I find it quite interesting that I launched a new website and blog on 1/11. For those following numerology know that 111 means a new beginning or chapter.

Over the past few weeks, I reevaluated my website and blog. In September, I decided to move off the WordPress platform that I had been using for several years. Largely, I wanted a simpler and less bloated website.

In October, I moved to the Automad platform . While I enjoyed creating content, it was too limiting especially for blogs. My experience is that the platform is best for more static content that is not updated regularly. After migrating some of the content from WordPress to Automad, I began noticing that it was taking a lot of work to create and produce basic blog posts.

This started a search for a new platform that was easier to post and was more blog-focused. I also realized that I was looking for a platform that was focused on writing and less on-page building. There isn't a need for me to have a platform that has all of these bells and whistles that I do not regularly use.

I experimented with Hugo and Grav but was still not satisfied with the amount of effort and difficulty updating my website on the go. Yesterday, I stumbled across Gridea a minimalist blogging platform that fit everything I was looking for.

During my search, I realized there are no perfect blogging or website platform. My first impressions of Gridea are awesome, but there are some limitations to how much you can customize themes and the look and feel of the site. This is not an issue for me as I like how the site looks and I am not looking to customize it that much. It appears Gridea is in active development so more features will likely be implemented during the year.

Another feature I was looking for was short-form blogging. Out of the box, Gridea provided this functionality. In WordPress and other platforms, you had to create your version and manipulate templates to get it to look the way you wanted to. For the first time, I do not have to do overly complicated coding manipulations to get a microblog.

I will be experimenting and testing out Gridea and I recommend you consider it if you are looking for a simple blogging platform.