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Hello everyone! I have been co-hosting the Europe Homebrew Website Club for the last year and a half. During the calls we come together to chat about websites:

Hello everyone! I have been co-hosting the Europe Homebrew Website Club for the last year and a half. During the calls we come together to chat about websites: what you are building, what you want to build, and how you can build it! If you are interested in the web, I (and the rest of community!) would love to see you! P.S. My site is https://jamesg.blog https://jamesg.blog -- what's your domain name?

pard68 3y ago
Love the colors and your graphs. Here's mine, https://drollery.org https://drollery.org (I have not put much effort into the mobile version, it's a bit wonky since a recent styling update, best enjoyed on desktop). This is mostly in exercise in "why not?"
- zerojames 3y ago
  I love all the little details on your site. The sound effects on your post list made me startled me at first then made me laugh :)
  - pard68 3y ago
    Ya I kinda hate that. Needs work. But also I use my seven and six year olds at my litmus test, they laugh, it ships, so these things do happen. Be sure to click all the little marginalia cartoons!
simonw 3y ago
Mine is https://simonwillison.net/ https://simonwillison.net/ - I should really come along to one of these some time.
- zerojames 3y ago
  Your website is delightful. Please do! We host a Europe and US meetup online every week and every two weeks, respectively, in addition to in person events. If there isn't an in-person event near you, reach out in https://indieweb.org/discuss https://indieweb.org/discuss to see if anyone would be interested in hosting one.
- rednafi 3y ago
  I've been following Simon on every platform under the sun for the past few years and learned so many bits and pieces of tricks from his content. IDK how you write so many high quality stuff at such a fast pace while also doing a significant amount of OSS development work. Datasette and friends are such a joy to use. You inspired me to get started with writing three years ago and I never stopped: https://rednafi.com https://rednafi.com.
yabbs 3y ago
Love the sparkline next to number of posts.
- zerojames 3y ago
  Why thank you! I am using https://www.kryogenix.org/days/2012/12/30/simple-svg-sparklines/ https://www.kryogenix.org/days/2012/12/30/simple-svg-sparkli... for the sparklines. All credit goes to Stuart who made the SVG! The MediaWiki sparkline is powered by the same thing and https://sparkline.jamesg.blog https://sparkline.jamesg.blog (open source link in site footer).
hypertexthero 3y ago
Cool! I’m at https://hypertexthero.com https://hypertexthero.com One suggestion I have is to consider using https://meet.jit.si/ https://meet.jit.si/ instead of Zoom for meetings. GitHub link: https://jitsi.github.io/handbook/ https://jitsi.github.io/handbook/
- zerojames 3y ago
  Oooh! I love the cloud animation on your website!
  - hypertexthero 3y ago
    Thank you! I learned the technique from another indie website along the way. Another thing I like about the independent, old-school web is that you can view the source code to learn things. I love the Moments of Joy series on your site, and the Written by human not by AI label!
    - zerojames 3y ago
      You have made my day :) Have you viewed source on my site? You'll see a few comments along the way. I wanted to write my site in such a way that someone new to the web could take a look and learn how the HTML works on the page. All credit for the badge goes to the wonderful https://notbyai.fyi/ https://notbyai.fyi/.
- RealCodingOtaku 3y ago
  Yeah, many times I was keen to join the IndieWeb events, but I was put off by the requirement of Zoom. Jitsi would be perfect for IndieWeb as one of their principles is “owning your data”. And ooh, I'm at https://codingotaku.com https://codingotaku.com
- vinc 3y ago
  Same thing, I don't want to use Zoom when a good open source alternative exists
catgirlinspace 3y ago
mine is https://catgirlin.space https://catgirlin.space ^^ been working on building a new site though over the past week :3 also have seen you around a lot in the indieweb chat!!
- zerojames 3y ago
  I love https://catgirlin.space/posts/building-an-image-splitter/ https://catgirlin.space/posts/building-an-image-splitter/! I saw a piece of art in a gallery that was a photo, divided into pieces like this. Then, all the pieces were shuffled. It made for a really cool effect.
- rednafi 3y ago
  Love the tone of the contents.
hatsix 3y ago
https://dusty.is https://dusty.is it's nothing special, but I love the domain and paths
- hollander 3y ago
  But dusty.is/a/404/gamer…
- rednafi 3y ago
