I made a few changes to the blog this year.
The first thing I did was remove all the analytics. I had been using Google Analytics (with anonymized IP addresses) to see how much traffic I was getting. Cloudflare offers a crude form of traffic that is enough for me. I wish more sites would just anonymize IP Addresses for their metrics and then this plague of Accept Cookie pop-ups could go away.
This summer, I went through hundreds of posts and removed any and all affiliate links. As a customer, I love Amazon, but I’d rather have your comment than send you away for the possibility of a 30 cent commission. I hope I removed them all. There are almost 16 years worth of posts.
For a deeper explanation of my motivation see the post Made in the Spirit of the Early Web.
I also opened up comments on all but 12 posts. I had previously closed comments on posts older than a few years but decided that no longer made sense. The SPAM filters are amazing now and even if one gets through, I can remove it quickly. Also, most readers of this site enter the site from an older post. Getting modern feedback on a post that is 5, 10, or 15 years old could be beneficial.
I am also now testing a Related Posts section that will appear under most entries. If it is valuable, I’ll keep it.
Do you have any feedback or ideas for the blog? Drop a comment.
Jim
Nov 15, 2021 — 5:35 pm
Hi @MAS,
My only comment would be to please keep to blog alive.
It looks like we are at a turning point where many old blogs are shutting down. Recently I happened upon an old bookmark folder with blog bookmarks from the 2007-2010 era. Sadly, when I went down the list, most of them had been shut down. When I think back to all the great comments on blogs like Art DeVany’s, it’s hard to imagine that all of that insight has just evaporated into the ether.
MAS
Nov 16, 2021 — 8:00 am
@Jim – The vanishing web is a big problem. Even some sites that are still around move articles around and break the incoming links without handling redirects. T-Nation and WAPF are the 2 most recent cases.
Even if I run out of things to post on, this site will be preserved. If at some point I need to export everything and upload it to GitHub and the Blockchain I will.
The Wayback Machine on Archive is dog slow, but a godsend for finding lost sites.
Joe Crawford
Nov 16, 2021 — 2:34 pm
Hey MAS — it must be the time of year when blog maintenance is coming to a head. Just made some updates to my own site in the past week. I don’t follow close, but I still read RSS every so often.
Brian B
Nov 17, 2021 — 3:46 am
In my opinion Mas, you have the most interesting and digestible blog for health and nutrition. It’s very readable. It doesn’t get into the weeds of biochemistry or 7,000 studies per claim or so long it’s unreadable. I think it’s just right!
I’ve noticed the related posts and love it! My big problem is between that, and the in-post links, I have about two dozen blogs of yours open on my phone that I want to read. And it’s almost impossible for me to get through a post without opening at least two more posts.
Lastly, I love that your views aren’t dogmatic. You do some reading, try some experimentation, then post your findings. You’re not afraid to change your views and let everyone know about it. That makes you way more creditable than some of the “experts” who are tied to a specific way, and have no ability to shift based on opinions or evidence that they may hold.
Keep up the good work Mas. Whether it’s nutrition, or exercise, or anything else, keep em coming. You have a great style of writing, and it’s the perfect length. Last thing- I appreciate that you actually have conversations in the comments, which also reflect the intellect of your readers.
Nothing else to say. I’m gonna go eat my peasant breakfast and get at it for the day.
MAS
Nov 17, 2021 — 4:39 pm
@Brian – Thank you for the very nice words.
I would like to do something better for site navigation so it easier for readers to find the more important posts. I’ll start thinking of ideas.
Antonius Momac
Nov 26, 2021 — 5:42 pm
Hi @Mass,
I wanted to kick something at ya? I’m not sure why, but this post reminded me of some research I was doing and a pretty good blog post by Kendra Little (she’s a Microsoft SQL blogger) who had an interesting, FRUSTRATING experience with WordPress. She talked about going to a static site generator using HUGO. So when you mentioned housekeeping, well. That makes me want to share. Maybe the static site exercise is the first part/step towards blockchain.
Here’s the link if you’re interested. Enjoy:
https://www.littlekendra.com/2021/05/03/moving-from-wordpress-to-an-azure-static-site-with-hugo/
MAS
Nov 27, 2021 — 7:29 am
@Antonius – That is a really good article.
Moving to a static site is something I’ve been thinking about for a while now. But not for CriticalMAS yet. I would start with INeedCoffee. It gets way more traffic and doesn’t have comments, so the move would be easier and yield greater benefits. Plus it would be a learning experience.
I’m working on some improvements on INeedCoffee now under WordPress. If by mid-2022, I don’t see enough gains, I’ll probably pursue a static site there.
Antonius Momac
Nov 27, 2021 — 9:12 am
@Mas great plan!!! I love what you do here and @ INeedCoffee. Obviously, you’ve got so many good and timeless nuggets of great information/ideas. I’m so happy to hear that you’re kind enough to put in more and more work for us to benefit.
I’m thankful for you brother as many more quiet voices are as well. Looking forward to more, MORE, M-O-R-E!
Cheers!