4 ms·

I started designing web pages in 1995. While they weren't works of art, I really miss the simplicity and utility of the internet back then. Also, most content s

by RUG3Y 10y ago

I started designing web pages in 1995. While they weren't works of art, I really miss the simplicity and utility of the internet back then. Also, most content seemed to be really enthusiastic and less economically motivated. I wish we could get back to that.

abpavel 10y ago
+1, howewer I do recall countless "works best with minimum 800x600 resolution and Internet Explorer" disclaimers.
CalRobert 10y ago
Yesterday I needed to look some stuff up while on an RPi with just Ubuntu server. Using Lynx on Google and Wikipedia brought that back a little bit. It was nice.
rimantas 10y ago
I just miss http://csszengarden.com/ http://csszengarden.com/ time.
- brightball 10y ago
  I really don't think it ever went away. It's just not popular for whatever reason.
  - bunderbunder 10y ago
    I think because CSS layout without the aid of a CSS grid is so @$@% obtuse. Or at least, try as I might, I've yet to find a clear and comprehensive explanation of how to do it properly. So, despite thinking CSS Zen Garden is a work of beauty, for my own part I just throw bootstrap at it and get on with my life, and I'm not ashamed about it.
    - zepolen 10y ago
      Use the grid to get a prototype up fast. Then you do the real work and convert it to media queries that fit your design.
      - bunderbunder 10y ago
        The problem there is, I have no incentive to continue to part 2. Every time I've tried, it's been a frustrating mess that ends in failure. I suppose it's easy for me to punt because I'm not a front end developer. To be honest, though, CSS is such a bizarre layout system that I don't think I can blame the pros for doing it, either. Part of being a professional is finding the most profitable use for your time, and I doubt that most people will notice the difference.
    - tracker1 10y ago
      If your content won't flow/flex into a grid well, then those parts should have custom CSS @media queries to begin with.. it's a matter of learning that. Alternatively, you can use something like react with event triggering on window resize, and use the actual window size as part of your rendering... for example, I'll put the event to trigger my redux store so that state.window.size.height/width are set, I'll sometimes also do the window.scrollTop in the events as well.. this way I can use that in code for my components... render(props) { if (props.window.size.width < 600) return null; if (props.window.size.width < 1024) return <div>...</div>; ... } Or similar changes in rendering... assuming something like redux with react-redux's connect. It's actually a pretty slick way to handle this. In this example, [1] I'm using the value to also adjust visual configuration from inputted configuration. [1] https://github.com/tracker1/md-datepicker/blob/master/_src/DatePickerModal/reducer.js#L26 https://github.com/tracker1/md-datepicker/blob/master/_src/D...
- zeveb 10y ago
  Oh man, that's beautiful. And it works with a two-inch-wide window as well as a full-screen window! If only there were some way to force every site to use those techniques. Electric shock, perhaps?
  - new_hackers 10y ago
    Agreed, very impressive layout!
  - zepolen 10y ago
    Anything is easy if your content is just text. Stick a menu, some photos, a table, a form and item layout in there and you start hitting the pain points of web design. Of course this is no excuse to not be able to make a perfectly responsive site with those hard parts as well - just people are lazy.
- Scea91 10y ago
  Strange. I stopped doing web development roughly 5 years ago so I still remember that site as something that is hyped.
- fiatjaf 10y ago
  Here's an actually useful CSS Zen Garden revival: http://websitesfortrello.github.io/classless/ http://websitesfortrello.github.io/classless/
  - dirtyaura 10y ago
    Theme selection doesn't work properly on this site, any other site to browse classless themes?
    - fiatjaf 10y ago
      GitHub has screenshots: https://github.com/websitesfortrello/classless https://github.com/websitesfortrello/classless
  - bunderbunder 10y ago
    Interestingly, most the themes I tried didn't render well on my screen. Elements clipping or rendering on top of each other in funny ways, stuff like that - all the typical stuff that happens when the designer didn't consider how the page might render on a smaller screen than the one they have. I'm rocking a 13" MacBook with the browser in full screen mode, so I suspect my screen's dimensions are well within the range of typical users. The fact that I encounter sites like this on a daily basis is an eternal source of wonder.

by RUG3Y 10y ago

abpavel 10y ago

+1, howewer I do recall countless "works best with minimum 800x600 resolution and Internet Explorer" disclaimers.

