About the composition of this blog#
Is this placed at the beginning to serve as a statistical and organizing role?
The basic framework of the blog is built using Hugo, and the front-end style is slowly conceived by myself. Maybe it's because I don't have the talent for design, so the UI I conceived is quite strange.
I also try to lean towards black and white in terms of color, just to avoid color conflicts that may cause discomfort in reading. With text as the main focus, I can also shift my focus to writing articles.
Then, I built the public static files through local rendering and pushed these files to the server. The server configuration is the most basic 1h2g, but it is already sufficient for normal personal use, which can improve the access speed. At the same time, I backed up the source code on Github, so I don't have to worry about any unexpected events.
Moreover, through Github, I also built a backup website on Vercel. Based on Rope, I can directly generate a project website, which is very practical.
Currently, I haven't separated this blog theme. One reason is that I don't want to maintain an open-source project specifically, and the other reason is that I find it difficult to guarantee its stability. I often optimize or change the overall layout every now and then, which would be unacceptable if it were an open-source project.
If you want to use the same theme, you can go to the repository https://github.com/Nov8nana/hugo-blog, which contains all the source code of the blog.
You can copy the code in the themes folder. Or you can fork the repository directly and replace the articles in the /content folder with your own.
Written on July 21, 2021
When writing this article, I wanted to review my psychological journey from writing my first blog post to the present moment. But when I started writing, I suddenly changed my mind. I decided to take a good look at myself and ask, "Why do I write a blog?"
The Beginning#
The story began in May 2020. At that time, I was about to graduate and was in the process of job hunting. I was a bit confused about the future, unsure of which direction to take. Coupled with a lack of self-confidence, I was probably a bit anxious.
But no matter how my mindset changed, life had to go on. In my spare time, I browsed many technical websites, hoping to improve myself. At that time, I was quite enthusiastic about CSDN and Blog Garden, the two largest Chinese blog websites. Whether it was for learning or searching for information, the articles that came up on Baidu were mostly from these two websites. During my usual learning process, I would also write some notes or summaries. At first, I stored them locally, but later I put them on Gayhub.
Gayhub: Also known as Github. The world's largest same-sex dating website, where you can freely communicate about technology and copy code.
But for those who have visited this website, they know how frustrating its speed can be. Although I later learned some methods to bypass the Great Firewall, I was still dissatisfied. So I turned my attention to technical communication platforms and forums. I started to put my notes on CSDN as blog posts. I still have some easy-to-understand articles on my CSDN account, although I haven't logged in for a long time.
Exposure#
One day, a friend who works in front-end development recommended a book to me called "Self-Cultivation of Web Full-Stack Engineers" by Yu Guo. I even wrote a book review about it, and if you're interested, you can read it here: Thoughts on Full-Stack.
It's a good book and quite popular. I read the e-book version and even bought a physical copy to show my support to the author.
Through this book, I learned that the author had been writing personal blogs since his university days. As I delved deeper into the process, I found his ideas really good, and his writing had depth. Although many of his articles were unrelated to technology, they were undeniably good articles. (Now he has moved to WeChat Official Account, you can search for "Yu Guo's Column" if you're interested). I became quite interested in him and suddenly developed more interest in personal blogs.
I feel like this is my own private domain where I can freely express myself. It's more like building my own house, and what the house looks like depends on my abilities.
At first, I chose Hexo as my static blog. It has many advantages: it's free, deploys quickly, and I can keep using GitHub repositories for storage, including articles, images, etc. As long as you're willing to tinker, there's always a way to solve any problem.
There are also many developers who have developed various plugins and third-party platforms. The theme list on the Hexo official website is also quite extensive, all developed by individual developers. You can always find the one you like.
For this reason, I also developed a lightweight text-only theme called Simple99. If you're interested, you can find it in the official list. I won't post the link here to avoid suspicion of self-promotion.
After that, I put all my previous notes into this blog. When I deployed it and viewed it myself, I felt a sense of accomplishment.
Essence#
Two months later, I continue to update this blog. Next, I will continue to talk about my journey...
Unconsciously, I have been writing this blog for a year. From the initial excitement and impulsiveness to the current calmness, this psychological journey has been quite bumpy.
During this period, I frequently changed blogging platforms: Hexo, Hugo, Halo, WordPress, Typecho.
Finally, I settled on Hugo. On the one hand, it is a static system that does not require a server or database. It can be deployed on any supported platform at will (although in the end, I still deployed it on a server for speed). Moreover, it renders quite fast. When there are more and more articles, using Hexo would take more than 10 seconds to render, which made me feel uncomfortable. Therefore, I chose Hugo, which is faster.
After going through that period, I felt much calmer inside. I no longer tinker with these things and entered a period of tranquility. I think this is probably a stage that every blogger has to go through, discarding the flashy appearance and focusing on the essence of blogging.
I summarized it in four words: recording and sharing.
Now I know many new bloggers, most of whom are just starting out. They have a sense of novelty and are eager to deploy a blog that satisfies them. I would give them some guidance and share my insights, which makes me happy. After all, in this era of declining blogs and fragmented information, it's still heartwarming to see people who like this circle.
I encourage them to solve problems on their own, think, and come up with results. This undoubtedly gives bloggers a sense of accomplishment.
Sometimes I also write tutorials or share small plugins I develop. If someone needs them, they can search for keywords on search engines and may come across my articles, which makes me feel honored.
Reflection#
Many times, I would reflect on myself and wonder if I should continue writing blogs in this era when most people are doing public accounts and self-media. This is also the trend of the times. Then I slowly pondered and saw the light through the clouds. I realized that what I wanted was not the feeling of self-media. I was more eager to have my own little world, occasionally sharing some interesting things and writing about my life and technical notes.
I know that my level is far from that of an expert. I just want to write something. That's all, nothing more.