when you click next/prev it will jump cos im using anchor links to target elements ok be prepared. questions from mouseling.net :)
please introduce yourself.
:) you can read my about me right up there lol :) but i'm arlita, im 31, a mom, from the u.s. and my pronouns are she/her
how long have you been making websites?
since i was about 11 or 12, just copying/pasting/editing code all over the internet lol. i had a photography website in high school.
and what got you into the hobby?
lots of influences, i don't know if i can pinpoint one thing because when i was little and on the internet most websites i used listened to user input html/css so. general internet culture and not moving my butt out of the computer chair got me into making websites lol. well making cartoon dollz needing a place to display them tbf was probably a big motivator to learn html/css :)
what kind of website are you most interested in?
i really enjoy personal web pages, something you can get lost in, something someone made while getting lost in making it. websites by people who are in between making life work while working towards their big dreams, websites by people who blog granularly about their technical projects, websites by people who don't take anything too seriously and have a strong, unique approach to design, websites by people who JUST sat down at a layout generator and just pasted it into their very first index dot html file. we love to see it!!
what's your workflow? do you plan your websites out thoroughly or do you come up with the design as you go along?
if it's a big idea, i'll draw it out on grid paper (or grid background texture on krita lolol) so i can easier organize/wrap my head around the elements and their relationships to each other. then i go into the html and nestle everything where i planned it, as i go i'll need more and more css, and i tend to come up with designs as i go along, just not layout/general presentation, as i plan the before hand. not always.
please link to your biggest inspirations.
O_O that would take the rest of my life but any time i come across a website with a ridiculous but new (therefor innovative? lmao) way to show content i STEAL it ok i steal it. i scan it top to bottom and i understand it and i interpret it, that's actually how i came up with thise slide show box, i saw a similar one running a comic using javascript on someone else's page. you can make this with html and css i said to myself when i saw it !! YOINK. now tbf the javascript one didn't jump and mine is jumpy cos of the. css yes i know. ^_^
what's your favourite part about making websites?
expressing myself!!! for real showing people who i am!! i can't grab people by the shoulders and make them care about me but making websites comes pretty dang close lmaoo. people explore the web which such thirsty minds, water them!! 2nd favorite part, is the slog of coming up with an idea, trying it, fixing it, trying it, fixing it a different way, trying it, hating it but not enough, fixing it again, liking it enough but deleting it, starting over, etc.
and the thing you struggle with the most?
fighting the default styling and behavior of certain elements -.- details/summary i'm looking at you -.-
do you keep the same layout on all of your pages? or do you use different ones?
i'm activey trying to break out of styling every page the same but kind of failing at it due to me planning this webpage to just be one long page lol.
how confident are you with css?
recently, very!! it's CRAZY that i can basically type in what i want the css to do and it will do it??? and i don't have to google how to select a direct child any more?? i just know to put > ?? it's so weird and the imposter syndrome does want to bubble up but i'm rlly proud and confident in my css skills these days!!
do you know how to correctly use <dl>?
how dare you. NO!!!!!
what is your favourite html element?
the humble div is goated... sorry semantic elements, a real fashionista has stolen the show (she says while literally using semantic elements on her page)
if you're making a new web page from scratch, what is the first thing you do?
copy and paste my empty html page into notepad++ lol. i make divs then put stuff in the divs to make the appear, then style while adding content until it's perfect
do you know javascript?
working on it ok :') i really wish i had someone to teach me high key but i can't afford dat :')
how about PHP?
not a drop!! that sounds scary gl out there php-ers. the first p in php stands for php liike the recursion there is enough to turn me off
does your website have a theme that you stick to?
aesthetically? maybe a color scheme/loose design story but not usually a strong motif. description-wise? the theme of my website is Me. i am the theme :D
are you more focused on content or design?
content for sure!! but design is a very close second, a design idea will motivate me faster than a content idea low key...
do you own a domain name? if not, would you ever want to?
not currently but i have in the past! weirdly not since i became an adult loll. i don't mind a subdomain :)
what do you think of nostalgia-focused or "retro" websites?
INCREDIBLE!!
is your html valid? do you even check?
