content/posts/2018/2018-08-28-behind-the-scenes-my-blog.md
---
title: "Behind the Scenes: My Blog"
date: 2018-08-28 05:20:00 +0200
tags:
- Technical
- Personal Brand
---
I developed **corporate** programmer using a Ruby-based static-site generator called [Jekyll](https://jekyllrb.com/). It transforms Markdown, [Liquid](https://github.com/Shopify/liquid/wiki), HTML and CSS to a static website so that no is database required.
While I was planning to [leave the corporate world](https://curiousprogrammer.io/blog/sayonara), I started rebranding. I wanted a change. A new look. A new tech. A new name.
## My blog
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I wanted a new blog. I was introduced to [Gatsby](https://www.gatsbyjs.org/), a blazing fast static site generator for React.
This was handy as I wanted to learn React. Off I went to implement it using the [Gatsby Advanced Starter](https://github.com/Vagr9K/gatsby-advanced-starter), because why start small?
This starter kit has a lot of features including **offline support** and **web sockets** which I think is rad. I must admit that it tricky for me, as a beginner, to implement - but I came right and the site came out better than I expected it to. I still have a few features that are outstanding.
## My brand
<svg class="logo-mark" style="fill:#00a63f" viewBox="0 0 367.7 78.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="150px"><path class="logo-mark-color" d="M95.3 38.6c0-4.6-3.6-8.4-8.3-8.4-4.6 0-8.3 3.8-8.3 8.4s3.6 8.3 8.3 8.3 8.3-3.7 8.3-8.3m14.4.1c0 11.9-10.1 21.4-22.6 21.4-12.6 0-22.6-9.5-22.6-21.4 0-12 10.1-21.6 22.6-21.6 12.5-.1 22.6 9.6 22.6 21.6M154.8 30c0-8-5.6-15-13.9-15h-11.5v30.3h11.5c8.3 0 13.9-7.3 13.9-15.3m15.5 0c0 17.1-12.1 28.8-29.1 28.8h-24.6c-1.2 0-2.1-.9-2.1-2V3.4c0-1.1.9-2 2.1-2h24.6c17.1.1 29.1 11.5 29.1 28.6M194.4 46.9c4.6 0 8.3-3.8 8.3-8.4s-3.6-8.4-8.3-8.4c-4.6 0-8.3 3.8-8.3 8.4 0 4.7 3.7 8.4 8.3 8.4M192.2 17c4.9 0 8.8 1.8 10.5 4.3v-1.2c0-1.1.9-1.9 1.9-1.9H215c1.1 0 1.9.8 1.9 1.9v36.8c0 1.1-.8 1.9-1.9 1.9h-10.3c-1.1 0-1.9-.8-1.9-1.9v-1.2c-1.7 2.5-5.7 4.3-10.6 4.3-10.4 0-20.4-8.3-20.4-21.6s10-21.4 20.4-21.4M241.4 46.9c4.6 0 8.3-3.8 8.3-8.4s-3.6-8.4-8.3-8.4c-4.6 0-8.3 3.8-8.3 8.4 0 4.7 3.7 8.4 8.3 8.4M238.9 17c5 0 8.9 1.9 10.7 4.1V3.4c0-1.1.9-1.9 1.9-1.9H262c1.1 0 1.9.8 1.9 1.9V57c0 1.1-.8 1.9-1.9 1.9h-10.3c-1.1 0-1.9-.8-1.9-1.9v-1.2c-2.1 2.5-5.7 4.3-10.6 4.3-10.4 0-20.4-8.3-20.4-21.6S228.7 17 238.9 17M288.4 46.9c4.6 0 8.3-3.8 8.3-8.4s-3.6-8.4-8.3-8.4c-4.6 0-8.3 3.8-8.3 8.4.1 4.7 3.7 8.4 8.3 8.4M286 17c5 0 8.9 1.9 10.7 4.1V3.4c0-1.1.9-1.9 1.9-1.9H309c1.1 0 1.9.8 1.9 1.9V57c0 1.1-.8 1.9-1.9 1.9h-10.3c-1.1 0-1.9-.8-1.9-1.9v-1.2c-2.1 2.5-5.7 4.3-10.6 4.3-10.4 0-20.4-8.3-20.4-21.6S275.7 17 286 17M345.5 64.7c-2.6 8.6-8.6 13.4-18 13.4-5.1 0-10.1-1.7-13.3-4.5-.5-.5-.8-1.1-.8-1.7 0-.5.2-1.1.7-1.7l3.9-5.9c.6-.8 1.5-.9 1.7-.9.9 0 1.3.2 2.1.8 1.2.8 2.9 1.8 4.8 1.8 1.6 0 3.7-.7 4.5-3.1l1.3-4.1H326c-1.3 0-2.1-.9-2.5-2L313 21.5c-.2-.9-.3-1.4-.3-1.7 0-.8.6-1.5 1.7-1.5h12.4c1.1 0 1.7 1 2 2l6.9 25.4h.5l5.5-25.4c.2-1 .9-2 2-2h12.6c1.2 0 1.7.7 1.7 1.5 0 .3-.1.8-.3 1.7l-12.2 43.2M49.7 50.9c-5 6.9-13.2 