Welcome to The Maritime Historian – And Goodbye to History with Kirby

Hi everyone! Hope you had a good week or so. As you may have noticed, since I posted a couple of weeks ago some big changes have happened on this blog.

I’m not talking colour schemes or social media buttons.

I’m talking about a full rebranding.

The site domain (aka the URL and identity of this brand) has transitioned from History with Kirby to The Maritime Historian.

With this change, my social media handles have been modified as well (they’re all @themaritimehistorian, except for twitter which is still @historykirby).

But why change up the website?

I have thought about this question a lot. Why fix something that isn’t broken, right?

I’d say that just because a brand isn’t broken, taking care of it to ensure the best future often means innovating and taking big steps.

I’m not going to lie, I loved History with Kirby. As my first domain, I felt attached. Like it was part of me (well, it did include my name).

I struggled for a couple of years to be consistent with blogging. I let other goals and life events get in the way. It was only in 2020 when I started sticking to a schedule.

In many ways, I think History with Kirby became idealized. Always something that I could look forward to putting more work into and eventually becoming a core part of my day to day life.

When I became consistent with my content, I also became more connected to other history bloggers and the blogging world in general. I realized that in those past two years since I founded my blog, there were a lot of similarly named ones. If you search “History with” in the Instagram search bar, you’ll see about a billion different results.

And that’s great.

I’m glad that so many people are sharing their love for history. That being a history blogger is a thing now. That we can all connect and learn from each other.

But for me, it made me realize that my blog name didn’t really describe how I envisioned the brand.

But what did I want my blog to be?

I hope that this blog can create a community. A place where we can connect over interesting history. To discuss everything from methodology to memories. Where I could share my adventures and recommend museums and heritage sites from the perspective of someone in the field. And of course, to share my love for the Canadian Atlantic Provinces and other intriguing histories.

I didn’t feel like the name History with Kirby described that goal well.

For me, I sensed that this change was needed. That maybe History with Kirby wasn’t broken, but that there was a better identity for this brand. That it could grow and become more intentional.

As I am located in the Maritimes and much of the history shared here is focused on my love for the Atlantic Provinces of Canada, renaming the blog The Maritime Historian made sense.

I hope that people around the world can connect with maritime history in one way or another, as so many of us live by the seaside or are fascinated by it.

When I realized this, at first I became a bit sad.

I knew it was time to say goodbye and I was sentimental.

I had to remind myself that parting with my domain name didn’t mean that I would stop blogging. In fact, it probably meant that I would spend more time working on my blog.

At the same time, I was excited.

Rebranding meant there was an opportunity to brainstorm.

To unleash creativity.

To ask big questions and explore possibilities for the future.

Yet making the change was kind of scary.

And a lot of work. I had to ensure that my whole website was backed up incase the transition caused broken links and photos (if you were wondering, yes this did end up happening).

Luckily, the domain name I had in mind was available. And all the social media handles were as well. Knowing this confirmed that this change was the right choice.

The Maritime Historian didn’t exist online yet, but she could.

So I made the leap!

As I had finalized my decision to rebrand only a few days before, I started to plan everything out in my agenda. I made a “To-do” list of posts I needed to back up, handles to change, and steps to take.

I contacted Bluehost support and they made switching my domain name quick and easy (thank you again).

In under an hour my website had moved to its new URL:

themaritimehistorian.com

Now that most of the nerve wracking work was out of the way, the next step was letting everyone know on social media. I posted on stories and feeds to give you all a heads up and a glimpse into why The Maritime Historian was founded.

So far I’ve received so much positive support for this change, which I cannot thank you all enough for.

Then, it was time to pull together a new logo!

On that agenda page, I sketched my first depiction of the site logo.

I had this vision of a stack of books covered in vines. It had been looming in the back of my mind for awhile, as my logo has needed a refresh for a long time.

I hunkered down with some pens and drew what I had been dreaming.

I’m by no means an artist, so I was thrilled with how the design came out.

And finally, some finishing touches were needed.

Fixing links and adding alt-text isn’t the most fun part of blogging by any means, but it is necessary.

And though spotting these mistakes can be a bit annoying, teaching myself how to remedy them has resulting in learning useful new skills.

There’s still a few things here and there that need to be virtually renovated (is this a term? if it wasn’t, it is now) on this website, but I’m getting there.

It’s going slow and steady.

If you see broken links, please have patience. I’m on it!

So, what’s next?

Besides all the nitty gritty behind the scenes stuff, I hope to connect with you all this year. Sharing and learning from history is what I am passionate about.

Much of what will be shared on this blog will be the same.

Museum day trips and heritage site explorations will still be a highlight. There are interesting articles and stories from different disciplines of history that I would love to get your thoughts on. Book reviews and research tips are an area I would like to expand. And that ‘Coffee & Crumbs” section will be getting updates of my favourite cafes across the province.

Thank you all for showing your support throughout this change and over the last couple of years. It is so heartwarming to hear your kind words of encouragement and engage one-on-one.

I’ll see you all next week with another new post. In the meantime, feel free to reach out on social media and stay in touch!

All the best,

Kirby

What do you think about History with Kirby changing to The Maritime Historian?

Feel free to share below in the comments!