diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 638b883..feb3053 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -25,3 +25,7 @@ MAIL_PASSWORD=null
 MAIL_ENCRYPTION=null
 MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS="hello@example.com"
 MAIL_FROM_NAME="${APP_NAME}"
+
+PUBLISHING_NAME="Word Salad"
+SUBHEAD="A blog with an as yet unclear direction."
+CONTACT_EMAIL="test@example.org"
diff --git a/config/blog.php b/config/blog.php
index ca93208..f176b9a 100644
--- a/config/blog.php
+++ b/config/blog.php
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ return [
     |
     */
 
-    'publishing_name' => 'Jon\'s Words',
+    'publishing_name' => env('PUBLISHING_NAME', 'Word Salad'),
 
     /*
     |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -22,6 +22,17 @@ return [
     |
     */
 
-    'subheading' => 'A blog with an as yet unclear direction.',
+    'subheading' => env('SUBHEAD', 'A blog with an as yet unclear direction.'),
+
+    /*
+    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    | Contact Email
+    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    |
+    | The public-facing email displayed in general contact and support areas of the blog
+    |
+    */
+
+    'contact_email' => env('CONTACT_EMAIL', 'test@example.org'),
 
 ];
diff --git a/public/robots.txt b/public/robots.txt
index eb05362..f8794ac 100644
--- a/public/robots.txt
+++ b/public/robots.txt
@@ -1,2 +1,68 @@
-User-agent: *
-Disallow:
+# Block all known AI crawlers and assistants
+# from using content for training AI models.
+# Source: https://robotstxt.com/ai
+User-Agent: GPTBot
+User-Agent: ClaudeBot
+User-Agent: Claude-User
+User-Agent: Claude-SearchBot
+User-Agent: CCBot
+User-Agent: Google-Extended
+User-Agent: Applebot-Extended
+User-Agent: Facebookbot
+User-Agent: Meta-ExternalAgent
+User-Agent: Meta-ExternalFetcher
+User-Agent: diffbot
+User-Agent: PerplexityBot
+User-Agent: Perplexity‑User
+User-Agent: Omgili
+User-Agent: Omgilibot
+User-Agent: webzio-extended
+User-Agent: ImagesiftBot
+User-Agent: Bytespider
+User-Agent: TikTokSpider
+User-Agent: Amazonbot
+User-Agent: Youbot
+User-Agent: SemrushBot-OCOB
+User-Agent: Petalbot
+User-Agent: VelenPublicWebCrawler
+User-Agent: TurnitinBot
+User-Agent: Timpibot
+User-Agent: OAI-SearchBot
+User-Agent: ICC-Crawler
+User-Agent: AI2Bot
+User-Agent: AI2Bot-Dolma
+User-Agent: DataForSeoBot
+User-Agent: AwarioBot
+User-Agent: AwarioSmartBot
+User-Agent: AwarioRssBot
+User-Agent: Google-CloudVertexBot
+User-Agent: PanguBot
+User-Agent: Kangaroo Bot
+User-Agent: Sentibot
+User-Agent: img2dataset
+User-Agent: Meltwater
+User-Agent: Seekr
+User-Agent: peer39_crawler
+User-Agent: cohere-ai
+User-Agent: cohere-training-data-crawler
+User-Agent: DuckAssistBot
+User-Agent: Scrapy
+User-Agent: Cotoyogi
+User-Agent: aiHitBot
+User-Agent: Factset_spyderbot
+User-Agent: FirecrawlAgent
+
+Disallow: /
+DisallowAITraining: /
+
+# Block any non-specified AI crawlers (e.g., new
+# or unknown bots) from using content for training
+# AI models, while allowing the website to be
+# indexed and accessed by bots.  These directives
+# are still experimental and may not be supported
+# by all AI crawlers.
+User-Agent: *
+DisallowAITraining: /
+Content-Usage: ai=n
+Allow: /
+
diff --git a/public/word-salad.css b/public/word-salad.css
index f176d8d..ed33e1e 100644
--- a/public/word-salad.css
+++ b/public/word-salad.css
@@ -4,7 +4,13 @@
 
 body {
   /* background-color: #813d9c; /* Old Purple */
-  background-color: #2d033e; /* New Purple */
+  /* background-color: #2d033e; /* New Solid Purple */
+  /*
+  * Created with https://www.css-gradient.com
+  * Gradient link: https://www.css-gradient.com/?c1=550b73&c2=2e033e&gt=r&gd=dcl
+  */
+  background: #550B73;
+  background: radial-gradient(at left center, #550B73, #2E033E);
   color: white;
   text-shadow: 1px 1px 2px blueviolet;
   margin: 0;
@@ -15,6 +21,16 @@ main {
   justify-content: center;
 }
 
