American Dirt: Version 3.0 unveiled at last.

Time to begin a new chapter on this blog! I know that references to “ Version X “ are a bit old-hat in 2020–even Microsoft has stopped using that moniker, and who really thinks of Microsoft as a standard bearer these days? But this long-overdue update to the blog should improve its function and appearance, all while remaining at the same domain and fully tethered to WordPress. It’s come a long way since migrating from Google’s Blogger platform back in 2014, and while this latest version is less radical from a domain perspective, the appearance changes this time around are more significant.

Here are just a few of the changes with this new version:

• Smaller margins allow for importation of bigger and richer photos, without compromising readability of paragraphs
• Direct links to my social media, which, while limited (a deliberate move) is more open to the subscription approach and can grow if I decide to incorporate other, alternative tech ventures
• Posts will now allow audio or video clips
• The menu bar organizes and classifies all articles since the founding of American Dirt in 2009, grouped by state, major city, foreign country (which will always remain small in number), topic/keyword, and date (year/month)
• Elimination of drop-down menus, which were getting long and cumbersome
• The commenting function is more refined, allowing a higher level of nested comments and fostering lengthier, more in-depth discussions
• More nuanced and sophisticated analytics

Over the past decade, I’ve put this blog in an unusual middle-ground position: I continue to devote time, research, and money into maintaining it, while doing little to promote it beyond nuts-and-bolts initiatives.  I’ve already explained my legitimate apprehension and distrust toward social media, but that simply means I compensate through doing what I can to maintain a visible presence as a writer and comments with a branded blog, rather than a brand that seeks to lure people to my writing.  It’s gonna stay that way.  In the meantime, I have to tip my hat to all the great workers at Creative Concierge who made this new version possible.  Thanks to all, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.