Here’s an update on the progress of moving to the minimal web philosophy:
Musts
The text of an article, including headline
Done.
A good-sized, readable font
Done.
A column width optimal for reading
I believe I have this down, though, it may be a bit too wide. I’ll play with narrowing it some going forward, however, I believe this is done.
Perhaps the name of the site for context, and minimal navigation in case the reader wants to find other articles
The name of the site is gone entirely from the page (save for in the title on your browser). Navigation is in place, and fades out when it’s not in focus to avoid distracting you from the content.
Avoid
Ads
None.
Cookies
None.
Tracking
This I still have, and likely won’t get rid of in the foreseeable future.
Popups
None.
Sharing Buttons
I retain the email link.
Comments
I won’t be removing comments. Ever. Sorry.
Multiple pages/slides per article
Nope.
Facebook or other social widgets
None.
A widget showing recent comments or tweets
None.
Tags or related posts
Tags stay, no related posts display.
Syndicated content widgets taking them to other sites so you’ll get money
None.
Something screaming for the reader to sign up for your newsletter
I don’t even have a newsletter!
Recommends
Minimal images (none, or only the most necessary)
I like images, so each post usually has one. I try to make them as little distracting as possible.
The logo of the site in CSS-styled text, not an image
This site has no logo (but does have a favicon)
Small page weight
Done (homepage is 6KB)
Short urls (without .php, .asp, .aspx, .html, dates, categories or other items in the url)
New posts have this. I have not gone back through all my old posts and modified their permalink (and I don’t have any plans to at this time).
Grade: 16/20
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