Add post

css/theme_directives-head.html

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+<div class="logo">
+  <img style="float: right; margin-top: 4px;" src="https://bear-images.sfo2.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/haothitran/logo_white_square-626x626.webp" width=64 height=64" />
+</div>

css/theme_website.css

@@ -8,27 +8,24 @@
   --text-100:#000000;
   --text-200:#2c2c2c;
   --accent-100:#666666;
-  --accent-200:#f7f7f7;
   --primary-100:#1994ff;
-  --primary-200:#0079e0;
-  --primary-300:#003e99;
+  --primary-200:#003e99;
+  --contrast-100:#ff8419;
 }
 @media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
   :root {
-    --bg-100:#1a1a1a;
-    --bg-200:#292929;
-    --bg-300:#404040;
-    --text-100:#ffffff;
-    --text-200:#e0e0e0;
-    --accent-100:#4d4d4d;
-    --accent-200:#d9d9d9;
-    --primary-100:#aad372;
-    --primary-200:#8cb556;
-    --primary-300:#4a7315;
+    --bg-100: #191919;
+    --bg-200: #1f1f1f;
+    --bg-300: #3d3d3d;
+    --text-100: #fdfdfd;
+    --text-200: #e2e2e2;
+    --accent-100: #454545;
+    --primary-100: #008866;
+    --primary-200: #00F0B4;
+    --contrast-100: #da0037;
   }
 }
  
-
 body {
   margin: 0 auto;
   padding: 0 16px;
@@ -50,18 +47,29 @@ h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {
 a {
   color: var(--primary-200);
   text-decoration: underline; 
-  text-decoration-color: var(--primary-300);
+  text-underline-offset: 3px;
+  text-decoration-thickness: 1px;
+  text-decoration-style: dotted;
+  text-decoration-color: var(--primary-100);
 }
 a:hover {
-  color: var(--primary-200);
   text-decoration: underline; 
-  text-decoration-color: var(--primary-100);
+  text-decoration-style: solid;
+  text-decoration-color: var(--contrast-100);
 }
 
 strong, b {
   color: var(--text-200);
 }
 
+code {
+  padding: 2px 8px;
+  border-radius: 3px;
+  background-color: var(--bg-300);
+  font-family: monospace;
+  color: var(--primary-200);
+}
+
 time {
   font-family: monospace;
   font-size: 15px;
@@ -70,22 +78,28 @@ time {
 }
 
 blockquote {
-  padding: 2px 8px 2px 16px;
-  border-top: 1px solid var(--accent-100);
-  border-right: 1px solid var(--accent-100);
-  border-bottom: 1px solid var(--accent-100);
-  border-left: 8px solid var(--primary-100);
-  background: linear-gradient(to left top, var(--bg-300), var(--bg-100));
+  padding: 2px 16px;
+  border-left: 8px solid var(--contrast-100);
+  background: linear-gradient(to left top, var(--bg-300), 5%, var(--bg-200));
   color: var(--text-100);
   font-style: italic;
 }
 
-code {
+.highlight {
+  margin-left: 16px;
+  padding: 2px 16px;
+  border-left: 8px solid var(--primary-100);
+  background: linear-gradient(to left top, var(--bg-100), 20%, var(--bg-200));
   font-family: monospace;
+  font-size: 14px;
+  margin-block-start: 1em;
+  margin-block-end: 1em;
+  overflow-x: auto;
 }
 
 img {
-  max-width: 100%;
+  max-width: 120%;
+  margin-left: -10%;
 }
 
 table {
@@ -97,7 +111,7 @@ table {
 th {
   padding: 2px 8px;
   border-right: 1px solid var(--accent-100);
-  border-bottom: 1px solid var(--accent-100); 
+  border-bottom: 4px solid var(--contrast-100); 
   background-color: var(--bg-300);
 }
 td {
@@ -127,7 +141,7 @@ header {
   font-size: 1.5em;
 }
 .title h1:hover {
-  color: var(--primary-100);
+  color: var(--contrast-100);
 }
 
 nav {
@@ -143,7 +157,9 @@ nav a {
   text-decoration: none;
 }
 nav a:hover {
-  text-decoration: none;
+  text-decoration: underline; 
+  text-decoration-style: solid;
+  text-decoration-color: var(--contrast-100);
 }
 
 main {
@@ -175,3 +191,13 @@ ul.blog-posts li {
 ul.blog-posts li span {
   padding-right: 8px;
 }
+
+.tags a {
+  border: 1px dotted var(--primary-100);
+  padding: 2px 8px;
+  text-decoration: none;
+}
+.tags a:hover {
+  border: 1px solid var(--contrast-100);
+  text-decoration: none;
+}

pages/about.md

@@ -23,9 +23,10 @@ Sometimes I enjoy writing and sharing my thoughts and experiences.
 ## Site
 This URL has been my online home for many years and acts as a central hub for my online identity, communication, and work.
 
-- Hosted on [Bear](https://bearblog.dev/) — A privacy-first, no-nonsense, super-fast blogging platform
+Some details:
+- Hosted on [Bear](https://bearblog.dev/) — A privacy-first, no-nonsense, super-fast blogging platform.
 - Logo designed by [AIRA Studio](https://www.linkedin.com/in/aira-studio-902a37243/). — Fancy, huh?
 
