Small Web September Check-In 2: Recs and Resources

[enchantedsleeper]

Our second Small Web September check-in point is here!

How is everyone getting on so far with their SWS-ing (hat tip to lovesgaze for making SWS into a verb 😂). Is the code (or blogging, modding, documentation, etc.) behaving as it should? Have you discovered any cool new tricks or come across any great sites you’d like to share?

The theme of this check-in is recs and resources! There are lots of great guides, tutorials and examples out there to help with our small webbing. So, I thought we could share some of our favourites in the comments - along with what you’ve been up to since our last check-in, if you feel like sharing it!

Here’s some examples of things you could share:

• ‘How to code X feature/design element’ tutorials
• Cool templates or layouts
• Gif, blinkie, button or banner-maker tools or websites
• Directories, webrings or blogrolls for anything small web-related
• Communities (like this one! – but they can be anywhere, not just on Dreamwidth) for small web support, resources or discussion
• Inspiring examples of sites, blogs, or other small web projects that you’ve come across
• Any round-ups of links like these or anything else you’ve found helpful!

A bonus discussion-starter (optional, so no pressure to answer this!): What has been the most useful small web resource you’ve found so far? Or, is there a resource that you really wish existed, but doesn’t?

As a reminder, this is the second of five ‘check-in’/comment points that will be published during the event – you can check out the schedule and dates for these posts in the event intro post. There’s no cut-off point for leaving comments on these, so you can add something at any time – you also don’t need to comment on every one or do them in order! The themes are a loose guide, but all discussion is welcome.

For the previous check-in/goals post, check out: Small Web September Kick-Off/Check-In 1: Goals

Comments

[matsushima]

Request for resources: I really like making little Notion wikis (like this one that I made) but I also really hate how Notion is aggressively pushing their so-called "AI" features on me when I'm trying to assemble some links in peace. Does anyone have a recommended alternative? I'm looking for something that's quick and easy to update (because I like to add to my little wikis on my lunch breaks at work) - bonus if if you can set privacy levels page-by-page but I know that's asking a lot for a hopefully-free service.

SWSing progress: I found a new (responsive) template for my homepage after being reminded that 60% of web traffic is mobile but I think it's too code-heavy (the CSS file is huge and I'm not in love with how it looks so I'll probably go find another new template or tweak it somehow…

I also started a personal canon that I'm calling an "artistic lineage" because I'm uncomfortable with the idea of a "canon" (I would not stand by all of the books on that page but it would also be a lie to pretend they weren't personally important to me and I want to sit with that tension!)… but, as you can see, it is on Notion, which I don't like (see above).

[alaterdate]

"Lineage" makes more sense to me as a term for that than "canon." If I adopt that kind of page I'd also use "lineage", thank you for that. Btw, I also love Electra heart 💙.

I don't know of anything quite like Notion, but I recently started using Obsidian as my notes/journal space. It's free to use locally, but you have to pay to sync across mobile and desktop (I just upload/download files myself, but I'm a bit of a sucker for tedious labor) and you also have to pay for their web publishing service. You can do a lot of cool stuff with the community plugins, but it's not as aesthetically pleasing as Notion. So it's not as convenient and I definitely haven't stopped using Notion in addition, but thought I'd throw it out there anyway.

[matsushima]

I can't take credit for the concept of an "artistic lineage." It was floating around Twitter ["X"] ages ago, like a "QRT with four creators in your artistic lineage" or something. I like it because a "canon" implies an endorsement/recommendation of the text(s) but, I mean, you can have ancestors (literal or metaphorical) who weren't great but did shape who you are as a person!

[alaterdate]

I see! I hadn't heard of this at all before, it's interesting. I definitely like the idea of acknowledging the less than stellar things that still scratched our id

[matsushima]

bluedreaming posted a little more about the "personal canon" concept here - and the idea that the less savory stuff might still have an impact on us started with one of my creative writing profs, who wrote "Damn Harry Potter…" in the margins of one of my assignments: apparently Writers of a Certain Age (I'm 35) do dialogue tags in a way that she can trace back to JKR's sloppy use of adverbs. (Obviously, the problems with the books and author go deeper than that but that was what made me start thinking about influences in that way.)

[toaster_hacker]

LOVE the idea of creating a personal canon! "Artistic Lineage" is such a dignified and more apt word for it. Both of those articles that are part of your artistic lineage are fascinating and really great reads, thank you for passing them on!

Also OOP, thank you for also passing on the reminder of how ubiquitous mobile traffic is, that really hammers home how important responsiveness and design are for online projects. :X

[matsushima]

Thank you. It feels like a better fit, doesn't it? Like I said ↑, I can't take credit for the term but I prefer it to the idea of a "canon," personal or otherwise.

I'll be continuing to add to that section in particular, those were just the two I got up first! The "trans-ludic identities" one is something I think about a lot and helped me conceptualize my own self-understanding as a "LiveJournal refugee" or "LiveJournal diaspora."