Today marks the end of May 2023. The end of the month means that it is time for our regular New Leaf Journal month-in-review post wherein we recap our new May articles and most-visited posts of the last 31 days. Without further ado, let us begin the review.

Regular May 2023 Articles

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We did not quite match our May 2022 output (33 articles), but counting the instant post, I posted a respectable 18 regular articles in May 2023. I (N.A. Ferrell) wrote all of the May 2023 articles, so I will not include author information with each individual entry.

(Bold articles are my “Editor’s Choice” picks of the month.)

Short 2023 Articles

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I published 24 short posts in may 2023 between our Leaflet and Leaf Bud sections. You will find links to the short posts below.

Leaflets

Leaf Buds

New Collections

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I created a new custom post type called Collections. Our Collections will feature related posts by series and topic in one convenient place. You can find all of our collections here. I published one new collection in May 2023:

Newsletters

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I published four new newsletters in May 2023. Below, you will find links to The New Leaf Journal syndicated versions. Each newsletter recaps New Leaf Journal articles from the previous week, links to twelve interesting articles from around the web, covers the most-read New Leaf Journal posts of the week, and features other news and notes. You can sign up with your email, add the newsletter’s RSS feed to your favorite feed reader, or wait for the syndicated version on The New Leaf Journal. See all of our options here.

New Leaf Journal News and Notes

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I made several additions to The New Leaf Journal in May 2023.

Most-Visited NLJ Articles of May 2023

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I have taken to publishing a list of our 24 most-visited articles at the end of each month. All statistics come courtesy of our local, privacy-friendly analytics solution, Koko Analytics (see review). I will give our 12 most-visited articles feature billing on a table and list spots 13-24 in a more simple manner.

RankTitle/LinkAuthorPublishedApril Rank
1Peekier Search Engine ReviewNAF2.26.223 (+2)
2Tiki paralogue trick in Fire Emblem EngageNAF2.3.231 (-1)
3The Mystery of Sōseki and Tsuki ga KireiNAF3.14.212 (-1)
4Biden, Lincoln, and Counting Back From the President’s BirthNAF4.29.22BR
5How the Forget-Me-Not Flower Found Its NameNAF3.11.216 (+1)
6The Pokémon Special Split in Generation 2 – Statistics and AnalysisNAF1.18.224 (-2)
7Heights in “The Dangers of My Heart” AnimeNAF4.2.23BR
8The Last Stand of Constantine XINAF5.30.207 (-1)
9Installing Ubuntu Touch on a Google Nexus 7 (2013)NAF7.5.215 (-4)
10The Nice Boat 〜 A Look Back at the School Days AnimeNAF5.6.218 (-2)
11Recommended F-Droid FOSS Apps For Android-Based Devices (2021)NAF11.28.2110 (-1)
12Peekier redirects to Kagi SearchNAF5.2.23NP
BR = Outside of April top 24; NP = Not yet published

13-24: 13 The ideal phone, e-ink and QWERTY (NAF: 2.23.23). 14 An 1882 Poem on Apple Blossoms (NAF: 5.23.22). 15 An In-Depth Look at Norton Safe Search (NAF: 10.18.22). 16 Installing LineageOS on a 2013 Nexus 7 (Wi-Fi) (NAF: 7.28.21). 17 Ghostwriter Markdown Editor Review (NAF: 10.7.21). 18 The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten – Anime Review (NAF: 3.30.23). 19 The Chinese Dragon Gang Origin Story (NAF: 10.22.22). 20 A Follow-Up Post on the Meaning of “Blob Dylan” (NAF: 4.12.21). 21 Review of the Teracube 2e Smartphone (NAF: 11.19.21). 22 How to Find Substack RSS Feeds and Other Notes (6.19.21). 23 Futaba Igarashi’s Hair Is Naturally Green? (NAF: 11.23.21). 24 Building a Big Joe Williams-Inspired Nine String Guitar (VVG: 3.12.22).

My 2022 review of the now-defunct Peekier search engine (or tool, it largely relied on Bing’s index) surprisingly took its first-ever top spot on the monthly ranking, posting its best month in terms of views by a wide margin. Its feat was helped by weak months from my Fire Emblem Engage essay (the leader for the previous three months) and my perennially present 2021 article on the phrase tsuki ga kirei.

