Following almost a year of making edits, software updates and content additions, jamesboswell.info is finally fully functional once more and well-prepared for the future.
Jamesboswell.info was originally launched on a small scale in 2004 as a spontaneous consequence of the Webmaster's fascination with Boswell's London Journal. Since then, hundreds of pages have been added, including biographies, book descriptions, blog articles etc., and the technology and use of the internet have changed. To take an example, when the site was launched almost 15 years ago, pretty much no one used mobile devices for accessing it. Today, more than 60% of site visitors use mobiles or tablets, making it necessary to design the site to also be usable and appealing to them.
Some time ago, I came to the conclusion that the site needed a major overhaul, both when it came to content, design and the "engine" that drove it. So about 10 months ago, I decided to "lock" jamesboswell.info into a fixed state, keeping it online but disabling all interactive functionality and not adding any new content.
I have spent the time since then on upgrading all site components, tweaking the design and going through every single article on the site, in order to improve the overall quality of the site, making it ready for the future and improving the user experience for everybody, whether they visit using a smartphone or a desktop computer.
One thing that hasn't changed is the overall style of the site. Visuals, fancy graphics and animations aren't really what this site needs. This site is about content and about the life and times of 18th-century author, advocate and bon-vivant James Boswell. We don't need flashy 21th-century colours and animations to make him come alive to us.
Please let me know if anything does not work as intended or if anything seems strange, but also if you want to contribute to the site by writing an article (or articles), biographies etc. And also feel free to comment and to write questions and answers in the Forum.