Written 12/16/2025, Published 12/17/2025
Coming to the end of the semester, I was tasked with reviewing some of the digital documentation I’ve done for work on the Virtual Titular Head project with Alumni Relations. One of the largest things I’ve worked on for the project this semester, almost the only thing I’ve done except it was a monumental task, was reworking the existing WordPress site into something a little bit more colorful, bubbly, and art-focused. Since the beginning of the semester, I’ve worked both on the back and front end of the site to stylistically edit the pages, change around some of the formatting, and generally update the site to something a bit more modern. While doing this, I compiled the style changes I completed into a new Style Guide which could be referenced as a new basis for the general vibes of the site! While going back and reviewing the documentation, I’ve thought about how the new Style Guide looks and feels, as well as if it is understandable and thorough enough as documentation.
Looking at the guide as though it was my first time interacting with it, I think the information it collects is very useful to understanding the basic changes to the site and the new assets that are being used–it collects the new color palette, fonts with accrediting, new logos, and where in the wordpress editor the changes have been made. I think in that way, it is quite helpful, but it doesn’t necessarily provide a write up on how to make edits yourself, how to download new fonts or plug in new colors, so using it as a tutorial to make site edits would not be intuitive. It exists more as a reference for someone who already knows how to use wordpress, rather than someone just getting started. In terms of my general approach to documentation, I tend to note the things that I have changed, but could start to write more about how, where, or why I’ve changed them. I’m very detailed with what I provide, but still missing a lot. To me, documentation is a part of my workflow that doesn’t mesh wonderfully, but is still something I think about and work towards–I tend to note down fairly good general information in the day to day, but specific notes are usually collected in style guides, zipped files, and other random spots that I ultimately put together in one document towards the end of the semester. I could probably stand to work on the specifics a little bit day by day too, so that it is easier for people to understand the whole picture of my work, and how I’ve done it, rather than just what I did each day.