I've been a webmaster for quite some time, starting my first real website in April of 2024. This page exists as an archive to all past iterations of my website(s) and my retrospectives on them.
This page is simple and style-agnostic due to the fact that my favorite HTML/CSS techniques are ever changing, and even LAMNIDAE might undergo style/layout changes. And I don't want to change this page to every new layout everytime, either.
To enter the websites themselves, click on the thumbnails.
The first time I ever dabbled into making websites was 2020. Quarantine boredom got the better of me, but my frustration tolerance was even lower than it was now and the feeling of failure stung like a bitch to where I took it as a message to stop trying to do anything. I've grown and realized that it's a shitty mindset, especially since I actually have a sense of ambition nowadays.
Years ago I went by the handle of ph03nixdown because at 15, I thought leetspeek was cool like the self-described "turbo epic gamer" I was. I was also super annoying about being a linux user back then, and I don't think the little content that's written here even makes any sense. It was brazingly simple, but I quit almost soon after uploading it because I didn't even know what a div was, and got frustrated at my inability to put parts of my website in neat boxes, let alone seperate pages. With my inability to pick up any skill as a teenager, I just dropped it like everything else. Maybe it was good that I did as not to strain people's eyes with that lack of color contrast.
This iteration of my oasis era site is unfortunately lost to time. If I miraculously ever find a copy of it, I will upload it here.
I saw several posts about indie websites in the general communities that I hovered around. I saw the tumblr post about why you should make a website, someone showing their waifu shrine in a subreddit I was in, etc. I took it as a sign from a god to pick HTML back up. It is one of the few new hobbies I would say has stuck long term.
When I started the Shark Cave, I was a GED grad unaware of where I wanted to move next with my life. I had an interest in learning programming, but didn't know where to go or even start with it. Those indie website posts suddenly showing up on me pushed me in the right direction to start with HTML/CSS first.
little did she know
This is my first functional website that was actually organized and it... was okay. I at least made something from scratch. At least I could call it my own, even if I had help from resources. And it actually had Divs! FINALLY! The ONE thing my fifteen year old self was stumped on! The layout eventually started to look ugly to me (and my eventually i mean SOON after) so I made ANOTHER new layout from scratch.
Still no substance, but a hell of a lot prettier! This is where I got the black and green aesthetic from, and it's one of my favorite layouts I've had. At least compared to Shark Cave 3.5-4.0, that is. It has a music player, a side bar, is concise... etc! This is also where I got my love for compact web design, I believe. Even it started to look ugly to me, however...
This is by far where I actually started to kick things off. My first positive comments that I had gotten period were after this iteration, and the one thing I miss about this era is my creative risk taking. I didn't have unified layouts, I made every page from scratch. I had the most fun with it all back then, but it was coded to where it is a nightmare for me to feature on this page. I'm doing it anyways, because Byte History is Byte History; important Byte history, at that.
There's... a lot I could say about this rehaul. Firstly, I had already made plans for lamnidae to release on the web. But in the midst of preparing for LAMNIDAE, I still wanted a functioning layout to release content and such. My love for 2000's metro flat imagery (NOT to be mistaken with minimalism) reinvigerated itself. Such a design was going to be the face of LAMNIDAE. Yet, I didn't have any time to work on the new site. So I tried to design The Shark Cave to look like that... and a lot was lost in the process. All unique pages? Gone. Music player? Gone. Only the "necessities" were left in this transitional period. Due to my ever chaotic personal life at the time, it stayed in the transitional period for a long time.
Not to mention, the code itself was still a nightmare to maintain. I had the Sharkcave running on staples and glue. Even if you try to polish some week-old spahgetti, it's still week-old spahgetti.
The Shark Cave was in its plans for sunsetting more than ever. Yet, the 3.0 html file was a mess that I felt guilty keeping up. Thus I recreated the layout for the last time, following better HTML practices while keeping all of the same content. LAMNIDAE was being worked on in the background the whole time, too. I could've kept updating The Shark Cave like this, but I needed to raise the age rating because 14+ just wasn't cutting it anymore as I became more of an adult than I was prior due to job experience and overall gaining more life experience.
I am the proudest of this layout functionally, and I've gotten comments about its looks post sunset. To be honest, it is quite clean even if I miss the fun pixelated look before it... that heavily inspired LAMNIDAE's layout, lmao.
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