  Reminds me of https://motherfuckingwebsite.com https://motherfuckingwebsite.com
- zerojames 3y ago
  I love your site! One note: https://dusty.is/a/gamer https://dusty.is/a/gamer doesn't return a page.
spondyl 3y ago
I'm over at https://utf9k.net https://utf9k.net although I've had the same layout for long enough that I feel like it needs a bit more personality hah. The little live player widget in the top right is my pride and joy :') https://github.com/marcus-crane/utf9k https://github.com/marcus-crane/utf9k for the source and https://github.com/marcus-crane/gunslinger https://github.com/marcus-crane/gunslinger for the cludgy backend that powers the live player
- rednafi 3y ago
  The rough edges on the site reminds of the good ol' 90s web which I never experienced. My experience with the early web is limited to the Wayback Machine. I went with an off-the-shelf, single-column theme and build mine on similar principles of simplicity and personal touch ups: https://rednafi.com https://rednafi.com
- zerojames 3y ago
  Wow! This is so cool. P.S. I love Billions, which at the time of writing is highlighted on your homepage.
leviathant 3y ago
Hey James - I appreciate your enthusiasm about this idea. I technically never stopped https://www.theninhotline.com https://www.theninhotline.com, but after a few years, it was clear that social networks like Twitter and Facebook had taken over as our primary channel. About two years ago, I decided to rebuild the site (partially to get some hands-on experience building a PWA) and have basically been doing a gut-job of the frontend. I removed tracking pixels, frameworks and other javascript cruft, and brought focus to the RSS feed again. I spent time building a library of website 'cover art' too, which I cycle in periodically - typically when I post a new update to the blog. There's a lot more cleaning to do, but I'm happy to be actively iterating on the ol' website again. Oh, and my 'personal site' is https://www.bitrotten.com https://www.bitrotten.com I'm based in Philadelphia, but I've got a lot going on IRL compared to when I launched this site 24 years ago, and I don't think I could do a regular meetup. But keep on fighting the good fight!
- zerojames 3y ago
  I get excited about all things web :D > it was clear that social networks like Twitter and Facebook had taken over as our primary channel There are a lot of people in the IndieWeb who care about, and are working toward, building different ways to interact on the web. I follow blogs and people with Monocle (https://monocle.p3k.io https://monocle.p3k.io), a social reader powered by Microsub (draft spec) and Micropub (https://indieweb.org/Micropub https://indieweb.org/Micropub) I can like posts on websites in my feed then the likes show up on my bookmarks site (https://jamesg.coffee https://jamesg.coffee). If a site supports Webmention (https://indieweb.org/Webmention https://indieweb.org/Webmention), the author will be notified that I liked their post. I am always happy to talk about social interactions on the web -- there is so much work we can do! > I spent time building a library of website 'cover art' too, which I cycle in periodically - typically when I post a new update to the blog. There's a lot more cleaning to do, but I'm happy to be actively iterating on the ol' website again. I _love_ this! > I don't think I could do a regular meetup We have a lot of people who stop by for a meetup every month or two online. All interested in the web are welcome to come on whatever cadence suits you; whether you come once a week, month, or year! There is also a community chat if you prefer text at https://indieweb.org/discuss https://indieweb.org/discuss (Apologies for all the links. As it may be noted, I get excited easily!)
matheusmoreira 3y ago
> what's your domain name? It matches my user name: https://matheusmoreira.com https://matheusmoreira.com > what you are building Just a static site where I write stuff I think about. My idea is to write a new page every time I get the feeling I've written the same HN comment multiple times. Currently working on posts about ads and copyright which are topics I've commented on many times. > what you want to build I want to improve the website design. Haven't managed to create a header that doesn't look ugly yet. > how you can build it Some time ago I made a comment here on HN recommending pugjs for static sites and writing HTML by hand: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37019175 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37019175 Not long afterwards I realized it has been unmaintained for years. So I forked it and took over maintenance. Deleted the parts I didn't need. Now it's a new variant of the language and it's powering my own site. https://github.com/matheusmoreira/pugneum https://github.com/matheusmoreira/pugneum https://github.com/matheusmoreira/matheusmoreira.github.io https://github.com/matheusmoreira/matheusmoreira.github.io
