100 questions for webmasters - from mouseling.net

1. Please introduce yourself.: hello! i'm irony machine.
2. How long have you been making websites?: i started around 2003.
3. And what got you into the hobby?: my friend L showed me some extremely cool personal websites made by other teenage girls from around the world, and we got into the hobby together. until then i hadn't even considered i could make my own page.
4. What kind of website are you most interested in?: the websites i enjoy the most are the ones where the person making them really knows how to express themselves in a unique way, be it through design, content, or both.
5. What's your workflow? Do you plan your websites out thoroughly or do you come up with the design as you go along?: i usually come up with a random idea while doing something else. then when i can get to it, i start by laying out the basic html, then adding the css bit by bit using live preview until everything looks like i want it to. sometimes the idea changes while i'm working on it, other times it ends up in the scrap pile.
6. Please link to your biggest inspirations.: i'll get back to you on this one.
7. What's your favourite part about making websites?: seeing my ideas materialize in the browser. also when people leave nice comments, and especially when they create a page after seeing mine.
8. And the thing you struggle with the most?: i try to keep this hobby struggle-free.
9. Do you keep the same layout on all of your pages? Or do you use different ones?: all my pages are different.
10. How confident are you with CSS?: quite.
11. Do you know how to correctly use <dl>?: i do now!
12. What is your favourite HTML element?: <details> and <summary> are pretty cool.
13. If you're making a new web page from scratch, what is the first thing you do?: create the folder and files, then basic html. sometimes there's a discovery phase where i look at other sites and stuff for inspiration.
14. Do you know JavaScript?: yes.
15. How about PHP?: i did a tutorial once but i don't remember shit.
16. Does your website have a theme that you stick to?: no.
17. Are you more focused on content or design?: i try to do an interesting design on all my pages, but they need to be about something.
18. Do you own a domain name? If not, would you ever want to?: no, maybe?
19. What do you think of nostalgia-focused or "retro" websites?: the word "retro" covers a lot of meanings here... in general i enjoy the aesthetic, but it's all in what the webperson does with it.
20. Is your HTML valid? Do you even check?: vscode checks that for me.
21. What are your opinion on buttons and banners?: i love them! it's interesting to capture the "essence" of a site in a tiny rectangle.
22. What do you think of button walls in particular?: big fan, i find lots of interesting sites that way. also i just enjoy looking at them, i'm like a toddler at a toy store or something.
23. If you started over again, would you make something similar or completely different?: probably similar? it took me a while to get to where my site is now.
24. Are you envious of other people's websites?: yeah, but in a healthy way.
25. What text editor do you use?: vscode.
26. Why do you use that one?: no reason in particular, i guess? i started long ago after switching from sublime text and got used to it.
27. Do you host your image files on your web server, or on another host?: on neocities.
28. This might not be relevant to you, but what's your opinion on the Neocities vs. Nekoweb debate?: i know of nekoweb but i'm not familiar with the debate.
29. How much server space would you estimate your main website takes up?: 920.41 MB!! i should probably clean up...
30. Do you keep local backups of your files?: yes, i work locally on the site and then upload it.
31. Do you prefer simple or highly visual websites?: i don't have a preference, i enjoy both.
32. Do you stick to certain colours? Do you do that on purpose, or is it your subconscious?: i think there's a lot of purples and blues but i try to keep it varied, that's partly why my journal page generates a random color each time you visit.
33. Have you ever thought about quitting? Why?: nah.
34. Do you have many webmaster friends, or is it a solitary hobby?: i am solitary.
35. Do people in your real life know about your website?: only my partner.
36. Do you update your website very often? How often is "very often"?: not at all, sometimes i'll do several updates in a month but generally many months can pass with no updates.
37. And the overall design, do you change that much? Why or why not?: i futz with it to improve it, but i don't do radical changes very often.
38. Is your website more you-focused, hobby-focused, or outside world-focused?: i guess me and my hobbies/interests, which come from the outside world.
39. Do you do web design professionally?: no.
40. If not, would you like to? And if you're comfortable answering, what do you do for work?: i work as a front end developer on webapps, i don't do design but i'd like to learn.
41. Do you communicate with people by email very much?: not really.
42. Some people reject social media and use websites as a replacement. Do you keep social media outside of your website?: i do, some of it to keep in touch with people, but mostly to scroll mindlessly :(
43. How about instant messengers? Do you use a mainstream one like Discord or Telegram? Or something like Matrix? Do you avoid them?: does whatsapp count? i have a discord account but it lies dormant.
44. Do you listen to music while you work on websites? If so, what kinds of artists?: yes! nothing in particular, my music page lists a lot of my musical interests if you care to know.
45. Do you keep everything you make on one website, or do you have more than one?: i have a separate website for my beloved legend of kyrandia.
46. On a similar note, do you keep to one topic on your site, or many?: many random things.
47. Do you present your real self, or at least try? Or do you construct a persona on purpose?: it's the real me, just not all of it.
48. Have you ever made a good friend thanks to your website?: i made a friend or two via old blogs but i've lost touch :S
49. Are you happy with the way HTML and CSS currently work?: yes! so many new and interesting features are coming out all the time.
50. What are practices that you think people should avoid?: iframes and table layouts i think are more of a hassle than a convenience, especially with all the newer html/css features available. unless you want to specifically experiment with it, then go for it!
51. What about under-utilised practices, or things you think people should do more?: using a proper code editor makes things way easier. optimizing images so the website doesn't take forever to load.
52. Do you use a lot of semantic HTML? Or are you guilty of generic structure?: i try to use semantic html when appropriate, but it's weirdly limited to print media analogue elements and web pages can be a very different beast.
53. Do you consider different browsers?: i use features that are widely supported unless it's something non-essential and i really want to try it. fuck safari though.