9.2-20.5 9.2C12.4 60.1 0 47.6 0 30.2.1 13.5 13.5.2 31 .2c13 0 23.4 5.5 28.1 16 .6 1.2 1 3.2-2.5 3.8l-9.2 1.6c-2.1.4-3.3-1-3.7-1.6-2.7-3.7-7.1-6.2-12.4-6.2-9.2 0-15.7 7-15.7 16.3 0 10.3 7.4 16.3 15.5 16.3 5.4 0 9.8-2 12.7-5.8h-8.1c-1.2 0-2.1-.9-2.1-2v-7.7c0-1.1.9-2 2.1-2h24.7c1.2 0 2.1.9 2.1 2v25.9c0 1.1-.9 2-2.1 2h-8.6c-1.2 0-2.1-.9-2.1-2v-5.9M359.8 0c-4.4 0-8 3.6-8 8s3.6 8 8 8 8-3.6 8-8-3.6-8-8-8zm0 14.4c-3.5 0-6.4-2.9-6.4-6.4s2.9-6.4 6.4-6.4 6.4 2.9 6.4 6.4-2.9 6.4-6.4 6.4z"></path><path class="logo-mark-color" d="M361.4 6.5c0-.4-.1-.7-.4-.8-.2-.2-.6-.4-.9-.4h-1.4v2.3h1.4c.4 0 .7-.1.9-.4.2-.2.4-.4.4-.7zm-3.1 5.9h-1.5c-.1 0-.1 0-.2-.1 0-.1-.1-.1-.1-.2V3.8c0-.1 0-.1.1-.2.1 0 .1-.1.2-.1h3.3c1.1 0 1.9.2 2.5.8s.9 1.3.9 2.1c0 .6-.1 1.1-.5 1.5-.4.5-.7.8-1.2 1.1l1.9 2.9c.1.1.1.2 0 .4 0 .1-.1.1-.2.1H362c-.1 0-.2 0-.4-.1-.1 0-.1-.1-.2-.2l-1.6-2.7h-1.2V12c0 .1 0 .1-.1.2s-.1.2-.2.2z"></path></svg>
I wanted a new name. I settled on **curious** programmer after a lot of different ideas that came to mind.
I chose the name because I am curious about how things work and what is in store for me in my Clojure and Cloud infrastructure journey. It is also happens to be similar to my former brand.
I visited [GoDaddy](https://godaddy.com) to secure the curiousprogrammer.io domain and had to work extra hard to get my blog ready.
## Hosting
<img src="https://flaviocopes.com/netlify/banner.png" width="150px" style="float: left; margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 1em;" />
I wanted new hosting. I used to host at [BlueHost](https://www.bluehost.com/) but I was stuck with an FTP and cpanel approach which wasn't ideal for me.
Somehow I stumbled across [Netlify](https://www.netlify.com/). It lets me build, deploy and manage my blog automatically.
When I push my changes to my public [GitHub](https://github.com/cbillowes/curious-programmer-oxygen) repo, the Netlify hook detects the change and builds it automatically for me. With Gatsby's web sockets, the web pages refresh over time as changes are detected.
## Code quality
I am interested in knowing what the quality of my code is and found websites that verify it automatically on build.
I registered with both [Code Climate](https://codeclimate.com/github/cbillowes/curious-programmer-oxygen) and [Codacy](https://app.codacy.com/project/cbillowes/curious-programmer-oxygen/dashboard) to get these insights. After each deployment, I get a report telling me what standard my code is in. I seem to have some work to do 😉
---
I enjoy writing and sharing what I learn. My blogging platform makes this possible and I am proud of its outcome.
I hope that some of these technologies can be useful to you when developing a blog or any other website of your own. If you have any other technologies that you use, please share it with me.
---
## Resources
* [Jekyll](https://jekyllrb.com/)
* [Gatsby](https://www.gatsbyjs.org/)
* [GoDaddy](https://godaddy.com)
* [BlueHost](https://www.bluehost.com/)
* [Netlify](https://www.netlify.com/)
* [GitHub](https://github.com/)
* [Code Climate](https://codeclimate.com/)
* [Codacy](https://www.codacy.com/)