-Images and screenshots for games were either taken by myself or from media press kits put together by the game's developers and/or publishers.
-
-Any opinions posted here are my own and not representative of any of my employers (whether past, future, and/or present) or clients.
+Some disclaimers:
+- Images and screenshots for games were either taken by myself or from media press kits put together by the game's developers and/or publishers.
+- Any opinions posted here are my own and not representative of any of my employers (whether past, future, and/or present) or clients.

posts/2025-01-06_switch-to-bear.md

@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+---
+title: Switching to Bear
+link: switching-to-bear
+published_date: 2025-01-06 13:14
+tags: meta
+make_discoverable: true
+---
+
+I will preface this post by stating that this is not going to be a personal website where I will be posting about jumping from one blogging platform to another every few months. This note is a reassurance to any reader out there (*hello?*) and a reminder to myself.
+
+Last year, I started to blog on [Ghost](https://ghost.org/) because it was highly recommended by various "Top 10" lists for current best blogging platforms. And I was interested in trying it out for myself as I vaguely remember the success of their Kickstarter campaign way back in 2013 for its goal of being "just a blogging platform."
+
+It was fine. Until it wasn't.
+
+Over the past couple of months, it seemed like I had a growing list of friction points and increasing dissatisfaction with using Ghost. Here are some examples:
+- No centralized media management for handling assets.
+- Theme development and handling is cumbersome.
+  - Very limited options through their `@config` property for theme development.
+  - Uploading a zip folder to change your website theme is a very archaic and outdated process to me. It reminds me of using FTP which is a turn-off for me.
+- There was more friction than I would have liked with its editor.
+  - My blogging workflow involves writing posts in Markdown in a separate text editor, pasting content into Ghost, and hitting publish. However, sometimes Ghosts' editor would not properly parse the pasted contents into a Markdown block and would require manual intervention to fix.
+  - From this experience, I've come to realize that I am not a fan of block/card editors.
+- Constant nudges towards monetization through memberships/newsletters/subscriptions were annoying.
+  - I understand that modern blogging is usually about the *hustle* nowadays, and Ghost has evolved to fulfill those needs, but I want a place to write and yell into the void in peace. You know what I'm saying?
+
+For the past several weeks, I have been casually keeping an eye out for alternative blogging platforms that fulfill my needs. Here are some platforms that caught my eye:
+- [Mataroa](https://mataroa.blog/)
+  - I liked the features and admire the commitment to business [transparency](https://mataroa.blog/modus/transparency/).
+  - However, its limited media uploads disqualified it from my options. In particular, the total image count of 1,000 would potentially be my concern in a few years.
+- [Nucelo](https://www.nucelo.com/)
+  - It has a very specific organization method for displaying your content which does not apply to me, specifically article- and project-based content.
+  - It seems more like a personal portfolio/showcase website which happens to have a blogging feature than a focused blogging platform.
+  - Not a fan of its icon-focused navigation.
+- [Pika](https://pika.page/)
+  - Its WYSIWYG editor is not for me. Also, it can't parse Markdown tables.
+  - It is a fairly new player in the blogging space with new features coming out every other week from its active development team. Currently, I would rather settle into a slightly more established platform. 
+  - However, I would be interested to see its offerings in a couple of years.
+- [Write.as](https://write.as/)
+  - Honestly, I wasn't feeling it. 
+  - Probably because I can only read "Write, Ass!" from the URL.
+
+I have been focusing my search on simple blogging platforms rather than static site generators as I didn't want to be tinkering too much with setting up the website. Previously, I had used [Jekyll](https://jekyllrb.com/) and had sunk way too much time and energy into messing around with styling and adjusting templates. I know myself. I need certain limitations.
+
+I've decided to switch to [Bear](https://bearblog.dev/) for the following reasons:
+- Provides enough theming and styling options to my satisfaction.
+- Allows me to set metadata through plain text through YAML front matter. 
+  - Honestly, this is what primarily sold me as I dislike using date pickers, which are commonly found in other blogging platforms, as it reminds me of work calendars and setting meeting appointments.
+
+```ymal
+---
+title: Switching to Bear
+link: switching-to-bear
+published_date: 2025-01-07 20:33
+tags: meta
+make_discoverable: true
+---
+```
+
+- I like its implementation of previewing drafts before publishing. It displays your draft post with your theme's styling applied in a separate window.
+- Built-in analytics is detailed enough that I can stop using [Umami](https://umami.is/) if I wanted.
+- Public [roadmap](https://bear.nolt.io/roadmap) is appreciated.
+
+Anyway, I have settled into using Bear for the forseeable future. I have transferred over my existing posts and pages. I have scrapped together a working theme for the front-end. Looking good so far. Probably going to do some few tweaks here and there over the next couple weeks, but there is only such much you can do — which is great!
+
+Let's see how this goes. Hopefully, this bear doesn't go into hibernation, eh?
+
+*I have made this individual post available on Bear's [Discovery](https://bearblog.dev/discover/) feed as an experiment. What is the purpose of this experiment? Good question. I don't know.*