deleted 3y ago
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rambambram 3y ago
Have been following your feed for a while now. Got really inspired by the HWC and started a programming meetup in my city. Also because I build https://heyhomepage.com https://heyhomepage.com which fits the niche. Might see some of you in Nurnberg!
fjfaase 3y ago
My domain is https://www.iwriteiam.nl/ https://www.iwriteiam.nl/ . It is just plain HTML with some JavaScript for some pages, some animations, and some functionality. I am happy with my design, which has not changed in the past twenty years, but I am open for suggestions about improvements.
qubyte 3y ago
I used to be a regular in-person attendee here in Brighton pre-pandemic. My site is statically generated with some IndieWeb enhancements (webmentions in and out, micropub, posse, etc.) I mostly use it as a hidden log of my study sessions and for notes. A few times a year I'll write something longer form. https://qubyte.codes/ https://qubyte.codes/
pabloem 3y ago
I love the indieweb philosophy. I'm a bit off the topic of the tech sites shared here, but I have a recipe site (mostly from around the world) with my partner. This is the domain (in spanish, sorry!): https://www.foodisea.com https://www.foodisea.com
- zerojames 3y ago
  This is amazing! We talked about recipes at Homebrew Website Club a few weeks ago. We asked ourselves "how could we share our own recipes online?" The layout of your recipes and the focus on the process without extraneous information makes me want to learn more about cooking. I have always been scared off by recipe sites. Your site looks like a great entry point for me.
okaleniuk 3y ago
Hi James. Mine is https://wordsandbuttons.online https://wordsandbuttons.online and I'm definitely zooming in <s>this</s> next Wednesday.
- zerojames 3y ago
  I _love_ your site! I have a question about https://wordsandbuttons.online/lexical_differential_highlighting_instead_of_syntax_highlighting.html https://wordsandbuttons.online/lexical_differential_highligh.... What does this part mean: > Ideally, the smaller the lexical difference, the greater the color difference should be. I am fascinated by different ways to represent code visually.
  - okaleniuk 3y ago
    This means that the more lexemes look alike, the more they need color difference the highlighting provides. Like 'coordinate_u' and 'coordiante_v' should be distinctively different, but 'coordinate_u' and 'GetCanvasWidth' can even share the same color.
    - zerojames 3y ago
      Thank you!
maurits 3y ago
I'd be happy to join. I make everyday slice of life pics at https://www.maurits.ch https://www.maurits.ch Its in dire need of new back-nend.
mbork_pl 3y ago
Hi, I'd like to come, too (virtually ofc). A few months ago I started a (very minimalist) blog [0], using a very simple blogging engine I wrote myself [1] in under 400 lines of Emacs Lisp. [0] https://crimsonelevendelightpetrichor.net/ https://crimsonelevendelightpetrichor.net/ [1] https://gitlab.com/mbork_mbork_pl/org-clive https://gitlab.com/mbork_mbork_pl/org-clive
- zerojames 3y ago
  I love that you have written your own blog generator! I have, too, but it is in Python. Our next meetup is online on Wednesday, with events on Europe and US timezones (https://events.indieweb.org https://events.indieweb.org). No need to RSVP; just show up!
  - mbork_pl 3y ago
    Thanks! I can see that it's 7pm, but what timezone exactly?
    - zerojames 3y ago
      The next meetups are: September 20, 2023 - Wed 7:00 - 9:00pm (Europe/London) September 27, 2023 - Wed 6:00 - 8:00pm (America/Los_Angeles) The individual event pages have timezone information (i.e. https://events.indieweb.org/2023/09/homebrew-website-club-europe-london-fMX8NjhrE73a https://events.indieweb.org/2023/09/homebrew-website-club-eu...). I'm not sure why the homepage doesn't.
bojanvidanovic 3y ago
Hi James! Love your implementation of instagram stories, I had the same idea but never got time to implement it. Looking forward joining of your meetups. BTW my website is https://bojanvidanovic.com https://bojanvidanovic.com
manuelmoreale 3y ago
I doubt I'll ever attend but it's a great initiative. I might blog about it just to spread the message. > what's your domain name? Lives at https://manuelmoreale.com https://manuelmoreale.com
- zerojames 3y ago
  Your People and Blogs newsletter looks great. I just signed up!
  - manuelmoreale 3y ago
    Thank you! I’m having a blast running it honestly. All the people I got in touch with were super kind and the interviews are all incredibly interesting.

