My [JenKramer.org] (https://www.jenkramer.org) website has been embarrassing for years now.

I have finally redesigned it in [Softr] (https://www.softr.io).

Why Softr? I don’t need a site builder for my own websites.

Even though my previous site was built with just HTML, CSS, and PHP includes, it was still annoying to update. Weeding through the code just to find the text I wanted was an extra level of thought that, honestly, wasn’t required.

A redesign was overwhelming to think about. Beyond color schemes, fonts, photos, and content, there are infinite ways to manage the layout.

Softr removes all of those variables so I can focus on exactly what I want to say and how I want to say it.

It’s a dynamic wireframe in real time. I can run this site without worrying about all of the cross-browser testing, design, and technical details I’d normally manage. Here I can focus on the flow of the site, the content presented, and the order of information.

I’ve based this site model on [Donald Miller’s Storybrand wireframe tips] (https://buildingastorybrand.com/lay-out-an-effective-home-page/). I can change the text every day without worrying about having to redesign, or design a new block.

Eventually, if I want, I can code my own site, once it’s thoroughly tested with the public.

I will say that I’ve already received an email from an eager student. The site’s been up for less than 48 hours. That’s a sign of success.

There are plenty of artists making a living by creating art. Let’s define “art” narrowly here: painting, pottery, handmade jewelry, fiber arts, woodworking, sculpture, etc. The basic stuff you’d see at a craft show.

They typically have several outlets for their work, and through the combination, they make their living:

• personal studio space where they create work, which may also have a show space (or a separate show space)
• craft shows, previously all in-person, now some virtual
• Etsy store
• Galleries

Fundamentally, artists love making art. The business side is what they do to support their work.

I’ve realized I’m an artist too. I create courses. I create lots and lots of courses. I put them out in the world in many ways:

• higher education via Harvard Extension
• commercial video courses at LinkedIn Learning, Frontend Masters
• conference talks and workshops

But although I have a “home studio” where I create content, I don’t have a “show space” of any kind. For artists, that’s usually where they start.

Maybe it’s time to fix that.

Sometimes it’s best to simply move forward with something and reset the goal as you move forward.

Rather than initially setting the goal as “I’m reworking my entire life and this is my future full-time job,” start with “this seems like a super fun thing to do, so I’m going to do it and see what happens.”

[dina Amin] (https://www.dinaaamin.com/) was an inspiration for pursuing fun. I saw her speak at the October 2019 Smashing Conference. She told a story of how she enjoyed taking things apart. Then she got a camera and figured out stop-motion photography. She made adorable little videos from the things she took apart. People love her work, and it eventually started to pay the bills through conference talks, commissions, workshops, commercial work, and so forth. This is the model of an artist.

It’s also hard to think about a problem when you’re personally invested in it. When I think about new businesses, I think about all of the things that could go wrong, what happens if no one likes it or wants it, what happens if it doesn’t make enough money (or any money), and so forth. These doubts are powerful.

But what if it goes right? Sometimes that’s even more scary.

Super proud of how my studio is coming along.

I never thought I’d have a home recording studio. Then there was a pandemic.

Where I’d been traveling to California to record LinkedIn Learning courses 3-4 times per year, recording 2-3 courses per trip, I was suddenly reduced to no travel.

I started recording at home, screencast recordings only, without me on camera. That’s when we thought maybe we’d be able to resume in-person recording in the fall.

Now we’re experimenting with on-camera recording. I know nothing about cameras, video, sound, lighting, or anything else in that realm. But now I have free consulting from some very talented LinkedIn Learning staff, who are able to recommend equipment, walk me through setting it up, and helping me look and sound the best I can.

I can’t imagine that we’ll be back to 100% on-site recording at LinkedIn when the pandemic is over. A home studio becomes an asset that I can use in many other ways going forward.

About the shelf

[The shelf] (https://www.wayfair.com/furniture/pdp/hashtag-home-dakota-geometric-bookcase-w001787825.html) has been so much fun to assemble. I bought it for this purpose, so it’s fun and different. It’s mounted on the wall with some brackets and a support board.

The items on the shelf are things from around the house, plus a few items I bought especially for this purpose.

Things bought specifically for the shelf:

• The light-up sign
• The bonsai tree light
• The music note "neon" (LED) sign
• Fake succulent plants!

Other shelf additions:

• My Shattuck Teaching Award from Harvard, and an Extension School glass
• A ceramic box from my maternal grandmother
• Hulk and Thor USB drives, and a tiny pottery teapot ornament
• Russian nesting dolls, brought home from the USSR by my paternal grandparents in the 80s
• DVD versions of some old Lynda.com courses
• Photo of my old German shepherds
• Copies of all three of my books with a very cool lava rock
• Pottery jug from North Carolina, bought while traveling with an old friend
• A ceramic box from my parents and a handblown glass vase from an old friend

Sidebar Preamble

My [current website] (https://www.jenkramer.org) is a total embarrassment.

I’ve needed to change it for years. In fact, it’s been on my whiteboard “things to do” for five years.