O_O *RUNS AWAY*
what are your opinion on buttons and banners?
extremely positive!! keep it up!! graphic design is our passion
what do you think of button walls in particular?
lit :) when we link each other we are holding hands no matter if the links are buttons or not
if you started over again, would you make something similar or completely different?
well i did start over again, so based on experience, something completely different haha. and it won't be completely different, im just going to be more private and try a different approach to displaying content.
are you envious of other people's websites?
rarely, i tend to be very picky about other people's design decisions loll. 99% of websites with fleshed out ideas are enviable and interesting, but my perfectionism makes me... cocky for my own aesthetic preferences. i don't talk about it but i'm a snob :p that's my little secret tho i would never be meanies to someone cos i didn't like the look of their site i have a life.
what text editor do you use?
notepad++, also normal notepad
why do you use that one?
i am used to it lol
do you host your image files on your web server, or on another host?
i have plenty of space on neocities :)
this might not be relevant to you, but what's your opinion on the neocities vs. nekoweb debate?
now that i have used both, they are basically the same!! anyone who says different thinks they can pick up on cultural differences between the two when really they're probably just being biased. they are both perfectly good, reliable, usable, somewhat-social website hosts!! pick one it dont matter :p
how much server space would you estimate your main website takes up?
well all web pages i have going right now i can just go check lol. none of them take up much space (only counting accessable-by-browsing directories).
do you keep local backups of your files?
yes which is tedious and high key annoying but when you need that backup FUCK do you ever need that backup!! sighh it's just a good idea
do you prefer simple or highly visual websites?
no preference actually i highly enjoy exploring either :) i have found that even bare bones web-minimalists struggle with putting elements in noticable, usable places LMAO so busy websites don't bother me.
do you stick to certain colours? do you do that on purpose, or is it your subconscious?
i like color a lot, i have a handful of tones i gravitates towards but otherwise color is fair game
have you ever thought about quitting? why?
fully quitting? you couldn't get rid of me. freewebs was very addicting and therefor so is neocities nekoweb etc. etc. i'm baked on at this point.
do you have many webmaster friends, or is it a solitary hobby?
in real life no :') but online yes!! i am trying to get my friends in real life to build websites but none of them will hear me
do people in your real life know about your website?
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not this one!! if you are reading this you are highly privileged!!
do you update your website very often? how often is "very often"?
it comes in waves haha. sometimes i'll have a new idea i have to realize every day, and sometimes i forget web building is a thing. i don't think i update "very often", as i see many update their websites nearly daily here, and on nekoweb.
and the overall design, do you change that much? why or why not?
the headers and paragraphs and links and aaall elements are so woven into the designs of my webpages that switching up style sheets is just not practical usually. again i'm trying to break out of that with this design, we'll see how i go
is your website more you-focused, hobby-focused, or outside world-focused?
*blushes* me c: & hobbies tbf but never forgor , it is all about me on arlita dot neocities dot org (and boyblythe dot nekoweb dot org)
do you do web design professionally?
no :) i have had a couple potential professional project oppurtunities and even started one once, but things didn't work out and tbh i still want a better skill level before i break into that again. luckily i had people who trusted me and had a clear idea, but yeah, i'd like to learn more first.
if not, would you like to? and if you're comfortable answering, what do you do for work?
like i said, i would!! & i am a stay at home mom. when i do hold a job i go for entry level positions (cashier, assembly line, etc. lol), i have absolutely no career ambition. major luck on my part my husband is kind of a corporate goon. but i love him. would he understand himself outside of capitalism? i don't know, but in bring-home-that-bacon-or-die world, he's great!!
do you communicate with people by email very much?
no but i am open to emails: boyblythe@proton.me
some people reject social media and use websites as a replacement. do you keep social media outside of your website?
i haven't deleted any of my socials but i don't check them any more. my cousin requested to follow me on instagram recently but i haven't uploaded to it in so long i ignored her request and haven't opened ig since... maybe one day i'll host a top secret website for my family to be able to check on me, that could be cute :) oh i have tumblr but that's always been parallel to my everything
how about instant messengers? do you use a mainstream one like discord or telegram? or something like matrix? do you avoid them?
this is a fun question !! yahoo messenger was my shit, i hated skype, and well i'm on discord with my friends right now!! the second discord wants my id, i am off of there. fucka u. thats MY face bitch. my friend is so propagandized or something, he's like 'they only ask once :)' that is so embarassing for him. he also has a ring camera in his front room so. & i have a matrix account cos 2 of my friends do :)
do you listen to music while you work on websites? if so, what kinds of artists?
