The next iteration. We’re coming up on about a year, and I’ve been completely overwhelmed by the support. I feel like you all have shown so much love, I owe you a revamp – and some serious effort – to the website. A couple of significant changes you’ll see immediately:
New Format
So I’m still a slave to the WordPress, but I’m working on making it easier for you to find the recipes and cooks you want to see. The new header should let you find what you want quick – and really drilling down into the specifics. Work in progress, especially on mobile. I’m going to push a little harder on the side dishes also, because it’s always been about the mains. I want to diversify it, so when you’re planning a BBQ, you have quite the selection on here to reference. I’ll add specific categories as I see fit, but if you have any suggestions, happy to hear!
The whole purpose for the redesign was ease of navigation. (Don’t worry, I’ll be bringing back the Beef Short Rib post that got lost in the update). I was very unorganized with categorization and tags – and it made for a hot mess updating it. The best way to look at it right now is via Desktop, but I’ll be putting more effort into the mobile side of the house.
New Logo
Thanks to Kyle over at GatewayGraphix, our new logo and branding is live. I appreciate his hard work and friendship. The guy does an outstanding job – please go visit and tell him hi! My favorite part is the fingerprint flame, but that spatula/magnifying glass was a nice touch also. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) my digital forensic posting dream has been overtaken by the BBQ.. and in my opinion, he nailed it with the incorporation of my passions.
Recipe Cards
Every new ForensicBBQ post will have easy-reference cards for you to know what I did and how I did it. Think of it as the TL;DR version of the blog. I know a lot of you love the pictures – so if you see what you like, find the card and do it justice! This is definitely new territory for me, so we’ll see how this works. You’ll see this shortly with the Beef Rib re-post.
New Contributor(s)
After much begging, my wife (MrsForensicBBQ) will be adding her cooks to the site! For those who haven’t dug into my posts, she eats exactly ZERO meat, and I think it’ll add an interesting mix to the website. Her leafy, grainy dishes are pretty damn good, so I’m so happy she’ll be showcasing her work here! I’m hoping to expand this to a couple more friends of mine, but if you have any interest in contributing to this family, please send me a message @ forensicbbq@gmail.com, happy to grow !
The Shop
This will be a continuous work in progress. Truthfully, this is a hell of a hurdle to jump – so look for ForensicBBQ 3.0 until this gets underway. If you’ve been around awhile, you know I make my own seasonings, bbq sauces, hot sauces.. hand grinding peppers with the mortar/pestle – there’s the potential, but not the means right now.
If you’ve read this far – stickers are officially a go – I’m giving away FIFTY to the first that hit me up here or on Instagram. Once they go, they go.
For a lil spoiler – Pay particular attention come June (hint: founding member swag). Sign up for my e-mails and be the first to know what’s coming!
Patience
I used to build websites probably twenty, twenty five years ago – Just a couple things have changed since then. There’s a few things I’m confident about, a couple things I’m trying out with this website thing – so thank you for the patience as I work things out.
Coming up…
I gotta repost that Beef Rib post – because that got lost in the update. Please, check that one out and let me know how that recipe plug-in works. The only secrets I keep with this game is with my seasonings and sauces – everything else I want you to go forth and conquer. I ground up some some habaneros to add to my hot pepper mix, killed some chicken wings – 4 seasoning test, bacon wrapped onion rings – I hope to get fast and furious. I’m still shooting for a post a week, we’ll see how much life gets in the way.
Closing
You guys have been absolutely great – I cherish each and everyone of you I’ve met and I look forward to growing this ever more. I can’t thank you enough for the likes, the comments, the visits, the suggestions – I love you all. I don’t know how you all do this with a full time job – you’re better than I. To those that reached out for a sponsorship or to have me be an ambassador for your stuff – The honest answer, I’m not there yet – I can’t do your product justice. Keep in touch, watch this grow as I watch you do the same.
Wow! Love the website and logo!! So fitting. Great job!