How AI helped me to renovate my homepage

Over the past week, I decided to give a fresh look to my homepage at icodeit.com.au. This wasn't just a solo project though; I had a digital helper in ChatGPT. What surprised me was how it not only helped with code but even offered aesthetic advice when I shared screenshots.

The initial design of my site was something I put together without much planning. While it had a modern layout, image cards, and decent accessibility (in terms of color contrast and font choice), it lacked a clear direction.

This is the old noisy version

One thing that really bothered me was the different image sizes on the cards. The page felt too busy and overwhelming. Add to that a slightly off hover animation, and the experience wasn't ideal. The font pairing didn't help either. While the Ubuntu font is stylish, I realized I had used it a bit too much, making the design feel overloaded.

For the redesign, I wanted something clean and elegant. I chose to remove elements that felt unnecessary, like the featured blog section and certain animations. However, I added new touches like badges on articles to show when they are in-depth pieces or part of a tutorial series.

The simplified and prettied new version

During this process, I started appreciating Hugo more. At first, I just knew it as a powerful static web generator. But as I got deeper into it, with guidance from ChatGPT, I found out how much I could customize. From improving code snippet highlighting to adding custom Hugo shortcodes, I felt more in control of my site's design.

I updated code snippet highlights and added information panel

Now, here's a feature I'm really proud of: the information panel. It's both stylish and functional, guiding readers while providing extra details without breaking the main content. And with ChatGPT's new image analysis feature, I even received feedback to enhance my site's visuals.

ChatGPT has changed how I work. No more endless searches or reading outdated articles. Instead, I have focused discussions with ChatGPT, fine-tuning as I progress.

Using images is so much more efficient.

Being about using images is definitely a game changer. It’s hard for me to describe accurately what I want, but now I can simply upload an image and give some simple prompt, I’m surprised by how accurately it can recognise content in an image.

For content creators, this approach offers a dependable and delightful method to tackle tasks that once seemed challenging or time-consuming.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. I hope you've found the insights and updates shared in this issue valuable. Remember, technology is ever-evolving, and together we can navigate its exciting twists and turns. Stay curious, and until next time, happy coding!