site that lets me write markdown directly, doesn’t use PHP or a database and is generally just easier to fiddle with.

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

I’m pretty low tech. I usually write in a plain text editor, either gedit or, if I already have it open, VS code. Most often just directly as HTML(-ish: WordPress makes the paragraphs for me, but headings, links etc I do manually) but sometimes it’s markdown if I feel like it, and then I compile the HTML from that.

I use the classic editor in WordPress so I just paste it in when I’m done, and check the preview to make sure everything works well.

This post is a gedit post.

When do you feel most inspired to write? #

Usually I find out about some technical thing that I think People Should Know, so I write about it. Nowadays, those kind of posts tend to go on the Polypane Blog because, well, marketing, but also because it’s much easier for me to add inline widgets, get code highlighting etc.

This blog nowadays is more about updates on stuff I do elsewhere (like podcasts), which I write about after they happened.

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

Almost always immediately after writing it. Usually I just need to get something out and there’s no point in refining it unless it’s a release announcement. If it’s technical, I just write it up, check it for spelling and grammar mistakes and then ship it.

What are you generally interested in writing about? #

Technical stuff I’m working on right now. That’s almost always HTML/CSS/JS, with some Electron and A11y thrown in.

What’s your favourite post on your blog? #

Back in the day™ my series on CSS Positioning was one of my first long, extensive explorations of a topic and it ended up being used in university courses, mentioned in books etc. Still proud of that.

More recently (…by which I mean 4 years ago) I wrote an article titled You want overflow: auto, not overflow: scroll. My idea was to just get to point instantly and then when people want to read more they can, or they can just go “oh right” and apply it.

Since then, the “you want X, not Y” format keeps popping up, which makes me happy. Like on CSS Tricks or Scroll-Driven Animations: You want overflow: clip, not overflow: hidden by Bramus.

To me it’s a very pleasing way to write titles, like anti-clickbait.

Who are you writing for? #

Ideally, “me” from a day or so ago when I didn’t know The Thing. Or me from a day ago that used to know The Thing, but forgot, and now needed a reminder/refresher to know The Thing again.

And then I imagine there’s many other people like me that also benefit from The Thing.

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

The current design is from 2016 and pretty long in the tooth. I’d like to do a new design with a homepage less focused on just the articles since I do so many other things elsewhere now. And then technically I’d like to use Astro. But updating this blog is so far down the list of priorities that it’s even quite far down the “things I would be doing if I had infinite time” list.

Next! #

Should they accept the challenge, I tag Adam, Stefan, Bramus and Manuel!