+main a {
+  color: #ff9344;
+  text-decoration: none;
+}
+
+main a:hover {
+  text-decoration: aliceblue;
+  text-decoration-line: underline;
+}
+
 article {
   max-width: 60vw;
 }
@@ -23,6 +39,17 @@ article {
   article {
     max-width: 90vw;
   }
+
+  main {
+    flex-direction: column;
+    padding: 0 1.25em;
+  }
+}
+
+@media screen and (min-width: 1250px) {
+  #recent-articles-list {
+    margin-left: 3em;
+  }
 }
 
 a {
@@ -45,16 +72,19 @@ nav {
   justify-content: space-between;
 }
 
+#nav-logo {
+  padding: 1em;
+}
+
 #nav-logo > a {
   text-decoration: none;
   color: #ff9344;
-  font-size: x-large;
+  font-size: xx-large;
   font-weight: bold;
-  margin: 0.3em;
 }
 
 #article-header-separator {
-  width: 60%;
+  width: 70%;
   color: white;
   margin: 2em auto;
 }
@@ -64,10 +94,12 @@ footer {
   min-height: 7em;
   display: flex;
   justify-content: center;
+  flex-direction: column;
+  align-items: center;
 }
 
 #subscribe-form {
-  border-radius: 1.5em;
+  border-radius: 0.5em;
   border-color: white;
   border-style: solid;
   border-width: 1px;
@@ -87,9 +119,64 @@ footer {
   flex-direction: column;
 }
 
+#subscribe-form input {
+  padding: 0.5em;
+}
+
 #subscribe-button {
   background-color: #ff9344;
   color: white;
+  font-weight: bold;
+  border-radius: 0.5em;
+  cursor: pointer;
+}
+
+#blog-head {
+  display: flex;
+  flex-direction: column;
+  justify-content: center;
+  align-items: end;
+  margin: 0.5em;
+}
+
+#blog-head h1 {
+  font-size: 2.6em;
+}
+
+#blog-head h2 {
+  margin-top: 0;
+}
+
+.article-peek dl {
+  display: flex;
+  gap: 0.5em;
+  align-items: baseline;
+}
+
+.article-peek dd {
+  margin: 0 2em 0 0.25em;
+}
+
+.article-peek dt {
+  font-size: small;
+  font-weight: lighter;
+}
+
+#recent-articles-list {
+  padding: 0 1em;
+}
+
+#recent-articles-list h3 {
+  margin-bottom: 0.75em;
+  font-size: 120%;
+}
+
+#recent-articles-list h4 {
+  margin: 0.25em 0;
+}
+
+#recent-articles-list article {
+  margin-bottom: 2.5em;
 }
 
 /* .bubble-panel {
@@ -99,3 +186,34 @@ footer {
               33px -33px 65px #9c4abd;
   padding: 2em;
 }*/
+
+
+/* Create a custom animation */
+@keyframes move-out {
+  from {
+    transform: translateY(0%);
+  }
+
+  to {
+    transform: translateY(-100%);
+  }
+}
+
+@keyframes move-in {
+  from {
+    transform: translateY(100%);
+  }
+
+  to {
+    transform: translateY(0%);
+  }
+}
+
+/* Apply the custom animation to the old and new page states */
+::view-transition-old(root) {
+  animation: 0.4s ease-in both move-out;
+}
+
+::view-transition-new(root) {
+  animation: 0.4s ease-in both move-in;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/resources/views/guest/home.blade.php b/resources/views/guest/home.blade.php
index 0bb78b9..f970324 100644
--- a/resources/views/guest/home.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/guest/home.blade.php
@@ -4,13 +4,13 @@
 
