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6.2.2 on 11 Mar 2024: adds lastmod value to sitemap entries, replacing changefreq and priority; adds support for accent-color on native form controls; adds support for deleted text
6.2.1 on 15 Nov 2023: improves appearance of Card component graphics; fixes in issue that caused Release Menu pipe to be invisible in Light Mode; drops cap at the end of Timeline
6.2 on 15 Nov 2023: adds indication of current view to Me Menu; adds dynamic theme swapping when Cover image is present; adds new Card component; improves layout of Code view; improves Award component by merging into Card; improves border-radii site-wide by adopting smooth corners; improves accessibility and checked state indication of theme controls; improves visibility of Menu shadow in Dark Mode; improves Cover image implementation in Firefox
6.1.10 on 31 Oct 2023: adds ability to supply a link to Award component; improves appearance of Menus by replacing border-radius and box-shadow with mask and filter; improves Menu animations; improves appearance of projects on small displays; fixes an issue where a bounding box would be visible on external link disclosures in Dark Mode; fixes rendering artefact on Menu containers
6.1.9 on 24 Oct 2023: adds cap to the end of Timeline; improves appearance of Shot component by masking corners; fixes an issue where Increased Contrast wouldn't be respected for Cover image content
6.1.8 on 23 Oct 2023: adds external link disclosure to Contact menu cells; fixes an issue rendering Release badge mask while a Cover image was present
6.1.7 on 10 Jul 2023: improves flexibility of Projects grid; improves appearance of Testimonials on small displays; restores ability to define publish date as a range on Post
6.1.6 on 23 Jun 2023: adds support for Cover images
6.1.5 on 30 Mar 2023: fixes an issue that allowed unparsed markdown to appear in document titles
6.1.4 on 27 Mar 2023: restores Tiles component; improves Code view by replacing Front-End Alphabet with featured Tiles; drops ability to indicate publish date as a range on Post
6.1.3 on 20 Mar 2023: improves typography in Firefox by configuring font-optical-sizing and font-variation-settings; improves appearance of Contact menu in Firefox; improves appearance of Things view while content and UI are busy; fixes appearance of Ratings in Firefox; fixes appearance of SVGs with gradient backgrounds in Firefox; fixes issue where block titles may render two full stops on small displays in Firefox; fixes issue that caused Appearance and Accent controls not to indicate state in Firefox
6.1.2 on 14 Mar 2023: improves consistency of beacons on Releases and Resume; fixes issue where end of Releases pipeline would not fade out correctly
6.1.1 on 20 Jan 2023: adds scroll-snapping to Billboard; fixes a regression that caused some Post titles not to render
6.1 on 5 Jan 2023: adds Code view; adds syntax highlighting to code blocks; adds ability to indicate publish date as a range on Post; adds ability to animate icons; improves appearance of Billboard when containing multiple images; improves baseline alignment of code samples; fixes alignment of theme control icons; fixes an issue where Chrome would scroll to the first focused element on load; fixes inconsistent text-decoration-thickness within Menu items in Safari
6.0.7 on 23 Dec 2022: adds Permissions-Policy header; improves font definition via system-ui keyword; drops robots.txt file in favour of meta tag
6.0.6 on 21 Nov 2022: adds ability to reset filtered Things view if selected from Menu
6.0.5 on 7 Nov 2022: adds history support to Selector component; adds busy state indication to Selector component; fixes issue where Releases badge could flicker with each page load
6.0.4 on 28 Oct 2022: adds a badge to Releases menu if there has been a release within 3 days; fixes issue where release dates could appear to change after JavaScript execution; drops relative datestamps
6.0.3 on 27 Oct 2022: adds Rating, Testimonial, and Icons components; improves semantics of post information by wrapping in hgroup; improves UX of Appearance and Accent toggles; drops support for images in Features component
6.0.2 on 21 Oct 2022: improves appearance of rounded corners by masking smoothly; fixes filter: drop-shadow() clipping issue in Safari
6.0.1 on 20 Oct 2022: adds ability to mark a Post as updated; improves busy state of Release Pulse; improves rich preview fallback image; improves active state of theme controls
6.0 on 19 Oct 2022: adds Colophon and Things views; adds new primary accent and ability to set accent preference via localStorage; adds Selector component; adds ability for Timeline events to be linked; adds support for multiple images within Billboard component; adds ability for Features component to take multiple icons; improves pop-out menu animation; improves appearance of Timeline events on small displays; improves appearance of project grid on mid-sized displays; improves legibility of project links; improves appearance of Billboard captions; improves busy state indication on pop-outs
5.6.6 on 27 Jul 2022: improves consistency of colours site-wide; improves rendering of Donuts by masking—rather than overlaying—cut-out ring; improves legibility of article links; fixes a regression where Timeline event borders would overflow beyond bounds
5.6.5 on 25 Jul 2022: adds map to Contact menu; improves hobby project padding consistency on small displays; fixes regression that caused favicon to return a 404
5.6.4 on 18 Jul 2022: adds support for serving optimised assets based on device capability via srcset; improves rendering of images site-wide; fixes a regression causing polyline caps on Release Pulse to be clipped; drops hobby completion target
5.6.3 on 11 Jul 2022: improves appearance of images on small displays by allowing them to extend edge-to-edge; improves simplicity of responsiveness by reducing number of breakpoints
5.6.2 on 4 Jul 2022: improves discoverability of Resume view; fixes a regression on image lazy-loading
5.6.1 on 30 Jun 2022: improves appearance of titles in Features component on small displays; improves products padding consistency on small displays
5.6 on 28 Jun 2022: adds Billboard component to Design posts; adds Platforms component to Design posts; adds image support to Features component; improves placeholder blur-up technique when lazy-loading images; improves email icon; improves and simplifies Timeline layout code by changing from Flexbox to Grid; improves legibility of linked Products; improves alignment of Menu dividers; fixes appearance of text on iOS when in landscape orientation; drops the ability to redact products
5.5.4 on 11 May 2022: fixes issue where some Menu items were unavailable due to misaligned breakpoint queries

Colophon

Updated Oct 2022

51bits is named after Area 51, a place of mystery and experimentation in the middle of nowhere. It has served as my home on the web for 18 years, as a manifestation of my learning, as well as my approach to—and opinions on—design and code.

Palette

A dozen swatches—including the background—comprise the entire palette. These are inspired by the system colours of iOS and macOS, and change slightly based on Appearance.

Icons

Graphics are a powerful way to communicate a concept, often capable of transcending language barriers. I take pride in crafting them bespoke, paying close attention to line thickness, visual weight, corner radii, and pixel-snapped points.

Type

My opinion regarding copy in software is to ruthlessly prioritise function over form. Custom fonts almost always impact performance, introduce CLS, and often reduce legibility. Inheriting the font of the OS avoids these pitfalls, improves accessibility, and allows the product to sit organically at the intersection of its brand and that of the surrounding platform.

Accessibility
There isn't a single good argument for excluding anyone from using software.
Releases
Websites are software too. Frequent updates are the way to keep a product alive.
Author
I've being doing this for a long time, and have formed some opinions along the way.