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Changes

March 2025

  • So, Sveltia didn't work out for managing my structured data. My games collection is now stored in Pocketbase, which is so nice and simple to get going.
    • Wraps an SQLite database in a nice UI so I can manage it easily from anywhere.
    • Also provides an auth layer, so I might actually use that for something at some point.
  • Originally I was just managing things in the admin interface, but I seem to have started writing my own CMS backend to work exactly the way I want.
    • Easily update my latest played games
    • Sync play times from Steam
    • Create new game entries directly from my recent Steam games
    • Pulls in additional metadata from IGDB, including cover art and descriptions
  • I'll probably do a full writeup at some point because it's been fun, but it's basically a SolidJS app running inside the current Astro site, making use of the Pocketbase auth to let me just run everything client side without exposing any credentials to regular visitors.
  • I'm also starting up 12in12 again for 2025, and managing that within pocketbase as well, so keep an eye out for that or something.

  • Trying out Sveltia (opens in new tab) to manage my game collection data. It's clearly aimed more at content rather than structured data, but it works well enough to quickly add new games to my collection.
  • Added a bunch of my older "retro" games, for the Dreamcast and Xbox 360, and my smaller collections for various Nintendo handhelds.
  • Added a script to my CLI to update game data direct from the Steam API. It's where 99% of my games are, so it made sense to add.
  • Made a failed attempt to convert the site repo to a monorepo. I liked the idea of splitting the CLI to it's own package and sharing libs, but it made deployment a pain, so I've put a pin in it for now.

  • Created some different accent colours for the site. Not entirely sure what I'm going to do with them yet, but for now I can use ember, forest, and umbral, along with a few others.

  • Accidentally launched this new version of the site when I was trying out Railway. Going to just roll with it, since I'm really liking the new design and structure. Big Astro fan these days.
  • Added Plausible to the site, check out the stats (opens in new tab) if you're interested.

  • Finally ported enough of my various graph/stats components over to be able to port my annual reviews over. The 2021 review is up, and I'm hoping to get 2024 up shortly, then work back to 2022 and 2023 at some point. Also have a test charts page up, which is where I dump random charts I make while testing things out.

  • Removed my Omnivore page, since the service no longer exists.
  • Fixed up some 404s on the site from old page links, and added redirects where I could.
  • SEO metatags should now be automatically inserted on each page.
  • Opengraph images are generated automatically.
  • Individual blog and project pages now correctly link to the right feeds.

February 2025

  • Upgraded to Astro 5.2 and Tailwind 4.0.

    I have never in my life experienced such a clean upgrade process for supposedly "breaking" changes! 3 commands upgraded Astro, replaced the Tailwind integration with the new Vite plugin and converted my Tailwind config to the new format. 😘🤌

January 2025

  • Added the option to archive blog posts. A lot of my older posts are either irrelevant or just not very good. I'm going to still list them somewhere, but they won't be in the main blog feed.
  • Changelogs are now grouped by month.
  • Also went back and added changelogs for the last 8 months. I've been making a lot of changes, but not documenting them. I'm going to try to be better about that in the future.
  • Added a CLI command to create new changelogs
    • Planning to support adding content as well, but for now it just creates the file.

December 2024

  • Added a CLI to help me manage site data. Currently replaces some scripts I was using to update game data, but will add to it as I need things.
    • This is my compromise between the current MDX and YAML data and moving to a full CMS.

  • Added JSON feeds alongside my RSS feeds. You can find them on the /feeds page.
  • Added the concept of an accent colour to the site. Planning to do more with this, but for now it's just blue.

  • Got sidetracked and spent a few hours fiddling with prettier and linters. Code is now 80% prettier and tailwind classes get sorted nicely.
  • Added the all games page, which lists all games (shocker) and allows filtering by platform.

November 2024

October 2024

  • Added some custom directives to Astro to load islands based on "click" or "focus" events.
  • Added a new instant games search to the Gaming page, using Astro actions and SolidJS.

  • Added back my main Gaming page, and started experimenting with how to make use of it.
  • Behind the scenes, but added some simple libs to handle talking to Steam and IGDB APIs, and some helper scripts to update game data.

September 2024

  • Added a new Games database for my games collection.
  • Added an entirely custom colour palette, along with a custom Tailwind plugin to use it.
  • Made a pass improving a11y across the site, specifically on links and colour contrast.

June 2024

May 2024

April 2024

  • Started working the new "Aurora" version of the site
  • Some basic Astro components for MDX content
  • Ported blog posts over as content collections