Nearly a year later the website has kept growing and growing, which has made the decision to migrate to a cheaper host even more difficult. In an effort to save money I finally decided to make the move to PIXEL INTERNET, which has been very trying but I feel it was worth it for both the money I’m saving and the creative changes I have now been able to make.

The back-end of the website was very messy before, using various plugins to exclude categories in the blog in an effort to cheat the appearance of separate archives. Although this worked to a degree, it was never a long-term option. With this brand new multi-site network I have installed, I have now managed to break up the site in to several sub-domains which has given me the opportunity to divide each section in a far cleaner and simpler way. This has also given me access to unique archives for each section which is far more efficient.

This change has also given me the opportunity to give my brother Alex his own sub-domain which can be managed uniquely within the network, as well as scope for introducing more sections to the website in the future without interfering with the elements already in place. I hope you like this new direction, it has been a long 2 weeks getting to this point but I feel it was worth the effort.

New Website migrated from LAUGHING SQUID HOSTING to PIXEL INTERNET.

New SUB-DOMAINS set up to make the website into more manageable:

Design (Main Website)
Audio (Portfolio micro-site for Alex)
Contest (Competition site with unique archive)
Film (Film blog with unique archive)
Blog (General blog with changelog and unique archive)

New BACKGROUND COLOUR is now a dark blue compared to previous grey.

Updated ANIMATION page removed.
Updated LOGOS page renamed BRANDING.
Updated WEBSITES content.

Reverted back to LIGHTBOX PLUS GALLERY 2.2 to remove unnecessary scroll bars.
Removed Category Exclusion plugins as blogs are now separated with individual archives.

Updated to WordPress 3.2.1.

Updated MAIN SITE tab renamed PORTFOLIO.

Updated SOCIAL section renamed SOCIAL MEDIA (removed Behance and DeviantArt, added Steam and replaced all icons).

Updated LOGO DESIGN page renamed LOGOS.
Updated LOGOS page content (new and updated images).

Updated WEBSITES page content (new and updated images).

Projects have now been split into seasons with breaks in between to give me time to plan ahead (retconned season bookend posts).

Updated project tables throughout.
Updated project banner and winner images and text throughout.

New Season bookends for the competition.
New categories for competition posts (revised by season rather than briefs / entries / winners).

Updated Winner graphics removed from all winner posts (information now only in tables).
Updated WINNERS sidebar section renamed SEASON ONE.

Removed DragToShare eXtended as it was causing 500 errors in the admin settings.
New Copy Protection on all images (Image dragging and left-click disabled across the website).

Updated WEB DESIGN page.
Updated LINKS page (new links added).

New ‘WP PHP Widget’ for sidebar coding replacing ‘Runive HTML Box Widget’ (Contact sections).

Added WINNERS text box in the COMPETITION section.
Updated table layout in COMPETITION WINNERS category.

Updated INFORMATION link in competition sidebar.

Updated COMPETITION section with new images (including typography and colour).
Updated COMPETITION DETAILS page information.

Updated RECENT POSTS widget in the Blog.
Updated ARCHIVE layout in the Blog.

Updated CSS for the tables.
Updated the clock in general settings.
Updated Blog titles throughout.

Increased the amount of posts visible on the competition page.

For the last few weeks I have been running a weekly design competition for my friends which allows them to showcase new and varied work and vote on a winner. So far there is no prize for winners although it is a good accolade to win something like this. In the future I am looking into introducing something else as an incentive.

The competition has been successful so far as I am finding that people are having a lot of fun with it. I have learned that injecting humour into each competition allows for really funny entries, and encourages people to be clever with their designs. Ultimately I think this is a good way of constantly challenging your skills as a designer, and it helps to see other people’s interpretations of projects in order to improve for next time.