Tying a Website to a Proposal
After deciding to make this site, I was wondering how I would tie it to the proposal. I figured I’d come back to that thought later. I moved on to looking for a ring box. I was seeing many that could be laser engraved, and a question popped to mind “Would a QR Code work on wood?” … Eureka!
I dove headfirst into research:
- What color and grain pattern would work best?
- Will the resolution work at the size available on the box?
- What is the shortest URL I could use to make the QR Code less dense and more likely to work?
- Where can I generate the QR Code?
- How can I make it look less like a generic QR Code?
Deciding on a URL
Those questions buzzed in my mind, and I knew I’d need a QR code to test. In turn, I needed a URL. First, I’d need a domain, you know, like google.com. I have a few domains. Here is a brief parody of my thoughts on which to use.
fallalex.commaybe?fallfolk.comas a way of welcoming her in as one of the Fall family? LOL, I don’t know.labfall.comI mean, this is for my tech experiments which she, most certainly, is not.hermitic.orgI glorified being an introvert and thought this was a clever domain a few years ago. Maybe I can negate it to show I’m not going to be a hermit anymore? She probably wouldn’t like that as the URL…
Yeah, fallalex.com made the most sense. Then it was between fallalex.com/danielle and danielle.fallalex.com. I won’t bore you with the technical differences. I settled on danielle.fallalex.com it seemed like the safest bet. Committing to that URL, I started looking into the QR Code.
Putting a QR Code on a Ring Box
I spent hours tweaking the QR Code generation. Editing images with wood grain pattern backgrounds. Scaling the QR Code down. Testing the limits of QR Code scanning, pointing my phone at my laptop and test-prints. I finally felt confident it would work. I was ready to ask the final who, what, where, when, and how questions of getting a ring box. I asked myself, “Who can make this a reality, and when can I get it!?”. Quickly transitioning into comparative analysis online shopping mode, I made an order after a few hours.
Here are the results!
Figuring out the Tech
When an artist wants to capture something. They then chose a medium, like pencil or watercolor. Or they’ll use the medium they know best. Similarly, I had to pick the technologies I’d work with to make this website.
I recently made a static website using Hugo, a static site generator. For that project, I had vetted Hugo thoroughly and knew it could do everything I had in mind. My goal was to focus more on the content than the technology of the site. I didn’t have any reason to be adventurous and use a different web framework or generator than Hugo. For my own pride, I feel I should clarify that making a website using a static site generator might sound “so easy anyone can do it”, but it is more of a bicycle than a tricycle. Where a tricycle is a website builder like wix, Squarespace, or weebly.
Static websites often make use of themes. I experienced using a bad theme. It was a headache and resulted in a sub-par product. I wanted to start off on the right foot by choosing a solid theme. After hours of research and testing different themes, I landed on the theme you’re seeing now. I personally love it!
The next thing to figure out was where I would host the site so anyone could access it. I moved my domains from Namecheap to Cloudflare a few years ago because Cloudflare was making waves in the industry and offered better features. One such feature is static website hosting on their CDN. It was a simple choice to use Cloudflare. In two afternoons, I got my GitHub repository hooked into their service. With that, I was ready to move my focus off the technical issues and onto the content.
Filling the Scrapbook
What is a scrapbook without pictures? A lot of time was spent getting pictures and figuring out where they’d live. I hope it shows. I loved looking through all the pictures we had taken! I am so glad she is an advocate for taking pictures. She jokes that I am like Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec. This video should add weight to my appreciation. I underestimated how long finding, cropping, editing, and placing pictures would take. I appreciated her Facebook posts so much more!
After I went through our pictures, I had a good outline for the pages to add. And with that, I was ready to focus on the written content! I was off to a good start. Until I started writing. That is when I got burnt out.
Stalled Progress
At this stage, it seemed more of a reality than a dream. I had a live website with all the pages and pictures. A month of hard work. Stealing time wherever I could and trying to keep it secret. At a glance, it looked complete. I let myself breathe. I told myself, “Now all that’s left is writing”, but the realization set in that writing was the biggest piece. It is also the area I am weakest. I found myself doubting if it was worth finishing. I was feeling more pressure to propose and was tempted to drop the project. But I knew the reflection I’d do while writing the pages would be priceless. Taking time to shift through and polish all my thoughts would outlive the memory of the proposal itself and help form the foundation of our marriage. After realizing I was resolved to see this through, I got a second wind to finish the project.
The time I made for the project kept getting swallowed by daily goings on, but I kept trying to make time. Slow, but sure, I got it done. I am a recovering perfectionist. It was hard to let some things go unsaid. Despite that, I am so glad I made this. The reflection was invaluable for me, and I hope Danielle can see my love and commitment to her throughout.