I have spent numerous hours tinkering with my personal website, perhaps more on the way it is defined and generated than on the actual content! Perhaps I'm the main / only reader of it but I have fun (I think) doing it.
It is currently implemented using a custom static website generator.
| Date | Page source | Comments |
| 2000 | Text files | PHP got used rather than HTML |
| 2008 | Apple's iWeb | Didn't support a complex site |
| 2009 | Filemaker's Bento | It seemed like a good idea at the time |
| 2010 | Joomla | Too complicated for me |
| 2011 | Apple's iWeb again | Apple killed iWeb anyway |
| 2013 | Text files again | Worked well but limited styling of text |
| 2020 | Markdown | More styling possibilities |
| 2021 | Markdown | Added spell checking |
| 2023 | Simplified markdown |
Some people host their website from their own computers, me I rely on shared hosting to host mine. I've moved around different hosting companies a little, more down to technical issues than price.
The latest hosting company I'm on (Hostgator) have plenty of features for me. SSH supported, free SSL, SSD drives to speed things up.
| Hosting company | From | To | Comments |
| Hostgator | March 2022 | ||
| Dreamhost | April 2018 | March 2022 | Good service just left to save money |
| Virtual Names | May 2012 | April 2018 | Excellent UK company but sadly got taken over. |
| Downtownhost | August 2010 | July 2012 | Left them when they served up truncated files and blamed me. |
| LunarPages | January 2005 | September 2012 | |
| Your-Site | March 2004 | October 2007 | |
| Destiny | September 2003 | July 2005 | UK outfit who got taken over |
There is the minor question of whether anyone else reads the pages on my website, or whether it's like all the blogs out there with zero comments. When I've blundered (like failing to replace the default text on iWeb pages, or got the formatting wrong) I take some comfort in thinking no one may have seen my misdeed. But it's rare for people to report mistakes on websites, they normally just move on.