As I move into the world of no-code, I’m redesigning my site with many different no-code platforms. I’ll be trying out different platforms and putting together some kind of website over the next several weeks.

[Read more about the project] (https://learnnocode.dev/2020/12/23/redesigning-jenkramerorg-an.html)

Today’s Lovely Contestants

I’ve started with [Softr.io] (https://www.softr.io) and [Airtable] (https://www.airtable.com/) because I’ve heard a lot of buzz about Softr lately. As for Airtable, I already had a base available that I need to integrate into my site better.

Airtable base

Earlier this year, I created a [single video on Airtable for LinkedIn Learning] (https://www.linkedin.com/learning/no-code-solutions-for-websites-and-apps/organize-data-with-airtable). It’s a base of currently active video courses I’ve created for different publishers.

Base: Airtable’s word for “database.” I guess database is too scary.

The base, as it currently exists, is [public and available for viewing] (https://airtable.com/shrE6tr0nt0tPVhLi).

I have this integrated on my current website via iframe. Again, easy, low maintenance, but there’s more that can be done with Airtable.

Softr

Feels very much like Squarespace, but with fewer design features, less heavy lifting, and more integration with other tools.

There are a few templates to choose from, but these are just assemblages of blocks with a certain theme. These templates seem to drive content in the no-code space. Probably another topic for another rant sometime… this is not exclusively a Softr thing.

Choose from a series of “blocks” with fixed layouts to assemble the page. Populate with data. Limited ability for changes to colors, fonts, layouts.

The Big Reveal

[My Softr/Airtable website] (https://jen4web.softr.io)

Money spent: $0 (free version of Airtable, free version of Softr)

The state of jenkramer.org is pretty horrible.

I redesigned this site in 2014 using Bootstrap 3, LESS for styling, and PHP includes.

You might be wondering why I chose those technologies, of all of the technologies that were out there.

a. Keep in mind that while 2014 was only 7 years minus one week ago, the web has changed radically since then.

• The initial React release was in mid-2013. Angular was in 2016. We were in a period of "framework flavor of the month" at this point. Every conference seemed to have people desperate to dominate the next big thing in JavaScript. There were a lot of things coming out then.
• jQuery was still very much a thing in 2014. jQuery Mobile was starting to decline with the availability (and superior responsive design) of Bootstrap. jQuery UI wasn't responsive and was declining as well, plus Bootstrap had its own UI components.
• Bootstrap was a massive game-changer on the front-end. In 2014, people were only starting to transition to Flexbox for layouts from floats. People don't understand floats for layout. And people definitely don't understand CSS. Responsive design was still a mystery to many people, particularly how to code it by hand. And Bootstrap was HUGE in the bootcamps, which were thriving by this point. Indeed, that's often how CSS was taught: Here's Bootstrap. Use it.
• Grunt might have been a thing, with Gulp gaining traction. Webpack didn't exist. Node was out there, but only just getting started.
• This sounds like my web stories from 20 years ago. Keep in mind it's only been SEVEN YEARS.

b. Bootstrap only integrated with LESS at this point. Sass integration was coming, but not for a while.

c. OK, PHP includes were old, even then. But they are super easy to configure, and they gave me some simple moving parts for repeated content on the site to make maintenance easier. Technology doesn’t have to hurt to work, people.

d. It’s only a 10 page website. I wasn’t blogging. I wasn’t trying to sell anything. No one was maintaining the site but me. I could have installed WordPress, but then I’d have to maintain it. There wasn’t any real reason to build anything but a static site.

Redesign time

So why does one need to redesign?

• The technology driving the site is old and dated. It's too hard to maintain, or it's a security threat.
  Well... yeah, OK, Bootstrap 3 is old, and so are PHP includes. But nothing is a security threat here, and I don't mind writing HTML to update content. Basically, I'm "meh" on my tech stack, as long as the site is telling a good story. Honestly, I don't need to take hours to set up a development environment, or installing things, or figuring out why X in the stack isn't working. I don't have time for that. It's a simple website.
• The content is dated and needs revising.
  THIS is the reason the site needs a redesign. There's waaaaay too much blah blah on the site. Nothing is focused. It's all over the place, trying to be comprehensive. So time to focus the story.

Focusing the story

I have a lot of writing to do before I’m ready to redesign completely. Honestly, this is a separate post to explain what I’m doing and why.

But let’s just say it’s this, in a nutshell:

• Cut the blah blah in half, or three-quarters.
• More showing, less telling.
• Use Donald Miller's Storybrand principles to drive layout.
• Reframe the site to the customer as hero, rather than I'm the hero. (Also Donald Miller.)

The Plan

Since I’m pivoting to the no-code world (probably another story elsewhere), I’m going to try out a bunch of no-code tools to see what I can learn and create in those environments.

I’ll try creating something once a week as possible.

I’ll post the results here, along with a review.

These might not be the final versions of my site. Indeed, they’re probably not. But they’re a great way to try out the products, identify positives and negatives of each, and decide what I want to do going forward.