Website Update #5 (15 months in!)

This update is a couple of days late, but I have a really good excuse this time! While writing an update every 3 months isn’t a rule set in stone, it allows me to verbalize what has been done and what I need to do next. It is like thinking out loud without worrying about pictures and all that other nitty gritty stuff that comes with blogging.

Oh yeah and as for that excuse?

 

*** I’m back in Korea!

As of May 1st, I am again in the good old RoK. While I was so ready to leave and visit the US two months ago, it was time to come back. For me, two months in the land of the free is more than enough, especially if you don’t have a job. In short, money does NOT go a long way in America. I did manage to squeeze in 2 of the 3 trips I was hoping to go on (a 2,200 mile American road trip and a visit to the incredible Channel Islands) but Yosemite will have to wait until a future summer.

So, I have been searching for an apartment the last two days and didn’t really have time to blog. I picked shelter as the top priority so I hope you can forgive me :).

I know I mentioned that I would be back on April 23rd on the anniversary update, but decided to extend my stay because I’m officially…

 

*** GOING TO FREAKEN NEW ZEALAND!

Sorry for the caps, but there is no other way to show my excitement! I was hoping to come back and help my girlfriend Sidney with her application, but the NZ government pulled a fast one and moved the deadline to early April. Needless to say, she got in! In the next few weeks, we will have to figure out job opportunities, travel destinations before the big move and so on, but for now, let us rejoice in this big news! I hope to visit all of NZ’s world heritage sites in my stay!

 

*** Two New Pages on the Home Page

I’ve added a “Start Here” and a “Categories” page to the top of the homepage. If you are reading this on mobile, there should be a tab on one of the top corners.

Start Here – Is mostly designed for new people who come to this site to encourage you to stick around. It shows what this site is about, how you can benefit from it (hopefully), and some examples of my favorite or most popular posts. Old time users can also benefit by discovering some stuff they might not have seen before (especially mobile users, keep reading). I’ve seen other bloggers use this strategy before and liked the idea :).

Categories – I used to have this on the side tab, but the new “Explorable” theme doesn’t seem to support it. I used to not care since almost no one used it, but as the site is growing, I find it that it has become more difficult to find information without them. Anyways, they are back!

 

*** Mobile Users….SORRY!

You are being scammed! If you read item #1 of the “Start Here” page and were thinking “WTF is he talking about,” that is because the “map version” of the homepage cannot be seen on mobile :(. I have no idea why or how to fix it, but for now, the front page of mobile users get the blog and thats pretty much it (not that it sucks or anything).

Why is this a problem? Well, if you stumbled upon this site hoping to get more info on world heritage sites (thus the URL), you might be asking when I will get around on doing that. I DO!!! Every 2 weeks or so, I post a new full and lengthy review on a world heritage site which is navigable by map, rating, region, etc. While you can see the individual posts if you look at the current rankings, it is simply better seen on a desktop. I am sure you can see it if you search “full site,” but I warn you:  it might be a bit slow.

Oh yeah… that reminds me…

 

***  The site is too slow!

I am aware and working on it, sorry! I have hesitated putting pictures up that are of low quality in anticipation to more quad-HD computer screens. This however makes them load slowly. While not a bit problem in Korea, I didn’t realize how slow the internet was in Merikuh until I returned. Anyways, I’ll work on it.

 

*** The Theme

I love the explorable theme, but it definitely has bugs. If anyone notices something not working right, contact me and I’ll try to fix it!

 

Anyways, that is all for now. The blog is now 15 months old and still alive and kicking! If there is anything you think needs improvement, or something you would like to see added, don’t hesitate to ask!

 

 

Julio Moreno
Follow Me

2 thoughts on “Website Update #5 (15 months in!)

  • May 4, 2014 at 2:26 am
    Permalink

    I like the world map you are using on your page. I’d like to have one for my site too. I tried it with some plugin but found it would slow down the speed, so I removed it. Your site seems to be load fast.

    Reply
    • May 6, 2014 at 12:21 am
      Permalink

      Thanks! In the past, I tried the Nomad Plug In:
      http://wordpress.org/plugins/nomad-world-map/
      It seems to work fine, but I wanted to base the whole site on the map idea.

      Currently, I use a theme called “Explorable” by Elegant themes. Their membership is $30-$50 (they changed their rates recently. If you are interested, here is the link:
      https://www.elegantthemes.com/
      Oh wait, looks like its $70 now per year!
      I might change themes next year… but not sure yet.

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

CommentLuv badge