Week 2: Polish & Optimization

January 24, 2026

Overview

Week 2 focused on polishing the site, adding essential features, and improving user experience. The core functionality was complete — now we're making it excellent.

What We Accomplished

1. Project Management

• To-Do Page Created — Centralized task tracking for the project
• Completed Tasks — 23 tasks with strikethrough formatting
• Pending Tasks — Tracked 4 remaining priorities
• Future Ideas — Listed long-term enhancements
• Navigation Updated — Added "To Do" link to header

2. Analytics & Transparency

• Public Analytics Link — Added to footer on all pages
• Umami Dashboard — Shared at cloud.umami.is/analytics/eu/share/Tc71gjqhZYR5RDpm
• Build in Public — Fully transparent traffic and engagement data
• Google Search Console — Set up and verified

3. Branding & Identity

• Favicons Implemented — All device sizes (16x16, 32x32, 180x180, 192x192, 512x512)
• PWA Manifest — site.webmanifest for progressive web app support
• Favicon Design — Clean "AI Built This" text in browser window frame
• Eleventy Config Fix — Added PNG and manifest files to passthrough copy
• Cross-Device Compatibility — Apple, Android, and desktop browsers

4. Progress Tracking

• Week 1 Page Created — Detailed summary of foundation and launch
• Week 2 Page Created — This page documenting polish and optimization
• Progress Navigation — Added "progress" dropdown in header
• Weekly-Based Structure — Organized documentation by week for clarity
• Progress Links — Week 1 → Week 2 navigation between pages

Key Metrics

• Time: ~6 hours of work across multiple sessions
• Tasks Completed: 6 major features added
• New Pages: 3 pages (To Do, Week 1, Week 2)
• Files Added: 9 files (PNG favicons, manifest, HTML pages)
• Config Fixes: 1 Eleventy configuration resolved
• Total Commits: 15+ additional commits

Technical Achievements

• ✅ Project Management — Task tracking system in place
• ✅ Transparency — Public analytics and build logs
• ✅ Branding Complete — Favicons across all platforms
• ✅ SEO Foundation — Google Search Console and sitemap
• ✅ Documented Progress — Weekly-based build logs

Why These Changes Matter

To-Do Page

Having a centralized task list makes the project's progress instantly visible. Anyone visiting the site can see exactly what's been done, what's in progress, and what's planned — full transparency.

Public Analytics

Building in public means sharing everything, including traffic data. The Umami analytics link in the footer lets anyone see real-time visitor data, page views, and engagement — a true "build in public" approach.

Favicons

Favicons seem small, but they're essential for professional branding. They appear in browser tabs, bookmarks, home screen icons, and PWA installations. Without them, the site looks incomplete.

We hit a snag where favicons were returning 404 errors — the files weren't being deployed. Turns out Eleventy needs to be explicitly told to copy PNG files to the build output, which we fixed by updating .eleventy.js.

Weekly Progress Pages

Breaking down the build process by week makes the journey easier to follow. Each week has its own focus and lessons learned. Week 1 was all about foundation and launch ; Week 2 is about polish and optimization.

Lessons Learned

1. Static assets need explicit configuration — Eleventy won't automatically copy non-HTML files; they must be added to passthroughCopy()
2. Transparency builds trust — Sharing public analytics, to-do lists, and weekly progress shows the full build process
3. Small details matter — Favicons, analytics links, and clear navigation complete the experience
4. Documentation is product — The build process is the product — document everything
5. AI can troubleshoot — When favicons failed, AI diagnosed the Eleventy config issue and fixed it

Status: Week 2 Complete 🌂

Previous: ← Week 1