100 Questions for Webmasters

original questionnaire by MOUSEcky.

Well, we got a lot of questions to get through, so let us not dilly or dally; let's kick this pig!

1. Please introduce yourself.
My name is Paul, I'm from the southside of Chicago, and for the past 15-or-so years, I've made various projects under HisVirusness.
2. How long have you been making websites?
Since the mid-to-late 90's, back when Angelfire and Tripod were the norm, and we'd absolutely kill to not have to do everything by hand.
Everyone romaticizes that now, and if you find joy in that, you do you. Back then, we did it because we had to, not because we wanted to. If you wanted an easier experience, you shelled out $100 for FrontPage, and most of us weren't doing that shit.
3. And what got you into the hobby?
I'm an artistic weirdo and a giant nerd; at some point in time, I would have made a website about something.
4. What kind of website are you most interested in?
That's... an insanely vague question. I don't typically go out of my way to try and find specific categories; most times, I just surf...
5. What's your workflow? Do you plan your websites out thoroughly or do you come up with the design as you go along?
Typically, I try to make a concrete plan before execution, but that was the very thing that was keeping this website on ice for so many years. One day, I decided to just start. Which direction? Yes.
6. Please link to your biggest inspirations.
I'd say my biggest inspiration is Douglas Adams; he told a really funny and engaging story in several different ways, with each having their own deliberate differences. He even told it in the form of a game, which he co-created with Steve Meretzky. The core visual design of this website is partially based on the Hitchhiker's Guide (or, at least, the conceptual object).
7. What's your favourite part about making websites?
When the layout starts coming together.
8. And the thing you struggle with the most?
...Bringing the layout together without inline hacks and heavy additions.
9. Do you keep the same layout on all of your pages? Or do you use different ones?
Every page is funneled through the same chrome/layout/etc. Some pages have different themes, but the general layout is consistent.
10. How confident are you with CSS?
I know enough to be dangerous. I don't like relying on CSS for styling, which is why my stylesheets cover the general layout, with edge cases and whatnot being handled inline. If you have, say, a custom markup parser that you use to generate HTML blocks, using inline styling becomes ideal: declare the style once in-parser, which in turn helps keep the stylesheet from bloat. Win-win.
11. Do you know how to correctly use <dl>?
No. I typically just use lists. If it ends up looking jank, that's part of the charm.
12. What is your favourite HTML element?
Anything deprecated. I'll use it until it literally doesn't work anymore. I had a marquee line on the front page for a while. One day, I found that it wasn't working in certain minimal web browsers, so I deployed a version that simulates the effect in CSS (which actually ended up being a better solution anyway).
13. If you're making a new web page from scratch, what is the first thing you do?
Add the page name to the backend's whitelist, create a text file, and set up hVmark's plumbing. That's, of course, if the page is meant to be mostly static.
14. Do you know JavaScript?
I know enough to know that I want to avoid it when at all possible.
15. How about PHP?
I LOVE PHP. I started learning it when I was a teenager and I never looked back. I'd rather do everything on the backend and serve HTML via PHP than rely on JS to take care of everything client-side.
16. Does your website have a theme that you stick to?
Dark Mode. I dabbled with adding a "Light Mode", but I didn't like how it looked, and that's specifically why this website looks the way it does.
17. Are you more focused on content or design?
Design. Content will flow from that organically.
18. Do you own a domain name? If not, would you ever want to?
I've owned multiple over the years. Currently I own two.
19. What do you think of nostalgia-focused or "retro" websites?
I'm always intrigued when they're made by someone who grew up after the height of the Angelfire/Tripod era, because their direction typically comes off very uncanny, but in a charming way. I like it more when the "nostalgia" and "retro" qualities are subtle and understated; where they're not hammering you with the aesthetic and are just letting it bleed into the background. Letting it be the texture, not the whole f'n show.
20. Is your HTML valid? Do you even check?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA fuck no. I don't check anymore because I don't want to crash W3C's validator.
21. What are your opinion on buttons and banners?
I like them. Unrelated, but ads weren't so bad when they were just thin banners you could scroll past.