pard68 3y ago

Love the colors and your graphs. Here's mine, https://drollery.org https://drollery.org (I have not put much effort into the mobile version, it's a bit wonky since a recent styling update, best enjoyed on desktop). This is mostly in exercise in "why not?"

zerojames 3y ago
I love all the little details on your site. The sound effects on your post list made me startled me at first then made me laugh :)
- pard68 3y ago
  Ya I kinda hate that. Needs work. But also I use my seven and six year olds at my litmus test, they laugh, it ships, so these things do happen. Be sure to click all the little marginalia cartoons!

simonw 3y ago

Mine is https://simonwillison.net/ https://simonwillison.net/ - I should really come along to one of these some time.

zerojames 3y ago
Your website is delightful. Please do! We host a Europe and US meetup online every week and every two weeks, respectively, in addition to in person events. If there isn't an in-person event near you, reach out in https://indieweb.org/discuss https://indieweb.org/discuss to see if anyone would be interested in hosting one.
rednafi 3y ago
I've been following Simon on every platform under the sun for the past few years and learned so many bits and pieces of tricks from his content. IDK how you write so many high quality stuff at such a fast pace while also doing a significant amount of OSS development work. Datasette and friends are such a joy to use. You inspired me to get started with writing three years ago and I never stopped: https://rednafi.com https://rednafi.com.

yabbs 3y ago

Love the sparkline next to number of posts.

zerojames 3y ago
Why thank you! I am using https://www.kryogenix.org/days/2012/12/30/simple-svg-sparklines/ https://www.kryogenix.org/days/2012/12/30/simple-svg-sparkli... for the sparklines. All credit goes to Stuart who made the SVG! The MediaWiki sparkline is powered by the same thing and https://sparkline.jamesg.blog https://sparkline.jamesg.blog (open source link in site footer).

hypertexthero 3y ago

Cool! I’m at https://hypertexthero.com https://hypertexthero.com One suggestion I have is to consider using https://meet.jit.si/ https://meet.jit.si/ instead of Zoom for meetings. GitHub link: https://jitsi.github.io/handbook/ https://jitsi.github.io/handbook/

zerojames 3y ago
Oooh! I love the cloud animation on your website!
- hypertexthero 3y ago
  Thank you! I learned the technique from another indie website along the way. Another thing I like about the independent, old-school web is that you can view the source code to learn things. I love the Moments of Joy series on your site, and the Written by human not by AI label!
  - zerojames 3y ago
    You have made my day :) Have you viewed source on my site? You'll see a few comments along the way. I wanted to write my site in such a way that someone new to the web could take a look and learn how the HTML works on the page. All credit for the badge goes to the wonderful https://notbyai.fyi/ https://notbyai.fyi/.
RealCodingOtaku 3y ago
Yeah, many times I was keen to join the IndieWeb events, but I was put off by the requirement of Zoom. Jitsi would be perfect for IndieWeb as one of their principles is “owning your data”. And ooh, I'm at https://codingotaku.com https://codingotaku.com
vinc 3y ago
Same thing, I don't want to use Zoom when a good open source alternative exists

catgirlinspace 3y ago

mine is https://catgirlin.space https://catgirlin.space ^^ been working on building a new site though over the past week :3 also have seen you around a lot in the indieweb chat!!

zerojames 3y ago
I love https://catgirlin.space/posts/building-an-image-splitter/ https://catgirlin.space/posts/building-an-image-splitter/! I saw a piece of art in a gallery that was a photo, divided into pieces like this. Then, all the pieces were shuffled. It made for a really cool effect.
rednafi 3y ago
Love the tone of the contents.

hatsix 3y ago

https://dusty.is https://dusty.is it's nothing special, but I love the domain and paths

hollander 3y ago
But dusty.is/a/404/gamer…
rednafi 3y ago
Reminds me of https://motherfuckingwebsite.com https://motherfuckingwebsite.com
zerojames 3y ago
I love your site! One note: https://dusty.is/a/gamer https://dusty.is/a/gamer doesn't return a page.