CalRobert 10y ago

Yesterday I needed to look some stuff up while on an RPi with just Ubuntu server. Using Lynx on Google and Wikipedia brought that back a little bit. It was nice.

rimantas 10y ago

I just miss http://csszengarden.com/ http://csszengarden.com/ time.

brightball 10y ago
I really don't think it ever went away. It's just not popular for whatever reason.
- bunderbunder 10y ago
  I think because CSS layout without the aid of a CSS grid is so @$@% obtuse. Or at least, try as I might, I've yet to find a clear and comprehensive explanation of how to do it properly. So, despite thinking CSS Zen Garden is a work of beauty, for my own part I just throw bootstrap at it and get on with my life, and I'm not ashamed about it.
  - zepolen 10y ago
    Use the grid to get a prototype up fast. Then you do the real work and convert it to media queries that fit your design.
    - bunderbunder 10y ago
      The problem there is, I have no incentive to continue to part 2. Every time I've tried, it's been a frustrating mess that ends in failure. I suppose it's easy for me to punt because I'm not a front end developer. To be honest, though, CSS is such a bizarre layout system that I don't think I can blame the pros for doing it, either. Part of being a professional is finding the most profitable use for your time, and I doubt that most people will notice the difference.
  - tracker1 10y ago
    If your content won't flow/flex into a grid well, then those parts should have custom CSS @media queries to begin with.. it's a matter of learning that. Alternatively, you can use something like react with event triggering on window resize, and use the actual window size as part of your rendering... for example, I'll put the event to trigger my redux store so that state.window.size.height/width are set, I'll sometimes also do the window.scrollTop in the events as well.. this way I can use that in code for my components... render(props) { if (props.window.size.width < 600) return null; if (props.window.size.width < 1024) return <div>...</div>; ... } Or similar changes in rendering... assuming something like redux with react-redux's connect. It's actually a pretty slick way to handle this. In this example, [1] I'm using the value to also adjust visual configuration from inputted configuration. [1] https://github.com/tracker1/md-datepicker/blob/master/_src/DatePickerModal/reducer.js#L26 https://github.com/tracker1/md-datepicker/blob/master/_src/D...
zeveb 10y ago
Oh man, that's beautiful. And it works with a two-inch-wide window as well as a full-screen window! If only there were some way to force every site to use those techniques. Electric shock, perhaps?
- new_hackers 10y ago
  Agreed, very impressive layout!
- zepolen 10y ago
  Anything is easy if your content is just text. Stick a menu, some photos, a table, a form and item layout in there and you start hitting the pain points of web design. Of course this is no excuse to not be able to make a perfectly responsive site with those hard parts as well - just people are lazy.
Scea91 10y ago
Strange. I stopped doing web development roughly 5 years ago so I still remember that site as something that is hyped.
fiatjaf 10y ago
Here's an actually useful CSS Zen Garden revival: http://websitesfortrello.github.io/classless/ http://websitesfortrello.github.io/classless/
- dirtyaura 10y ago
  Theme selection doesn't work properly on this site, any other site to browse classless themes?
  - fiatjaf 10y ago
    GitHub has screenshots: https://github.com/websitesfortrello/classless https://github.com/websitesfortrello/classless
- bunderbunder 10y ago
  Interestingly, most the themes I tried didn't render well on my screen. Elements clipping or rendering on top of each other in funny ways, stuff like that - all the typical stuff that happens when the designer didn't consider how the page might render on a smaller screen than the one they have. I'm rocking a 13" MacBook with the browser in full screen mode, so I suspect my screen's dimensions are well within the range of typical users. The fact that I encounter sites like this on a daily basis is an eternal source of wonder.