22. What do you think of button walls in particular?
They're cool. I think they're also a lot more modern than people remember; at least, my idea of "modern".
23. If you started over again, would you make something similar or completely different?
The site's still relatively young, so very similar.
24. Are you envious of other people's websites?
No.
25. What text editor do you use?
KWrite and NeoVim.
26. Why do you use that one?
KWrite because it's comfortable to use, I can use it in my own workflow without any problem or lag, and I'm a big fan of KDE's software. NeoVim typically gets used for prose, and I use it because it gets out of the way. If I plan on extended writing, a GUI is way too jarring and distracting; I prefer a dark void with text. Sometimes I also use it for micro-edits if I'd SSH'd into the server.
27. Do you host your image files on your web server, or on another host?
On my server. I try not to rely on external CDNs.
28. This might not be relevant to you, but what's your opinion on the Neocities vs. Nekoweb debate?
Literally do not care. As far as I'm concerned, it's Angelfire vs Geocities; they're both great choices for someone who doesn't want to spin up a server just to broadcast HTML. Each service is going to have their positives and negatives, whichever service someone chooses seems trivial.
29. How much server space would you estimate your main website takes up?
The main site and the webring take up 63.9 MB. Without the images, it's 13.1 MB.
30. Do you keep local backups of your files?
Yes; I do a full system backup whenever I plan on doing an extensive refactor on something, which typically happens every couple of months. Since the whole framework is under 100 MB, it only takes a couple of minutes and the backups themselves take up very little space.
31. Do you prefer simple or highly visual websites?
Depends. HisVirusness.com's layout is pretty straight-forward and simple, but the stylesheet is selling the dark broken terminal aesthetic. The sylesheet is 12 KB, but it's packing a punch (that, or I need to further optimize its code). I'm a man of simple tastes, so I will go for the visually impressive, but only if its done cheaply. That's what made the demoscene so cool; yeah, you can pull off something cool with a single webpage that weighs 10 MB, but so can anybody else. That's cheap heat. Let me see something cool and light.
32. Do you stick to certain colours? Do you do that on purpose, or is it your subconscious?
Staticy dark-grey and dark red; sometimes with neon blues and greens for contrast. It's the visual theme, and consistency is key when it comes to theming.
33. Have you ever thought about quitting? Why?
No. I might take breaks, but I can't see myself just completely opting out of designing, publishing, etc. Because that's what would have to happen; the website is a byproduct of that work. Not to mention that having a website is a form of publishing to begin with. That's partially why I shy away from the "digital garden" metaphor of web design; I'm not "tending garden", I'm publishing. I'm broadcasting. Not to knock anyone that uses that metaphor, it's just not for me personally.
34. Do you have many webmaster friends, or is it a solitary hobby?
My IRL friends have dabbled back in the day, or they've learned HTML/CSS back in the MySpace days to customize their profiles. Despite the experience, they don't seem interested nowadays. A lot of my friends are stand-up comedians, so whenever they do have a website, it's a heavily-templated turn-key resume lander only meant to showcase a sizzle reel, link to socials and leave contact info. I've shown them HisVirusness.com, and they think it's cool, but it's not a direction they're interested in pursuing.
35. Do people in your real life know about your website?
Yes. My mom recently told me she visited the website, but clicked off after a while because, as she put it, "I really shouldn't be knowing about all of the things that go through your head." Which... is a stance, I guess. But she was impressed by the design.
36. Do you update your website very often? How often is "very often"?
I'm doing something to the site every other day. If not editing something or updating something, I'm checking the logs and the firewall. Sometimes I'll get contacted by someone who comes across a broken feature, and the next 45 minutes of my life will be spent fixing it. Unless I come across the email before work, in which case I'll leave myself an emphatic note on my desktop so it'll be the first thing I see when I get back.
37. And the overall design, do you change that much? Why or why not?
No. The overall design went through three main phases. The first phase was the "initial phase", where I came up with something I wasn't super excited about, but ran with it anyway because I could change it later. And change it I did six months later, which included a full overhaul of how the website renders on mobile devices (the site is desktop-first by design). The third phase happened on the site's first anniversary, and it was a complete overhaul of the stylesheet. It became a lot more enhanced and made the CSS scheme monolithic, so instead of three branching stylesheets with child stylesheets that load on certain pages, everything is handled with one single sheet. Which meant the stylesheet was now heavier, but it's still only under 12 KB.
