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Here is a summary of what has changed with my Jim's Tips sites...
The Background
I started JimsTips.com back in September, 2003 and I have had lots of fun with it. I'm the kind of guy who enjoys tinkering with gadgets, computers, and software, and when I discover interesting features or cool tidbits of information, I love to share it with anyone who will listen. JimsTips.com has provided that forum. But over the past couple years, the number and scope of Tips and associated domains has increased. So I have been looking for a better way to manage everything. This has finally culminated in this site with some significant changes.
The Hosting Changes
My first major change to JimsTips.com is the migration to a new Web host. I decided on DreamHost because of their breadth of features, excellent reviews, and their price couldn't be beat. Elements like full shell access, PHP5, and a host of other goodies really swayed me. My previous host, FlexiHostings.net, provided excellent service and support, however their specific offerings eventually didn't fit with my needs. I do highly recommend FlexiHostings.net. So, all my domains and content are now hosted by DreamHost. I look forward to a long relationship with Dreamhost.
The CMS Changes
The next significant change is the migration to a new Content Management System (CMS). I have been using the PHP-Nuke CMS for several years, and though it has been very solid, I feel that it is now lacking in some key areas that I need to improve my site. I spent several months searching and comparing quite a number of CMS apps (OpenSourceCMS.com is an excellent resource) and I decided that the Mambo CMS was the best choice for me. Unfortunately, in the midst of this search, the Mambo developers and the company that marketed Mambo had a huge falling out resulting in the developers starting up their own organization, and continuing development on the newly branded Joomla! CMS. Frankly, I couldn't be happier because Joomla! development is blazing ahead, and Joomla!'s popularity is growing fast.
Joomla! is an Open Source CMS that has an excellent feature set that, in my opinion, places it far ahead of most CMS choices. It has some excellent capabilities that I was looking for, and I believe that it will provide me and my site visitors with a much better experience.
For example, Joomla! lets me very easily create a "multi-site-like" structure from within one consolidated installation. I can also tailor site templates at the "page" and "content" level letting me maintain all of my JimsTips.com-related sites in one central place with the flexibility to tailor the look and feel for each "site". I can now provide visitors with a consistent look and feel, or I can create sites that are vastly different in look and feel, all controlled from one central Joomla! instance.
The reality is that I did not really create a true "multi-site" design. I favored defining multiple "sections" to represent the various "sites". Each site is really nothing more than a separate page hierarchy, each containing a specific "category" of content items. These hierarchies exist under an "umbrella" site structure. While there are a few rough edges, overall everything flows together nicely.
The Look and Feel Changes
I am able to tailor each "section" to the look and feel that I want for each "site" using Joomla!'s very flexible template system. I chose MamboTeam.com's very slick "247portal" templates as the base for my sites. These templates were especially desirable to be, because they were consistent in design, and were produced in several color schemes. This allows me to assign different colors to my different sites (sections) yet keep a consistent look and feel across everything. I chose colors that were somewhat related with the "theme" of each site topic. I also tweaked and customized the templates with some common header code. This makes minor updates a snap.
The Content Changes
Over the next several weeks, I will be editing, adding to, and updating most of my site content. Several of my Tips have become outdated due to improvements and changes made to the various services and devices, so I'll indicate these changes on those Tips' pages. I also received a number of new Tips and suggestions from several site visitors that I will be posting soon.
I have to appologize for the delay in getting this site changed over. When I started making these changes, I never realized how extensive the changeover would be. It's one thing to simply port data from one CMS to another, but it's another to have to take into account such things as how the changes will affect my Google PageRank and search placement, URL consistency and redirection (so that past visitors can access bookmarked content on the new site without dealing with broken links) and a number of other factors to pull everything together. It has been a fun challenge!
Thank You
As always, I appreciate any content submissions and suggestions by you, the visitors. While I have supplied most of the content for this site, some key content has been provided by people like you, so don't hesitate to contact me with new content. I also look forward to your suggestions and criticisms. I rely heavily on your feedback to help drive the direction of JimsTips.com, so click on the "Contact Jim" link on the left and let me know what you think, what you would like to see added, and what you would like to see changed.
I hope you like the changes and the new look!
-Jim Barr
Owner, JimsTips.com
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