I just spent about 100 man-hours doing a total overhaul on “The Hobbyist Machine Shop” web site. The site has been in existence with constant updates for about 10 years (a decade!). I decided it was time to set a new standard with a fresh look and feel. Actually it doesn’t look all that different from the original as I was not about to start from scratch.

Previous articles here in the BLOG cover the essentials. I have changed from a static website to a dynamic Content Management System. The background operation is very much the same as this BLOG. There is a MySQL database at the root of both systems.

There is a wonderful world of extremely good open source free software that makes projects like this affordable for users like me. “The Hobbyist Machine Shop” is now running Joomla. Follow the link for more information. It is built from modules that allow unlimited configuration. Some modules must be purchased, but nothing critical. I pay a (low subscription) fee for an enhanced text editor for example.

This BLOG uses WordPress and there is a link on the home page “Log In Box” for the program.

Web publishing has moved into a new era.

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I had to re-link every picture to its new location. So I was actively involved re-reading everything I have published for a decade. Not everything I write gets published so that is probably a good thing in this effort. What has happened is I re-lived every story and project.

Now I literally want to get back on track with things like with the Pennsy A3 project. Maybe a lot more live steam projects. I see so much I’d like to do; I just have to have a second life (maybe a… Continue reading →