38. Is your website more you-focused, hobby-focused, or outside world-focused?
It's a mix of all three. Less so of the outside world, since I don't really go anywhere that isn't in or around Chicago. Hell, I haven't been on a plane since before 9/11, and I haven't really been inspired to be on one since.
39. Do you do web design professionally?
I do not, and I have conflicting opinions on if I'd want to. For a litany of reasons I won't get into here, finding work isn't the easiest for me, so I tend to go for overnight manual labor at warehouses. The hours aren't great, the work was way easier when I was younger, but the pay tends to be a lot more consistent. However, if I did have the resume for it (and actually went to college), I don't know if I'd want to do something professionally that I typically find joy in. On top of that, it would involve staying up-to-date with web design practices I don't necessarily agree with. I enjoy not having to deal with bulky JS frameworks, git commits and strict external deadlines.
40. If not, would you like to? And if you're comfortable answering, what do you do for work?
Read #39.
41. Do you communicate with people by email very much?
Not as much as I used to. The current spam-to-contact ratio is so fucked on my personal email address that I'm ready to migrate to a new email (possibly Proton Mail), just like I did with that email address 15 years ago.
42. Some people reject social media and use websites as a replacement. Do you keep social media outside of your website?
I do. I'm not really as active, but since I have friends that use social media, it's another way to stay in touch.
43. How about instant messengers? Do you use a mainstream one like Discord or Telegram? Or something like Matrix? Do you avoid them?
I was told Discord was the new AIM, and I laughed so hard while uninstalling it. And that was just 15 minutes after installing it. It's like IRC but worse; no, thank you. I'm open to other IMs, but I haven't come across something that's made me feel like I needed to adopt it.
44. Do you listen to music while you work on websites? If so, what kinds of artists?
Sometimes, but it can get very distracting quickly, whether it's Depeche Mode, Alice In Chains, the Beastie Boys, or the deluge of Scandinavian black metal that pollutes my playlists. Typically I'll have YouTube in the background; it tends to go in its own direction after the first video, and it hasn't really disappointed me yet.
45. Do you keep everything you make on one website, or do you have more than one?
HisVirusness.com was created to consolidate everything I made to one site. That's why it exists.
46. On a similar note, do you keep to one topic on your site, or many?
I feel like this is a repeat of #38, so I'm not going to answer it.
47. Do you present your real self, or at least try? Or do you construct a persona on purpose?
Flexing is for the 'Gram. Real doesn't need construction.
48. Have you ever made a good friend thanks to your website?
It's a bit too early to say, but I have made some buds so far.
49. Are you happy with the way HTML and CSS currently work?
Y... yes. Maybe. I don't know. I don't hate it, but I do make small modifications from time-to-time because something looked off to me at the moment.
50. What are practices that you think people should avoid?
Over-planning. Trying to nail-down a point-by-point strategy and system concept without having put any ink to paper, so to speak. Build first, iron the wrinkles, squash the bugs, and it'll take shape. hVmark in its current form wouldn't exist if HisVirusness.com still existed as a "plan".
51. What about under-utilised practices, or things you think people should do more?
STOP RELYING ON HEAVY FRAMEWORKS. Just because something is a modern convention doesn't automatically make it good, especially if you're not putting your own stank in the local source.
52. Do you use a lot of semantic HTML? Or are you guilty of generic structure?
Boring HTML is functional HTML. I'm only guilty of using deprecated tags; when it comes to actual document flow, I'm always trying to keep it orderly. I don't care if the backend looks like a backrooms nightmare that ten people pooped in; so long as the output HTML is clear, lined-up and unbroken, I'm happy.
53. Do you consider different browsers?
Different browsers and different OSs. HisVirusness.com is currently confirmed to work on Windows, macOS and all Linux distros, with all mainstream web browsers and most minimal browsers. And if you visit from RetroZilla running off of Windows 8.1, you will still be able to access the website. ...You won't get the full CSS experience, but it will degrade gracefully into a version that wouldn't look out of place in the late 90's-early 2000's.