spondyl 3y ago

I'm over at https://utf9k.net https://utf9k.net although I've had the same layout for long enough that I feel like it needs a bit more personality hah. The little live player widget in the top right is my pride and joy :') https://github.com/marcus-crane/utf9k https://github.com/marcus-crane/utf9k for the source and https://github.com/marcus-crane/gunslinger https://github.com/marcus-crane/gunslinger for the cludgy backend that powers the live player

rednafi 3y ago
The rough edges on the site reminds of the good ol' 90s web which I never experienced. My experience with the early web is limited to the Wayback Machine. I went with an off-the-shelf, single-column theme and build mine on similar principles of simplicity and personal touch ups: https://rednafi.com https://rednafi.com
zerojames 3y ago
Wow! This is so cool. P.S. I love Billions, which at the time of writing is highlighted on your homepage.

leviathant 3y ago

Hey James - I appreciate your enthusiasm about this idea. I technically never stopped https://www.theninhotline.com https://www.theninhotline.com, but after a few years, it was clear that social networks like Twitter and Facebook had taken over as our primary channel. About two years ago, I decided to rebuild the site (partially to get some hands-on experience building a PWA) and have basically been doing a gut-job of the frontend. I removed tracking pixels, frameworks and other javascript cruft, and brought focus to the RSS feed again. I spent time building a library of website 'cover art' too, which I cycle in periodically - typically when I post a new update to the blog. There's a lot more cleaning to do, but I'm happy to be actively iterating on the ol' website again. Oh, and my 'personal site' is https://www.bitrotten.com https://www.bitrotten.com I'm based in Philadelphia, but I've got a lot going on IRL compared to when I launched this site 24 years ago, and I don't think I could do a regular meetup. But keep on fighting the good fight!

zerojames 3y ago
I get excited about all things web :D > it was clear that social networks like Twitter and Facebook had taken over as our primary channel There are a lot of people in the IndieWeb who care about, and are working toward, building different ways to interact on the web. I follow blogs and people with Monocle (https://monocle.p3k.io https://monocle.p3k.io), a social reader powered by Microsub (draft spec) and Micropub (https://indieweb.org/Micropub https://indieweb.org/Micropub) I can like posts on websites in my feed then the likes show up on my bookmarks site (https://jamesg.coffee https://jamesg.coffee). If a site supports Webmention (https://indieweb.org/Webmention https://indieweb.org/Webmention), the author will be notified that I liked their post. I am always happy to talk about social interactions on the web -- there is so much work we can do! > I spent time building a library of website 'cover art' too, which I cycle in periodically - typically when I post a new update to the blog. There's a lot more cleaning to do, but I'm happy to be actively iterating on the ol' website again. I _love_ this! > I don't think I could do a regular meetup We have a lot of people who stop by for a meetup every month or two online. All interested in the web are welcome to come on whatever cadence suits you; whether you come once a week, month, or year! There is also a community chat if you prefer text at https://indieweb.org/discuss https://indieweb.org/discuss (Apologies for all the links. As it may be noted, I get excited easily!)

matheusmoreira 3y ago

> what's your domain name? It matches my user name: https://matheusmoreira.com https://matheusmoreira.com > what you are building Just a static site where I write stuff I think about. My idea is to write a new page every time I get the feeling I've written the same HN comment multiple times. Currently working on posts about ads and copyright which are topics I've commented on many times. > what you want to build I want to improve the website design. Haven't managed to create a header that doesn't look ugly yet. > how you can build it Some time ago I made a comment here on HN recommending pugjs for static sites and writing HTML by hand: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37019175 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37019175 Not long afterwards I realized it has been unmaintained for years. So I forked it and took over maintenance. Deleted the parts I didn't need. Now it's a new variant of the language and it's powering my own site. https://github.com/matheusmoreira/pugneum https://github.com/matheusmoreira/pugneum https://github.com/matheusmoreira/matheusmoreira.github.io https://github.com/matheusmoreira/matheusmoreira.github.io

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

rambambram 3y ago

Have been following your feed for a while now. Got really inspired by the HWC and started a programming meetup in my city. Also because I build https://heyhomepage.com https://heyhomepage.com which fits the niche. Might see some of you in Nurnberg!

