It's a new year, and it's time for some changes to the bythom.com site.
First up, you might have noticed that the site is now secure (HTTPS), though given that this site contains no commerce or data entry on your part and consists only of static HTML code that's refreshed daily, it really shouldn't have been necessary. Yes, I know there are malicious techniques to slip into a http-to-https crosslink, but it seems like we're just chasing after the bad actors, not really fixing the Internet. Still, the change was past due, and now that I've moved bythom.com to a new server, I can add the requisite certificates and monitor that easily.
Next, you'll notice that the pages are simpler and devoid of sidebar. That starts with the front page. The site should be much more phone/tablet friendly now. Removal of the sidebar is going to bury some visibility of this site's exclusive advertiser, B&H. Thus, I've added a B&H menu option (top right) so that you can help support this site by starting your shopping experience with B&H from a known bythom page that has proper links that allows B&H to track how their ads are doing. Meanwhile, those who use direct links to my other gear-specific sites will find them now in the footer at the bottom of every page instead of the (now removed) sidebar.
If you're just dropping by from time to time to see what's new, you can do that on the front page (and get a new image monthly), or better, you can do it on the main News/Views page, which is where the most recent 10 posts are visible. If you're using an RSS newsreader, you'll want to point it at this main News/Views page. This new Front Page/News Views structure should now be consistent across all my main sites (I'll eventually get around to doing it for filmbodies, too).
Articles that appear in the News/Views section in 2021 can be found in the month-by-month archives, which is at the bottom of the main News/Views page. As part of the News/Views changes, all the older news articles (pre-2021) are now hidden from direct view. If you really want to access them, see the note and link, also at the bottom of the News/Views page.
The Travel section has been completely reworked. I've even added a COVID-19 page to the Galapagos section, as tours have returned to the Islands and you'll need updated information on the precautions that are in place. Note that some of the links to articles in the Travel section may have moved as a result. I've added some new photos, did some updating and editing, and generally improved this area of the site. I hope to expand it as I start traveling again sometime in 2021.
Next up, you'll find that the Technique section that originally appeared on dslrbodies.com is now back on byThom. I'm trying to put DSLR things on the dslrbodies site, mirrorless things on the sansmirror site, Z System things on the zsystemuser site, and general photography things on this byThom site. As part of moving the section, you'll note that I've streamlined, updated, and reorganized the Technique section considerably. If you had links to those articles that reference the technique section on dslrbodies, you're going to want to update them. As part of all this, the front page photo—once a month, not once a week—now leads to new Teaching Points in the Technique section. Given that once the pandemic dies down my schedule is going to go insane, I can't guarantee there will be a new Teaching Point every month, though.
Finally, people keep asking for a single page that points to all of my reviews. As you'll see, there are a lot of those. It almost seems like an infinitely-scrolling list ;~).
Yes, there's a lot going on. I've tried to make things simpler, look better on mobile devices, and be better organized. I'm sure there are going to be some glitches initially, as trying to proofread a bunch of text and design in a hierarchy is worse than trying to proofread a large batch of text. If you find issues, let me know.