54. Speaking of, what's your preferred browser? Convince your readers why they should use it.
Firefox. The great-grandson of Netscape Navigator. I don't have to sell anyone on Firefox; Microslop and Google have been doing a great job on their own lately.
55. And what OS are you on?
CachyOS on the desktop and Arch Linux on the laptop. If someone ever gives you a Chromebook, crack it open, do a manual Arch install, and thank me later. Depending on how much RAM it has, it should be able to run KDE Plasma without a hitch (and that's with Wayland)./dd>
56. Do you have a strong opinion on that, or do you just happen to use it?
Very much so. My strongest opinion is that IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER WHAT DISTRO YOU USE. Newbies always get discouraged because they get too bent out of shape about what people will say on forums instead of just sticking to generally agreed upon recommendations. New to Linux? Get Linux Mint. Start there. Maybe you'll start distrohopping and find something you like better, or maybe you'll just stick to Mint. Either are okay. Linux Mint could be the only distro you've ever felt the need to use, and you'd not only still be a "legit" Linux user, but you'd be covered by a robust ecosystem. Linux Mint is Ubuntu with all the suck taken out; it's actually a great direction to take for anyone interested in Linux, but confused on where to start.
57. Are your websites mobile-friendly?
Yes.
58. What are your thoughts on autoplay?
It's annoying and intrusive. If there's a warning beforehand, or your site is informally known for using it, that's one thing. Being jump-scared with Megalovania at full volume is a guaranteed way to make me click off and never come back.
59. What are your thoughts on webrings? Are you in any?
I'm in many. I even have my own. I love webrings, however I think in the modern-day, if you're going to host one, you should make the enrollment process as automated as you can.
60. Do you have any web shrines? What do you like to see in that sort of page?
Not really. I mean, I did... when I was 12. And that was decades ago. I'm totally all grown up now (sips MTN DEW after eating another dinosaur chicken nugget).
61. Are your websites "cliche", in your opinion?
Everything is a cliche if you're pompous enough.
62. What is your ideal website? Are you striving for that, or for something else?
I'm building the internet I want to inhabit through my website, through my webring, and through my external interactions in the communities I belong to.
63. Are you an artist? Do you draw or design your own assets?
I am an artist; that's partially why I have a website to begin with. If you do any kind of art but don't have a website, you're leaving expression on the table. No es bueno.
64. What are your favourite resource sites?
My favorite one used to be StackOverflow. I could typically work through any problem I had lurking through there. W3Schools and MDN are fantastic reference docs. PHP Sandbox is great for learning PHP or making/testing new scripts (it's typically what I use when I'm workshopping new features for hVmark). Outside of that, it's not hard finding resources for the more niche stuff, like microformats2; just Google it or follow the indieweb trail.
65. Is there a habit you just can't get away from no matter how hard you try?
Sometimes I get distract and find that I can't finis
66. What's your biggest advice for a new webmaster?
Learn as much as you can, don't be afraid for things to break, and do the work.
67. Do you keep all your styling in CSS? Or do you hard-code some?
I already answered this question in #10.
68. What do you think of frameset layouts?
Unique back in 1999. Rarely done well (or even good) today.
69. How about table-based layouts?
Funny enough, same as above. Use <div> instead.
70. Do you subscribe to the ideas of "one-column", "two-column" and "three-column" layouts? Do you use any of these?
I go one-column; more than that is unnecessary for what I'm doing, even if sections of the front page have two. Three-column layouts are also rarely done right in the modern-day. It's very PHP-Nuke, and no one is running that dumpster fire in the modern day, for good reason.
71. Do you spend longer on the HTML or the CSS?
HTML.
72. Have you ever made a page with no CSS? It's useful for your thoughts.
Of course, back in 1999. When CSS first gained prominence, I didn't want to use it. I thought that separating the concerns introduced unnecessary complexity and weight that didn't need to exist. It took me a while to come around, and now I'm a bit of a fan.
73. Do you ever find yourself making layouts with nothing to put on them? Or do you only make layouts when the need arises?