fjfaase 3y ago

My domain is https://www.iwriteiam.nl/ https://www.iwriteiam.nl/ . It is just plain HTML with some JavaScript for some pages, some animations, and some functionality. I am happy with my design, which has not changed in the past twenty years, but I am open for suggestions about improvements.

qubyte 3y ago

I used to be a regular in-person attendee here in Brighton pre-pandemic. My site is statically generated with some IndieWeb enhancements (webmentions in and out, micropub, posse, etc.) I mostly use it as a hidden log of my study sessions and for notes. A few times a year I'll write something longer form. https://qubyte.codes/ https://qubyte.codes/

pabloem 3y ago

I love the indieweb philosophy. I'm a bit off the topic of the tech sites shared here, but I have a recipe site (mostly from around the world) with my partner. This is the domain (in spanish, sorry!): https://www.foodisea.com https://www.foodisea.com

zerojames 3y ago
This is amazing! We talked about recipes at Homebrew Website Club a few weeks ago. We asked ourselves "how could we share our own recipes online?" The layout of your recipes and the focus on the process without extraneous information makes me want to learn more about cooking. I have always been scared off by recipe sites. Your site looks like a great entry point for me.

okaleniuk 3y ago

Hi James. Mine is https://wordsandbuttons.online https://wordsandbuttons.online and I'm definitely zooming in <s>this</s> next Wednesday.

zerojames 3y ago
I _love_ your site! I have a question about https://wordsandbuttons.online/lexical_differential_highlighting_instead_of_syntax_highlighting.html https://wordsandbuttons.online/lexical_differential_highligh.... What does this part mean: > Ideally, the smaller the lexical difference, the greater the color difference should be. I am fascinated by different ways to represent code visually.
- okaleniuk 3y ago
  This means that the more lexemes look alike, the more they need color difference the highlighting provides. Like 'coordinate_u' and 'coordiante_v' should be distinctively different, but 'coordinate_u' and 'GetCanvasWidth' can even share the same color.
  - zerojames 3y ago
    Thank you!

maurits 3y ago

I'd be happy to join. I make everyday slice of life pics at https://www.maurits.ch https://www.maurits.ch Its in dire need of new back-nend.

mbork_pl 3y ago

Hi, I'd like to come, too (virtually ofc). A few months ago I started a (very minimalist) blog [0], using a very simple blogging engine I wrote myself [1] in under 400 lines of Emacs Lisp. [0] https://crimsonelevendelightpetrichor.net/ https://crimsonelevendelightpetrichor.net/ [1] https://gitlab.com/mbork_mbork_pl/org-clive https://gitlab.com/mbork_mbork_pl/org-clive

zerojames 3y ago
I love that you have written your own blog generator! I have, too, but it is in Python. Our next meetup is online on Wednesday, with events on Europe and US timezones (https://events.indieweb.org https://events.indieweb.org). No need to RSVP; just show up!
- mbork_pl 3y ago
  Thanks! I can see that it's 7pm, but what timezone exactly?
  - zerojames 3y ago
    The next meetups are: September 20, 2023 - Wed 7:00 - 9:00pm (Europe/London) September 27, 2023 - Wed 6:00 - 8:00pm (America/Los_Angeles) The individual event pages have timezone information (i.e. https://events.indieweb.org/2023/09/homebrew-website-club-europe-london-fMX8NjhrE73a https://events.indieweb.org/2023/09/homebrew-website-club-eu...). I'm not sure why the homepage doesn't.

bojanvidanovic 3y ago

Hi James! Love your implementation of instagram stories, I had the same idea but never got time to implement it. Looking forward joining of your meetups. BTW my website is https://bojanvidanovic.com https://bojanvidanovic.com

manuelmoreale 3y ago

I doubt I'll ever attend but it's a great initiative. I might blog about it just to spread the message. > what's your domain name? Lives at https://manuelmoreale.com https://manuelmoreale.com

zerojames 3y ago
Your People and Blogs newsletter looks great. I just signed up!
- manuelmoreale 3y ago
  Thank you! I’m having a blast running it honestly. All the people I got in touch with were super kind and the interviews are all incredibly interesting.