yes whatever i'm into at the moment is what i'll listen to while working on a webpage :) right now i am obsessed with loopcinema OBSESSED. i like voodoo ft. d$ luqi
do you keep everything you make on one website, or do you have more than one?
more than one!!
on a similar note, do you keep to one topic on your site, or many?
many!! highly specific websites are epic tho
do you present your real self, or at least try? or do you construct a persona on purpose?
the persona construction is hard to resist aint it... but i do my damnedest to present my real self, and lean heavily on the freedom in anonymity.
have you ever made a good friend thanks to your website?
yes :)
are you happy with the way html and css currently work?
css really really doesn't want to compare variables huh :( or store and change variables in a way that let's you grip the page from around the back of it with your whole ass hand. that's javascript FUCK. imagine my disappointment halfway through an idea realizing counter() doesn't do what i dreamt up in my mind it did :'( i did use it for this slideshow box tho!
what are practices that you think people should avoid?
really loud audio with no volume control T_T especially little click noises and menu swipe noises, i like those but they are always at one hundred percent so i have to mute the tab. pls turn them down in audacity first or add a volume slider maybe? a very sudden loud CUH-CLICK will always make my spine leave my body, it's like forgetting you put something in the toaster so when it does pop you jump up and around like you just spawned in
what about under-utilised practices, or things you think people should do more?
there are so many laggy websites but there are also so many webpages that blow my mind they run so well while seeming to be doing so much. i don't know what the difference is between them or if i'm forgetting some nuance but we have to figure this one out y'all
do you use a lot of semantic html? or are you guilty of generic structure?
semantic tags are a fun surprise to learn about and i use a bit them now but not always and not perfectly. what about people who go both ways?
do you consider different browsers?
no lol uhh sometimes if something doesnt work in firefox i'll try it in chrome and get annoyed. im so sorry... i like to hope i keep it simple enough but i do use some css stuff that might not work in old browsers
speaking of, what's your preferred browser? convince your readers why they should use it.
firefox and it took less than a moment to transfer everything from chrome to it. and that was the end of me and chrome and im not joking
and what OS are you on?
windows
do you have a strong opinion on that, or do you just happen to use it?
happen to lol
are your websites mobile-friendly?
could be better for sure... but i think more so than before at least
what are your thoughts on autoplay?
unfortunately negative but i have to say websites with music on autoplay are in fact still 1 million times awesomer than any quiet somber grey social media page
what are your thoughts on webrings? are you in any?
im not in any lol! but i have heavily considered joining them!! they are wildly cool and i appreciate how long they've been a constant feature of the smaller/indie web. they must be extremely effective
do you have any web shrines? what do you like to see in that sort of page?
i did before, and i want to make more i think!! i love all kinds of shrines, but wordy and well researched damned-near-wikipedia entry love letter shrines are eeeverything
are your websites "cliche", in your opinion?
haha i have no idea. i think so to some degree maybe lol...
what is your ideal website? are you striving for that, or for something else?
i have a low bar for that maybe, but a pretty and honest website, even if it lacks 'content', is ideal
are you an artist? do you draw or design your own assets?
i drew my fairy for my index before, but the gif under the header was from gifcities. the current background and ppg gif are O_O findings. making my own assets sounds like a huge task i've barely dipped my toe in before and it's not really what i want to do i think lol. am i an artist like in general? sure
is there a habit you just can't get away from no matter how hard you try?
becoming immediately allegiant to a design & limitation
what's your biggest advice for a new webmaster?
it can be a hot mess behind the scenes. turn your other crafts over, they are messy cos that's where you did your techniques to make the other side look good, it's finee. you can learn and add accessibility as you go.
do you keep all your styling in css? or do you hard-code some?
i dont hard card css but i have in the past, it's fine but certainly more work than just learning selectors!!
what do you think of frameset layouts?
i adore them, they're functional when coded well which is honestly most of the time :)
how about table-based layouts?
i never tried them except for using a single table cell to contain every element. but they're also admirable and way more intricately hacked than you would think possible.
do you subscribe to the ideas of "one-column", "two-column" and "three-column" layouts? do you use any of these?
i think categorically these are fine definitions, you can describe directions cardinally or by landmarks landmarks being like masonry layout, apple ui-esque layouts and other stuff i cant think of rn
do you spend longer on the html or the css?
