Tag: websites

Categories
The Internet

Don’t Break the Web

Liked Foundations (adactio.com)

It’s almost miraculous that I can visit the first web page ever published in a modern web browser and it still works. Let’s not become desensitised to how magical that is.

“There was an unspoken assumption that the web is built by professional web developers. That gave me a cold chill.”

“With a bit of learning, anyone can make web pages complete with form validation, lazily-loaded responsive images, and beautiful grids that kick in on larger screens. The barrier to entry for all of those features has lowered over time—they used to require JavaScript or complex hacks.”

“This is for everyone. Not just for everyone to consume, but for everyone to make.”

I joked to my husband last night, after spending hours tinkering with my website, why doesn’t everyone want one of these?

But really, I think pretty much everyone should have, and would enjoy, their own website. My friends haven’t seemed that interested, but last week a friend told me he was teaching himself how to make a WordPress child theme!!! ❤️

“But the common narrative in the web development community—and amongst browser makers too apparently—is that web development has become more complex; so complex, in fact, that only an elite priesthood are capable of making websites today.”

I think I’ve let this attitude turn me off of making websites… another symptom of imposter syndrome, thinking that the little html sites or even WordPress themes were too little to think of myself as someone who makes real websites, and to bother staying up to date with CSS. But I had fun tinkering with some CSS last night, even if I wouldn’t want to write a site from scratch again, and figuring out some CSS that’s appeared since I stopped keeping abreast. But I’ll keep my little site going, and be part of the web that’s not corporate and perfect and flashy.

Categories
Learning The Internet

Went to IndieWebCamp Popup: Sensitive Data on Your Personal Website

Replied to IndieWebCamp Popup: Sensitive Data on Your Personal Website (events.indieweb.org)

Let’s come together to discuss using our websites to host, post, share, and store sensitive data, including medical records, habit logs, personal media files, and private writing.

What are the use cases for posting sensitive data on your own website? What plumbing is needed to host and share sensitive data within (and outside) the IndieWeb? What even is “sensitive” data, anyway?

Etherpad notes

Security through obscurity would probably cover most needs for me, with a few password protected and private posts. Although, I don’t know how logistically in WordPress to not include a specific post in the feed — that would work for pages where you just don’t add it to the menu and make it a hard-to-guess URL, but not posts.

I think people are starting to see and get used to the concept of private posts, with services like Patreon and Substack offering subscriber-only content — I think the paid subscriber concept would translate well to explaining to a friend or family member why they might need to be granted permission / to log into someone’s website to read certain kinds of content.

Question to ponder: what happens to my website after I die? As Chris pointed out, it’s not just a matter of paying hosting, but also the “admin tax” of installing updates and managing security. It would be horrible to have your website taken over and turned into a spam / spyware site after your death!

I could see a service that migrates your website to a new managed hosting, and also sets up a “memorial” page on the site like people seem to use Facebook posts for, with someone to manage webmentions / comments.

Categories
Environment The Internet

Went to Homebrew Website Club

RSVPed Attending Homebrew Website Club – The Americas

One big HWC, for anyone in the Americas(or who is just available) who wants to dial in. Let’s talk about what we would like to do in 2021 now that it is here. What’s Homebrew Website Club?
Homebrew Website Club is a meetup for anyone interested in personal websites and a distributed web. Whether you…

Brought up an article I came across with a “manifesto” for “low impact” websites that we all agreed seemed like a bit of an odd way to come at it. Consensus seemed to be that there’s some overlap between designing a streamlined, user-friendly, fast website and “low impact” website but the energy use of our websites wasn’t something we tended to do. I’m on the side of using the tools needed for effective communication and engagement, which are often visual on the web.

Indie Web: Green Computing

Solar-powered version of Low Tech Magazine website

See also: Hands-on Sustainable Web Design

Discussed building a lightweight mini solar-powered computer with a sim card and leaving it somewhere out in the world random. I thought maybe on peaks as a digital manifest. Someone suggested pushing a button could send a log to your website that you reached it. Could be a cool art project somehow I think (maybe as a temporary installation) — but the concern that once they got easy enough to make they might pop up anywhere and everywhere is valid 😉

Categories
Fun The Internet

Attended Homebrew Website Club

RSVPed Attending Homebrew Website Club – The Americas

One big HWC, for anyone in the Americas who wants to dial in. Let’s talk about what we would like to do in 2021 now that it is here. What’s Homebrew Website Club?
Homebrew Website Club is a meetup for anyone interested in personal websites and a distributed web. Whether you’re a blogger, coder, de…

Shared my new pandemic photo project.

Interesting discussion about privacy online, and how companies are trying to set our defaults to sharing everything whereas the opposite might be more natural.

Some discussion about good ways to share our information and meet others, thinking about ways to gauge affinity, share with folks who are “vouched” as good faith actors and not trolls, and share and consume content based on shared interests or connections. Liked Maxwell’s thought about somehow “broadcasting” that you are interested in certain topics as a way to let others know to share with you.