Why I Am Moving Old Blog Posts to a New Archive Site

1. Introduction

Over the years my writing on amarvyaas.in spread across many topics — technology, imaging, web hosting and experiments that no longer match my author brand. This post explains the plan: build a fresh, lightweight archive to hold legacy and off-topic posts so the main site can focus on five core areas.

• Problem: outdated posts, broken images, theme leftovers and database clutter.
• Goal: refocus the main site and preserve older content in a clean, low-cost archive.

2. The Backstory: How the Blogs Grew Over Time

I wrote across multiple categories: technology experiments, photo/imaging notes, web hosting how-tos, and occasional essays that were useful at the time. Over time many posts became outdated or were left with dangling CSS/classes from removed themes, missing images, broken links, and database entries that should have been cleaned. Instead of spending heavy effort to refactor each legacy post for SEO correctness, I decided to centralize legacy content in an archive and keep the main author site tightly focused.

3. The Challenge With the Current Archive (arc.amarvyaas.in)

arc.amarvyaas.in already holds many older posts, but cleaning it up properly is a heavy lift. Issues include:

• Legacy theme classes and markup leftover in content.
• Missing images and broken internal links.
• Database residue: unused options, orphaned meta keys.
• Posts requiring manual fact-check or large rework to be SEO-ready.

Given limited time and the desire to keep my main site polished, a rebuild felt more practical than incremental repairs.

4. The New Archive Site: What It Is and What It Will Do

The new site will be a fresh, lightweight ClassicPress installation with a minimal theme (McLuhan or similar). Its primary functions:

• Act as a consolidated repository for legacy and non-core content.
• Import posts from amarvyaas.in, arc.amarvyaas.in, Medium exports, LinkedIn posts, and guest posts.
• Keep the footprint small: only featured images retained; other media served via CDN.
• Use a simple taxonomy and clear archive pages so readers can browse by source or topic.

5. Why Build a Fresh Archive Instead of Fixing the Old One

Rebuilding gives these practical advantages:

• Clean HTML and consistent markup from day one.
• No leftover CSS, JS, or database fragments to audit and remove.
• Faster to import and standardize metadata (publish dates, tags, original sources) than to repair hundreds of posts.
• Lower long term maintenance cost and lower resource usage on the server.

6. What Will Remain on the Main Author Site (amarvyaas.in)

The main site will focus on five tightly defined topics:

1. Writing
2. Sustainability
3. Travel
4. Books and the writing process
5. Podcasts

Concentrating on these areas strengthens the author brand, improves reader expectation, and makes content planning and promotion simpler.

7. Technical Choices and Setup

Target environment and design decisions:

• Platform: ClassicPress (small, stable, minimal plugin surface).
• Theme: McLuhan-like lightweight theme, minimal scripts.
• Server (frugal VPS): 2 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, ~25 GB storage — tuned for low memory usage.
• Media strategy: Only keep featured images on the archive; serve other images via CDN (Gumlet or similar).
• Plugins: Minimal — importers, one SEO plugin, a lightweight cache, and a CDN integration plugin.

These choices prioritize speed, low cost, and longevity over bells and whistles.

8. The Migration Plan

Phase-based approach:

1. Staging: Set up the new ClassicPress staging site and minimal theme.
2. Import: Bring in posts in batches — exports from amarvyaas.in → arc.amarvyaas.in → Medium → LinkedIn → guest posts.
3. Basic cleanup: Remove obvious broken tags, standardize featured images, fix absolute URLs to point to CDN when needed.
4. Verification: Quick link check, ensure metadata (date, author, original source) is preserved in each post.
5. Go live: Switch DNS or move staging to production once a representative sample passes verification.
6. Post-launch: Monitor logs, respond to 404s, and optionally add redirects or a simple search page.

Timeline: Target: 2 months. Optional 1 month buffer. Goal completion: end of January 2026 (possible extension into February 2026).

9. What Readers Can Expect After the Shift

• A focused, polished main site with clear topic navigation.
• An archive site that preserves older material without degrading the main site experience.
• Faster page loads and simpler navigation across both properties.
• Search and browse by source or topic on the archive site.

10. Conclusion

Building a new, lightweight archive is a pragmatic way to preserve legacy work while letting the main author site grow with a clear identity. It reduces technical debt and keeps the reader experience focused. If you follow a similar path, prioritize a small staging site, minimal media on the archive, and phased imports. Want me to write the full blog post from this outline (ready to paste into your CMS)? I can draft it in your preferred tone and length.

Summaries