how to make a website you like

Note: still not a real tutorial

As of writing this, it has been 23 days since I changed the site into what it looks like now. For context, the previous site's theme lasted about a week. One of the very first things I wrote was something like, "I have a habit of redoing sites, hope this one lasts!"

And so it has, so far. I'm the happiest I've been with it, probably because it looks like there's nothing here. Every iteration, besides maybe the first, was full of graphics I didn't really like because the most popular sites make that look really cool, and that's what I had as inspiration.

Nothing wrong with liking graphic-heavy sites. It's just not something I could really wrap my head around making..? Like, if you gave me one of those sites to copy, I could eventually do it. But it's not something I wanted to have as my site.

So for reference and also appreciation, I wanted to compile some sites that I think execute an idea really well.

sadgrl.online's shrines

I came into Neocities already knowing some HTML and CSS so I wasn't on her site too often, but damn do I love this page.

It's allowed to be simple: each shrine is stylized in ways so the previews are just screenshots of the page. Each one is recognizeable, has the topic in big ole words, and simply look good. An advantage of using screenshots as links is that you know exactly you're getting if you decide to click. The internet is a scary place and it's things like these that make it less scarier.

paupowpow's galleries

I'll admit it. I was pretty mad at the genius of how the galleries are set up. For the longest time I was wondering how to set up a gallery without JavaScript and here comes an elegant execution of one.

The first bit of the page is both a preview and exhibition, but if you decide to click on one, it scrolls to the same art in its original resolution. Like, that's it. It's amazing. No notes needed. (But please if you decide to do something similar, compress your images. The low file sizes are one of the key parts in making this work.)

suboptimalism's notebook

OK, maybe this is a little weird after the last bit, but there's something really great about this: just a bunch of text and some images to peruse. It's like (and sorry about this) being on Twitter, except less soul-sucking. It might be closer to Tumblr, actually, which is probably why I like it?

I just think there should be more pages like this.