Layers of Abstraction
by JS
I’ve been toying with the idea of trying to consolidate my online presence here. This would require folding in my professional splashpage into this blog, always a dicey proposition, but, let’s be honest, at least this isn’t Myspace.
I’ve been contemplating a couple of issues. One, have I sufficiently sanitized my site for a professional audience? I’ve periodically rebooted my online presence in the past in order to do so, and am wondering whether I need to do so again. I suspect not, since this last reboot was entirely aimed at creating a kind of outlet that would serve both my friends and family without offending any colleagues or students. That’s not to say that there aren’t posts that I’d delete if I remembered them – in particular posts of a political nature that deviate from my own (outwardly crafted and purposefully boring) center left political views.
I’ve read plenty of academic blogs with names attached, and think that I fall sort of in the middle of the pack with regards to tone and content. Indeed, some academics who don’t blog are often more likely to end up putting up ridiculous things on their own professional websites. If anything, my most important concern right now is whether my domain name (depthfirstsearch.net) is too tacky for professional usage.
The second issue is more technical. The blog used to be installed in the root directory of depthfirstsearch.net. Awhile ago I switched the install to the /blog subdirectory, thinking at the time that I needed a splash page and a wiki and all kinds of other stuff that I never really used. I have, however, been saved in the past on programming projects where a needed feature was easily added to existing code because previously unneeded layers of abstraction were included in the design. I’m thinking that keeping this blog installed in /blog is the kind of choice that will allow me to move between options for an online web presence without breaking anyone’s permanent links.
The problem is that I’m not sure how to manage the page people first see when they visit depthfirstsearch.net. Should they see my professional splash page? Should they be redirected to the blog? Even if I had a splash page, is there a way to make it a link to a static WordPress page so that I can use WordPress as my one stop shop for updating my web presence?
Comments
Yes. I have a feeling that if there is anything offensive on your blog, it goes so far over my head that I probably don’t realize that it’s offensive. So the answer to your question is, no. Yes. Wait, what was the question?
I disagree. that domain isn’t tacky. It’s “the opposite of tacky” or “frictionless.” Just sayin’.
Are you getting hits because people want to know something about search algorithms and your site comes up??? I’d keep the name especially if its congruent with your main topic or interest. If not then change it to something that is.