css for sure :D
have you ever made a page with no css? it's useful for your thoughts.
yes!! i spent like a whole week devouring the websites listed in the no css club
do you ever find yourself making layouts with nothing to put on them? or do you only make layouts when the need arises?
they are extremely situational unless i'm loyal to a particular design lol
would you consider yourself a beginner? Or advanced? somewhere in the middle?
lolll NO idea somewhere in the middle closer to beginner xD imposter syndrome might be at the mic
do you have a habit of looking at the source code of websites you visit?
yess hehehehhe. im usually looking for font in inspect, or layout/code snippet credits in the html comments. or to check to see if something is using javascript lol
how did YOU learn how to make websites?
copying and pasting really basic layout codes and editing them like crazy, before that using style="" in div tags making scrollboxes. then i made a website with an edited layout for my photos, which i made remade a little later, but stopped updating. i barely touched html and css until i found neocities tbh lol now i've learned so much :)
do you ever force elements to do things they're not supposed to?
yes of course!! i honestly don't even know where that line is drawn
thoughts on floating elements?
it works it's fine!! doing anything after floating something is like trying to build a sandcastle with dry sand tho U_U
when you're sizing stuff, what do you use first? do you use px, em, %, or something else?
loll px. maybe that's my bad habit or whateva ughh the other units are hateful
do you have a favourite font?
right now georgia!! at very first it used to be trebuchet ms, and i believe tahoma and verdana.
would you run a website with another person? how would that work?
that sounds like so much fun but i have no idea how that would work O: i'm open to that tho i think!!
do you surf the Web to find new personal websites very often?
yes i do, it's so much more rewarding than even my other favorite options like tumblr lol
do you bookmark other people's websites? how would you feel knowing someone else bookmarked yours?
i dont bookmark websites unless they have provided a resource i want to return to, like the rentry pages i linked on a previous question ^_^ statcounter claimed i have/had several unique visitors that regularly came from (No referring link) which i interpret as a bookmarked or typed in link. idk ig i feel neutrally abt that
what do you want people to be most impressed with when they see your website?
hmm i dont know honestly...
are you interested in technology outside of websites? do you collect?
well i love photography and taking and editing photos, and i have several cameras!
how often and for how long are you online?
sooo many more hours than anyone ever should be
when it comes to your website, who is your target audience?
i dont know at all
have you ever been interested in xhtml?
i've ran into it briefly and it's fine, it feels high stakes but it's simple enough i think, just based on what little i needed to do for an rss feed
do you program in general? have you ever written a program for use with or on your website, not counting simple javascript?
no not besides scratch :')
speaking of programs that help you make websites, what do you think of static site generators (SSGs)? Have you ever used one?
i'd rather deal with the learning curve of any html and css and eventually javascript concept and make my webpages by hand, like type every opening and closing tag, than approach any of that complexity... there's control in the nitty gritty
do you keep a hitcounter? why or why not?
hahahahhaa i used to, i am nosey!! i think now i'd rather respect privacy than be nosey so yeah :)
do you frequent forums? which ones?
no ^_^
do you write your page content directly into the editor, or do you prepare it elsewhere, like a text document or a word document?
LMAOO directly in the editor!! im knee deep rn!!
do you think you appear cool to others? a more accurate answer now: do other people ever say you're cool?
i don't know for sure but i think so lol??? and yeah i think maybe they do??
are you embarrassed of your old work? have you ever deleted everything out of shame?
hmmmmmmm yes and no this is a hard question to answer cos i think at this point ive come full circle to just accepting everything i make at any time only indicative of my whims, but i have been embarassed by old work that was imperfect or what i considered careless. but im easier on myself now and would rather learn more technical stuff than add more rules to my life ya know
would you close down your website if you couldn't update it, or would you leave an archive?
probably keep it up, but i could also see myself closing a website down. not any time soon tho
do you reveal a lot about yourself on your website? or are you more secretive?
to me i reveal quite a lot and would prefer to be more secretive now lmao!! aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!
are you willing to reveal who your best online friend is, and/or if they have a website?
O: no
and do you optimise the images on your website?
yes B)
we're out of time! how do you feel after answering 100 questions? ....other than exhausted.
motivated to read others' answers :D
