With 2015 drawing to a close, I’ve blocked out some time to perform a little ‘blog housecleaning’ so to speak. Truth be told, I began this blog in September of 2012 with minimal expectations. I did not even expect to keep it going beyond a few months. Much to my surprise, it has continued on far longer than I anticipated. The original purpose of the blog was to present geopolitical and defense issues in a readable, non-academic format. All things considered, I believe I have been quite successful in this regard.
In 2015, I was unsuccessful in a few other regards when it comes to the blog. As the readership expanded, I did not keep up with the changes consistently. Now, sitting here on a cold, wet December morning, I’m laying out some ideas to enhance the blog in the coming year. On 1 January, 2016 I will post what changes will be coming. For now, here is a list of some areas where I intend to make changes.
- Upcoming Article Previews- Every time I put up a plan for the month, I fail miserably in keeping up with it. It’s easy enough to set up a schedule, but actually following through with it has been another story entirely. My choices are simple: I can either stop posting monthly previews or I can dig in and stick to the schedule that I put up. In all fairness, sometimes I simply can’t stick to the schedule because of work and/or personal reasons, yet that should not be my blanket excuse. I’m working on a solution.
- Unfinished Series– This annoys me more than anything else. I begin a series of articles on one specific topic and then never finish properly. Sometimes it is simply a matter of not having the time. Occasionally, real world events trump the subject I’m planning to write an extended piece about. At the moment, I have a number of unfinished series out there and have to figure out what to do with them. Which brings me to the third point……
- The First Strike/American Nightmare Series– I do not like the way I presented these articles at all. In fact, I’m embarrassed by my writing and efforts. I will leave the original posts up for the time being, however, at some point in the near future I am going to revise and repost the entire series.
- Blog Theme and Customizations- WordPress has many excellent blog themes and customizations available for its bloggers to use. The one that I currently use has been excellent and I have been using it for over a year. However, I want to take a good look at what other themes are available and determine if any are a better fit for Today’s DIRT.