While some regulars had weak months, my 2021 article on the name of the forget-me-not flower is on the upswing, posting its best month in terms of views for the second consecutive month and also posting its best-ever relative finish, coming in at fifth. This month’s top twelve included several other notables and surprises. My 2022 post on presidential ages and birthdays surged in early May and was close to finishing in second, but settled for fourth (it had a strong January but faded in the next three months). Other surprises in the top twelve include our first Leaflet/Leaf Bud top-12 of 2023 in my short post on the ongoing anime series The Dangers of My Heart and my update post on the demise of Peekier. One notable absence from the top-24 is my 2020 review of the Persona 4 Golden digital artbook, which had been in the top 24 for every month going back to December 2020.

Most-Visited Articles of March-May 2023

Below, you will find our most visited articles of the three-month period covering March to May 2023. I am keeping track of these statistics since I will feature them in our year-end review (see my 2022 review for last year’s numbers). The changes indicated next to each entry reflect the change in rank from the previous three-month period of February-April (see April 2023 review for those stats).

  1. Tiki paralogue trick in Fire Emblem Engage (NAF: 2.3.23) [No Change]
  2. The Mystery of Sōseki and Tsuki ga Kirei (NAF: 3.14.21) [No Change]
  3. Peekier Search Engine Review (NAF: 2.26.22) [No Change]
  4. The Pokémon Special Split in Generation 2 – Statistics and Analysis (NAF: 1.18.22) [No Change]
  5. Installing Ubuntu Touch on a Google Nexus 7 (2013) (NAF: 7.5.21) [No Change]
  6. Biden, Lincoln, and Counting Back From the President’s Birth (NAF: 4.29.22) [+13]
  7. How the Forget-Me-Not Flower Found Its Name (NAF: 3.11.21) [+2]
  8. The Nice Boat 〜 A Look Back at the School Days Anime (NAF: 5.6.21) [-2]
  9. The ideal phone, e-ink and QWERTY (NAF: 2.23.23) [+2]
  10. Review of /e/ – An Android Alternative For Mobile Phones (NAF: 11.21.21) [-3]
  11. Recommended F-Droid FOSS Apps For Android-Based Devices (2021) (NAF: 11.28.21) [-3]
  12. The Last Stand of Constantine XI (NAF: 5.30.20) [No Change]
  13. Heights in “The Dangers of My Heart” Anime (NAF: 4.2.23) [NEW]
  14. Persona 4 Golden Digital Artbook Review (Steam) (NAF: 11.15.20) [-1]
  15. An In-Depth Look at Norton Safe Search (NAF: 10.18.22) [NEW]
  16. Ghostwriter Markdown Editor Review (NAF: 10.7.21) [+1]
  17. The Sega Dreamcast Controller Joystick (NAF: 6.14.22) [+6]
  18. A Look at ProxiTok, a TikTok Frontend (NAF: 5.14.22) [No Change]
  19. Familiar song in Angel Next Door anime (NAF: 3.25.23) [+1]
  20. Understanding Hair Color in the Kimi ni Todoke Anime Series (NAF: 8.19.21) [-9]
  21. Nintendo Power’s 1999 Yoshi in Pokémon April Fools Prank (NAF: 4.1.21) [-6]
  22. Building a Big Joe Williams-Inspired Nine String Guitar (VVG: 3.12.22) [No Change]
  23. The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten – Anime Review (NAF: 3.30.23) [NEW]
  24. A Follow-Up Post on the Meaning of “Blob Dylan” (NAF: 4.12.21) [NEW]

May did not have a dramatic effect on our three-month ranking because many articles were lumped together after spot 14 (and even more so outside of the top 20). Thus, while my presidential birthday (+13) and forget-me-not flower (+2 to 7) articles saw substantial jumps on account of having very strong months, other articles held their positions despite not featuring in the May 2023 article at all. Some of this parity is the result of our ongoing Bing de-indexing situation, which increases the influence of Google’s algorithms over our statistics.

Looking ahead to June 2023

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In addition to publishing new articles (including moving toward finishing my long running al|together review project in August), I plan to re-implement our Blogroll and Guestbook sections in June. It promises to be an exciting month as we approach the half-way point of 2023, and I hope that you look forward to it.