WillSeeds.com Website Credits

The first couple versions of this website were in the late nineties, hosted on a few old computers in my garage. I hosted all of my own services on Redhat distros including SMTP, DNS, HTTP and databases. I learned a lot shortly after working for Microsoft, after teaching myself Macromedia Flash (prior to Adobe owning it). Version four was entirely flash enabled.

A few years after the .com bubble burst, I was picking up php programming pretty well and still maintaining the burden of a server and database to keep version five alive. The php language wasn't easy to learn and it sure wasn't for the faint of heart. After a couple hacks on my personal server, I abandoned the use of php and didn't design or work on my site for over a decade.

Version six was when I found Netlify, in 2019. I had some time on my hands while recovering from surgery, so I poked around how to get a simple website setup with Gatsby, using Netlify and Github. The idea of the "Jamstack" seemed to be exactly what I had been mimicking for all these years. The technology finally caught up and I could actually get a form to work... (trust me, this alluded me the entire time). Being able to re-learn javascript, understand formatting and focus on the website, instead of continually checking my server logs for unauthorized access.

Today, this site sits at version seven - With the use of not only Gatsby, Netlify and Github, but also Contentful CMS. Learning CMS strategy blew my mind; how compartmentalized the design could actually get. While I do plan on outlining some of my frustrations in my blog, I feel it was a worthy upgrade and the provided template surprisingly worked right out of the box. For the last few months, I have been working on learning FQL to revisit the Keezer Kiosk, but with all the book releases in 2023 my personal website was more important.

Some background on the services that make WillSeeds.com tick:

	Github.com The cloud-based computing concept didn't make sense until I understood the critical uses of the services provided by Github. I still stumble on things from time to time, but it's generally straight forward. With a growing number of developers, their site has great functionality built-in for socializing and sharing. Upload your project here first for versioning and then pull it to Netlify and deploy in minutes.
	Netlify.com I have had zero bad experiences with hosting websites with Netlify's services, using their more than ample free-tier. I have been learning a lot of different web-based programming languages for a while and have yet to see their servers not be able to interpret the data. They have a simple "one-click" deploy that could have your site deployed to their servers and live in minutes. Explained from Netlify's homepage: Netlify Composable Web Platform Streamlined orchestration, simplified and unified workflows, and real-time updates across infrastructure, workflows, websites and teams — all supported by Enterprise-grade security, services, and a world-class partner ecosystem.
	Gatsbyjs.com While it does have a similar feel to sites developed with other javascript type engines, I have loved the look of Gatsby formatting since the second I saw it. It's used on this site for the last two versions and on two other sites of mine. It just works and even better now that Gatsby and Netlify have joined forces. I personally didn't like Gatsby's server controls and admin panel. It wasn't as innovative as Netlify.
	Contentful.com Recently investigating what this site's next look was going to need, I found Contentful. It took me a couple days of reading to understand the use-cases and benefits. It was super-helpful the provided template (that connected beautifully to Netlify) worked right out of the box. I was able to deconstruct the site and fill in my content, based on its location on my version six site. Now that it's complete, I have a few complaints that I'll be sure to air out on my blog soon (hopefully). Explained from Contentful's homepage: Where content drives business momentum Business moves faster when teams producing content have a platform that empowers them to collaborate, innovate, and deliver impactful experiences at scale.