...My site has one layout. I don't put work into something I have no use for.
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?
Most of the time, at least for indie websites.
76. How did YOU learn how to make websites?
Another question I feel like I already answered. Pass.
77. Do you ever force elements to do things they're not supposed to?
All the time. How do you know if something is gonna work if you can't see it break first-hand?
78. Thoughts on floating elements?
Useful, so long as they're under strict control.
79. When you're sizing stuff, what do you use first? Do you use px, em, %, or something else?
I only recently started using em and vw because there were times where pixels and percents just wasn't doing the trick. Besides that, initial go-to is percents because I like keeping things as dynamic as possible.
80. Do you have a favourite font?
Probably JetBrains Mono. And the fonts they used in the first Mortal Kombat games. I used to use those heavily for UI chrome elements back in the day.
81. Would you run a website with another person? How would that work?
I could run a website with multiple people. So long as its established that I'm the editor-in-chief, so any final first-class publishing goes through me.
82. Do you surf the Web to find new personal websites very often?
The answer can be found in #4.
83. Do you bookmark other people's websites? How would you feel knowing someone else bookmarked yours?
I do. And I know people have bookmarked my site and subscribed to the RSS feed. It feels nice.
84. What do you want people to be most impressed with when they see your website?
Yes. Or, at least, I want them to read certain posts and think, "(awkward laughter) Wow, I... was not expecting that. That takes a lot of balls to admit."
85. Are you interested in technology outside of websites? Do you collect?
Very much so. I'm an avid Linux enthusiast and big fan of hobby electronics, microcontrollers, single-board computers and retro computers. In fact, VCFMW is in a couple of weeks, and I cannot wait.
86. How often and for how long are you online?
Yes.
87. When it comes to your website, who is your target audience?
I don't know how to answer this question. Either you're on the same wavelength or you're not. And you'll find out pretty quickly within the first minute.
88. Have you ever been interested in XHTML?
I always found it kinda unnecessary. Like, a nice-to-have for those who want it, but probably not something I would use myself.
89. Do you program in general? Have you ever written a program for use with or on your website, not counting simple JavaScript?
#15
90. Speaking of programs that help you make websites, what do you think of static site generators (SSGs)? Have you ever used one?
They're the kind of things were hurting for back in '99.
HisVirusness.com is run by Twelvedred Hyde™, a custom-made runtime static-site generator.
91. Do you keep a hitcounter? Why or why not?
No, they're notoriously unreliable.
92. Do you frequent forums? Which ones?
Yes; I'm a member of The 32-Bit Cafe, MelonLand Forum, and Ctrl-Shift-3.
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?
The editor I use is a text editor, because I do everything either through FTP or SSH.
94. Do you think you appear cool to others? A more accurate answer now: do other people ever say you're cool?
I don't think I appear cool.
I know I appear cool. 😎
95. Are you embarrassed of your old work? Have you ever deleted everything out of shame?
Of course.
96. Would you close down your website if you couldn't update it, or would you leave an archive?
The Internet Archive already has a comprehensive archive of my site as-is. Besides that, I don't really get what the question is asking. If I couldn't update my website, then that's a huge problem. I'd have to nuke the server and redeploy (which is easy when everything is so light and compartmentalized). If I couldn't update it on account of being dead, well... the site would come down on its own over time. There would still be an archive of it elsewhere.
97. Do you reveal a lot about yourself on your website? Or are you more secretive?
Oh, I get pretty candid on here.
98. Are you willing to reveal who your best online friend is, and/or if they have a website?
My best online friend has sadly not been with us since December of last year. He didn't have a website, however if you check the headers of this website, you'll find a small tribute to him (The Textbook Case is dedicated to him, as well).
99. And do you optimise the images on your website?
Yes. Well, not the art so much. But the chrome, the stuff on the front page, the Open Graph images, etc., yes.
100. We're out of time! How do you feel after answering 100 questions? ....other than exhausted.
I knocked this out on a Sunday afternoon, and I'm surprised I even got halfway through it. There was a bit too much padding and repetition, but other than that, it was fine. We'll see how long it is before I start editing answers. 🤣