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My web page has gone through many an iteration as I tried out new ideas and new, emerging techniques. The web is an everchanging place, and I've vainly tried to keep up. Here you can see the painfully small steps of my improvement.


[version 8] version 8 2002-
Version 8 saw some more very radical changes. A bigger header, justified by ever increasing desktop resolutions. A move from HTML to XHTML and for the first time, a fixed page width, and all markup done using CSS2 stylesheets.

Also, a navigation redesign back to a tabbed two-level menu structure, because the navigation tree menu was just getting too big, with too many levels.

Some day, the column on the left is going to contain some graphical elements relevant to the page.

[version 7] version 7 2001-2002
Version 7 did away with images for navigation links and consolidated the navigation in one spot, the left. The left-hand menu had become a tree-structure, which expanded as you moved deeper, just like in the Windows file manager, including similar icons. Another main advantage of this was that the page header could be much smaller.

The design theme changed slightly, from circles to diamonds, but unfortunately a lot of people never noticed.

[version 6] version 6 2000
This was a radical design change, moving to light text on a dark background. The design theme for this one was 'round', which can be seen in the section buttons, the submenu buttons in the top-right and even in the page background. Also, the font changed from Times New Roman to the more modern-looking sans-serif family, using style sheets. HTML 4.0 all the way, baby.

Unfortunately, the image-based navigation was just as bothersome to maintain as it had been in version 4. Also, having the top-level navigation on the left and the sub-level navigation on the top-right confused visitors.

[version 5] version 5 1999-2000
This version quickly replaced version 4, fixing the huge, useless page header. The header is still the same size, but contained both levels of navigation, and a proper page title which doubled as a breadcrumb trail.

I moved to text-based navigation, because my page had been steadily growing and making new images every time I added a page was getting bothersome. Also, this was the first version that had a dedicated What's New page.

[version 4] version 4 1999
Version 4 was the first version that subdivided my site: The main site with personal info, BanderLabs for the software I write and BanderArts for the stuff I draw. It saw the return of the binder ring, abeit slightly altered. It had huge section images, a failed attempt to make the site more flashy. The amount of screenspace taken up was just too much to justify.

[version 3] version 3 1998
I moved back to white backgrounds for better readability. Actually, I moved entirely to a black and white site. Black on white is more tiring to read, but reads faster for some reason. This was my first page using a tab approach, something I've always found intuitive for web pages.

This was the first version I stopped using DPaint to generate my graphics and moved to something called Photoshop.

[version 2] version 2 1998
Version 2 moved to a grey background, to make the buttons more part of the page. They also served as page headers, as the current page button had a depressed look.

This was mostly an attempt to make the page look more 'techy'. And as a reaction to my binder image getting stolen and reused all around the web.

[version 1] version 1 1997-1998
My first attempt at a web page. The graphics were made in DPaint for the PC and the page was designed for 640x480. Back then, the default background color was grey, and most pages on the web had grey backgrounds. The main layout feature of my page was a white background. Quite modern. Also note the ring binder. I didn't know this yet, but that binder was going to go places.

I was still studying Computer and Information Sciences, but even then I cared about standards: The page validated as W3C Wilbur, HTML 3.2.

This wasn't the very earliest page, as I remember having a version 0 site, but alas. Those files have been lost over the years.

Valid XHTML 1.0! Valid CSS!
copyright © 2003 Richard Mulder, all rights reserved