I've had a website for around four years now, starting with a python CGI-based site hosted at [1&1](https://www.1and1.co.uk/), and evolving into its current form, powered by [Hugo](https://gohugo.io/).
In the past, I've used services like [StartBootstrap](https://startbootstrap.com/) and [HTML5UP](https://html5up.net/). These allow me to just throw together a site, and not really worry how it looks, because the design is done for me. However, slight modifications I need to make to the theme, end up spiralling out of control and wrecking things.
After deciding to do yet another redesign, I had an epiphany. Rather than using a fancy, modern-looking design, let's use something simple! The Hugo theme [_Vec_](https://themes.gohugo.io/hugo-theme-vec/) looked _almost_ perfect. I used _Vec_ as a base for a complete redesign of my site. Rather than actually using _Vec_, I used Bootstrap to replicate it closely, with a few optimizations of my own.
I implemented it in just over two weeks, in a [single PR](https://github.com/RealOrangeOne/theorangeone.net/pull/1). In this refactor, I also fixed many things I didn't like about my sites build process. I even installed a [compressor](https://github.com/gschier/speedpack) for deployment.
