New tools and new look for the site

This site is now published with Jekyll and Markdown, using the Just-The-Docs theme. It’s a change of the tools used to edit, build, and deploy the site, but most of the content on the left-hand navigation already existed. (But why not take a look, in case you missed anything?)

Here’s what’s different

All the changes you wanted to know about and a little more.

  • Added a blog feed as the front page of the site, so I can share anything that seems timely without fitting it into the table of contents.
  • Discontinued the “Latest Changes” feature on the “About” page, since all the new content will appear in the blog feed.
  • Added a form for feedback at the bottom of every page. Use it to report doc bugs or make suggestions.
  • Discontinued the separate navigation path for developers, but added a Developer resources page, which is right in the middle of the left-hand navigation.
  • Did some housekeeping on the “Resources for writers” page.
  • Updated About Clarence William Cromwell. New company name and job title included.

Updating the toolchain

Here is a comparison of the old and new toolchains used to edit source files and build the site.

ItemPrevious toolchainNew toolchain
DeploymentNetlifyNetlify
Build/transformOxygen XML Editor and out-of-the-box responsive web help transform with slight customizations.Jekyll, using the Just the Docs theme.
Source code managementGitHubGitHub
Editing toolsAtom and Oxygen XML Editor (I own an individual license)Visual Studio Code
Markup languageLightweight DITA (mostly Markdown with HTML tables)Markdown with HTML tables

History of this site

Oxygen Web Help wasn’t the first iteration of this site. It replaced a site built from scratch with Javascript, HTML, and Python transformation scripts. Homely appearance aside, the site required a lot more work than something built with a framework, and it still didn’t have search.

A thumbnail of the circus-poster-like original design of this site.
2019: A little bit like a circus poster.

A thumbnail of the Oxygen Web Help version of this site.
2021: Web help goes darkmode.

A thumbnail of the latest iteration of this site, with a Jekyll theme.
2025: Cleaner and more like a documentation site.