54. Speaking of, what's your preferred browser? Convince your readers why they should use it.: i use firefox for browsing and chrome for developing because i like their inspect tools better.
55. And what OS are you on?: windows 11 ltsc and macos
56. Do you have a strong opinion on that, or do you just happen to use it?: i happen to use it, i hate microsoft but it's what i'm comfortable with and linux has been a hassle in my experience.
57. Are your websites mobile-friendly?: most of the pages are.
58. What are your thoughts on autoplay?: it should have a warning and an option to turn off, otherwise i don't mind.
59. What are your thoughts on webrings? Are you in any?: i'm not interested but i think they're a cool idea.
60. Do you have any web shrines? What do you like to see in that sort of page?: i guess my kyrandia page and maybe the y2k page count? not sure. i like it when other people pour their energy and passion for a very specific topic into a page.
61. Are your websites "cliche", in your opinion?: what would be cliche in a website? i have sections that most pages have, i guess.
62. What is your ideal website? Are you striving for that, or for something else?: i want my site to be huge and labyrinthine.
63. Are you an artist? Do you draw or design your own assets?: no, but i do draw some of the assets (mainly the home screen rooms)
64. What are your favourite resource sites?: the mdn web docs, gifcities, archive.org's wayback machine, does kevin powell's youtube channel count as a site?
65. Is there a habit you just can't get away from no matter how hard you try?: writing in lowercase?
66. What's your biggest advice for a new webmaster?: start simple, work bit by bit. use a code editor that isn't the neocities built-in thing. learn new things by working on little projects that you feel excited about. don't let insecurity or overwhelm keep you from working on your stuff. oh! and use a css reset so you don't get confused by styles appearing out of nowhere.
67. Do you keep all your styling in CSS? Or do you hard-code some?: no!! all css... unless it's dynamically generated, in which case it goes straight to the document.
68. What do you think of frameset layouts?: they're deprecated...
69. How about table-based layouts?: not technically deprecated but horribly complicated to create and maintain. way better options are available.
70. Do you subscribe to the ideas of "one-column", "two-column" and "three-column" layouts? Do you use any of these?: i use them in some pages.
71. Do you spend longer on the HTML or the CSS?: probably css?
72. Have you ever made a page with no CSS? It's useful for your thoughts.: no, i need my spacing and maximum content width.
73. Do you ever find yourself making layouts with nothing to put on them? Or do you only make layouts when the need arises?: usually i come up with the content + layout combo all at once.
74. Would you consider yourself a beginner? Or advanced? Somewhere in the middle?: advanced?
75. Do you have a habit of looking at the source code of websites you visit?: yes, when i want to see how they did something.
76. How did YOU learn how to make websites?: tutorials, looking at other people's code, lots of trial and error.
77. Do you ever force elements to do things they're not supposed to?: maybe sometimes?
78. Thoughts on floating elements?: anything other than its intended use (positioning an image in a wall of text) is probably unnecessary by now.
79. When you're sizing stuff, what do you use first? Do you use px, em, %, or something else?: depends on the stuff i'm sizing. i use all the units i think, sadly i never really got into rem, maybe because my site isn't very text-focused.
80. Do you have a favourite font?: i seem to favor monospace fonts and verdana.
81. Would you run a website with another person? How would that work?: maybe? not sure.
82. Do you surf the Web to find new personal websites very often?: yes! i love browsing the activity tab on neocities and then each page's links.
83. Do you bookmark other people's websites? How would you feel knowing someone else bookmarked yours?: i mostly rely on the neocities follow feature but i'll bookmark something i really don't want to forget to look at. if someone bookmarked my site i would feel flattered.
84. What do you want people to be most impressed with when they see your website?: uhhh the complexity and intrigue of the home page? i don't think i'm quite there yet.
85. Are you interested in technology outside of websites? Do you collect?: i guess? i'm at the computer all day but i used to be more excited about technology in general, back when it didn't suck.
86. How often and for how long are you online?: see above.
87. When it comes to your website, who is your target audience?: no idea.
88. Have you ever been interested in XHTML?: either blogger or tumblr uses/used it for layouts so i did some tinkering with it, but i wouldn't choose it for a personal project.
89. Do you program in general? Have you ever written a program for use with or on your website, not counting simple JavaScript?: i do program, but i don't think i've done anything too complex for my site.
90. Speaking of programs that help you make websites, what do you think of static site generators (SSGs)? Have you ever used one?: i have! i also technically made my own for the journal posts, but it's very limited in functionality. they're a neat idea.
91. Do you keep a hitcounter? Why or why not?: i don't, i used to do it for past sites but i became weirdly obsessed with it and i don't want that.
92. Do you frequent forums? Which ones?: no, i miss them though.
93. Do you write your page content directly into the editor, or do you prepare it elsewhere, like a text document or a Word document?: directly into vscode.
94. Do you think you appear cool to others? A more accurate answer now: do other people ever say you're cool?: uuhhh... my partner tells me i'm cool...
95. Are you embarrassed of your old work? Have you ever deleted everything out of shame?: yes and yes! i would say i wish i had archived more things, but once i ran into some old writings on archive.org and i still cringe thinking about that.
96. Would you close down your website if you couldn't update it, or would you leave an archive?: i would leave it up.
97. Do you reveal a lot about yourself on your website? Or are you more secretive?: not a lot, no.
98. Are you willing to reveal who your best online friend is, and/or if they have a website?: my partner technically has a website. i don't think he counts as an online friend though, hmm.
99. And do you optimise the images on your website?: yes.
100. We're out of time! How do you feel after answering 100 questions? ....other than exhausted.: i did this over several sittings so joke's on you, i'm not even tired!