 @section('content')
 <section id="blog-head" class="bubble-panel">
-    <h1>{{ config('blog.publishing_name') }}<h1>
-    <p><i>{{ config('blog.subheading') }}</i></p>
+    <h1>{{ config('blog.publishing_name') }}</h1>
+    <h2><i>{{ config('blog.subheading') }}</i></h2>
 </section>
-<section>
+<section id="recent-articles-list">
     @if(count($articles) > 0)
         @foreach($articles as $article)
-            <article>
+            <article class="article-peek">
                 <h3>
                     <a href="{{ route('article', ['article_slug' => $article->slug]) }}">
                         {{ $article->title }}
@@ -19,6 +19,13 @@
                 <h4>
                     {{ $article->subtitle }}
                 </h4>
+                <dl>
+                    <dt>Author:</dt>
+                    <dd>{{ $article->author->display_name }}</dd>
+
+                    <dt>Published:</dt>
+                    <dd>{{ $article->published_at }}</dd>
+                </dl>
             </article>
         @endforeach
         {{--
diff --git a/resources/views/guest/main-nav.blade.php b/resources/views/guest/main-nav.blade.php
index cdc1a8b..28cd970 100644
--- a/resources/views/guest/main-nav.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/guest/main-nav.blade.php
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 <nav id="main-nav">
-    <div id="nav-logo"><a href="/">{{ config('app.name') }}</a></div>
+    <div id="nav-logo"><a href="/">{{ config('blog.publishing_name') }}</a></div>
     <div>
         {{--
         <form action="{{route('search')}}">
diff --git a/resources/views/guest/subscribe-fail.blade.php b/resources/views/guest/subscribe-fail.blade.php
index 23f0ddc..d5961c1 100644
--- a/resources/views/guest/subscribe-fail.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/guest/subscribe-fail.blade.php
@@ -5,6 +5,6 @@
 @section('content')
 <section>
     <h1>Subscription Error</h1>
-    <p>Something went wrong while marking your interest. Sorry.</p>
+    <p>Something went wrong while marking your interest. Please try again, or contact me at {{ config('blog.contact_email') }} if the problem persists.</p>
 </section>
 @endsection
diff --git a/resources/views/guest/subscribe-success.blade.php b/resources/views/guest/subscribe-success.blade.php
index 3c5757c..94757f7 100644
--- a/resources/views/guest/subscribe-success.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/guest/subscribe-success.blade.php
@@ -5,6 +5,6 @@
 @section('content')
 <section>
     <h1>Subscription Confirmed</h1>
-    <p>You'll be the first to know about future posts. Thank you.</p>
+    <p>Thank you! You'll be the first to know about future posts.</p>
 </section>
 @endsection
diff --git a/resources/views/guest/top-bar.blade.php b/resources/views/guest/top-bar.blade.php
index 9ec01c4..d10545b 100644
--- a/resources/views/guest/top-bar.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/guest/top-bar.blade.php
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 <section id="top-bar">
-    UNRWA is working tirelessly to alleviate the horrors of genocide in Gaza.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unrwausa.org/donate">Support them here</a>&nbsp;🇵🇸
+    UNRWA is working tirelessly to alleviate the horrors of genocide in Gaza.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unrwausa.org/donate" target="_blank">Support them here</a>&nbsp;🇵🇸
 </section>
diff --git a/resources/views/layouts/guest.blade.php b/resources/views/layouts/guest.blade.php
index 2422b17..6c63ee9 100644
--- a/resources/views/layouts/guest.blade.php
+++ b/resources/views/layouts/guest.blade.php
@@ -25,9 +25,12 @@
             @yield('content', 'Nothing to see here.')
         </main>
     </body>
-    @if(! in_array(Route::currentRouteName(), ['subscribe-success', 'subscribe-fail']))
     <footer>
-        @include('shared.subscribe-form')
+        @if(! in_array(Route::currentRouteName(), ['subscribe-success', 'subscribe-fail']))
+            @include('shared.subscribe-form')
+        @endif
+        <div id="footer-copyright">
+            &#169; {{ (new DateTime())->format('Y') }}
+        </div>
     </footer>
-    @endif
 </html>
diff --git a/routes/web.php b/routes/web.php
index 701fe26..4a8c49e 100644
--- a/routes/web.php
+++ b/routes/web.php
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Route;
 */
 
 Route::get('/', function () {
-    $articles = Article::where('published_at', '<', now())->latest()->limit(10)->get();
+    $articles = Article::with(['author'])->where('published_at', '<', now())->latest()->limit(5)->get();
     return view('guest.home', ['articles' => $articles]);
 });