This is my blog, which I use to sporadically (basically never) post about web development. Anything pre-2014 is bad and you shouldn’t read it.
A year ago we outlined some changes to the way we support FT.com. As well as giving an excellent overview of what our OpsCop team did, we set out some broad changes that we intended to make. Read about how FT.com support has changed over the year.
An explanation of how I halved my website's build/deploy process using a mix of actions optimisations and the new GitHub Pages Custom Actions beta. Read about the optimisations.
A small dive into one of my new favourite web technologies: webmentions. This post talks through how I use them to make my static website feel more alive and social. Learn how to send and receive webmentions on your static website.
The real treasures were the friends we made along the way. Read about how we built a fun virtual treasure hunt.
An explainer on RSS and feed readers, a history of my reading habits over the years, and Audrey – a new open source project that will hopefully encourage me to read more. Read a bit about web feeds.
Way back in March this year, early on in lockdown, I had a burst of inspiration and built a silly game which you can play on Slack. I wanted to talk through the process I go through on the rare occasion when I start a side project. Saddle up.
Pa11y has moved to a new organisation on GitHub. It's a time of change for the project, and the team is extremely excited about the future. Read about Pa11y's move.
A README is one of the first things people see when they find your open source project. It should be helpful, welcoming, and friendly. Learn how to write a loveable README.
A short journey through iterations of my website, from 2010–2016, and all of the odd decisions I've made along the way. Come with me now on a journey through time and space.
An insight into how we run our Nature journals beta program using Thundermole. Learn about Nature's beta program.
An overview of using the pa11y accessibility testing tool to find issues with your web pages. Learn how to use pa11y.
An introduction to asynchronous JavaScript, part of a series on JavaScript for Beginners. Learn about async.
How I tackled the build of CSSDB over a weekend. Outlining my technological decisions, and how the site kept nice and snappy under heavy load. Read about CSSDB.
I rebuilt my site with Jekyll, along with a small design refresh; it went so smoothly I thought I'd blog about it. Definitely something to consider if you're building a small site. Read about my site rebuild.
A simple tutorial on using Node.js 0.8+'s Cluster module with Express to dramatically improve app performance. Learn about clustering and express.
I love being ambitious when it comes to development, but this quality can be a double-edged sword. Ease yourself into the bigger projects. Read my thoughts on ambition.
The dressing up of technology in advertising doesn't work for me. I like to know how the product looks, feels and works in as short a time as possible. The same applies to web design. Read about selling technology.
Building yet another grid system could be seen as bloating an already-bloated landscape; but sometimes, rolling your own tools is one of the best things you can do. Read about Frag.
Web accessibility isn't just about catering for blind users. In this post, we talk about the other users we need to consider in order to make the web accessible to all. Read about accessibility.