My other half often asks, "What do you need a website for?" Well, to be honest, I don't. I am not trying to sell you stuff directly, promote a band that I play or sing in, or any other of the myriad of things that a good web site can do for you.
I first wrote a web site about ten years ago, using Front Page Express. It was a 'spoof dating site'. I listed places to go in the East Anglia area, where you could get a good meal and general stuff like that. Frankly, I haven't the foggiest idea if anyone other than me looked at it and I didn't really care!
What did I want my web site to do? Well, when I came back to try again, I used MS-Word 2003 (yes, it was that long ago) to write the web pages. This to me was a BIG mistake. They turned out so full of useless padding that I could not see the HTML from the trees! So, I started again. They are now one third the size and I understand all of the code.
Below are my values when it comes to my web site. The do's and don'ts.
Most web sites are so full of bloat that you can barely see what they are about. People today write websites not to inform people, but to make money, a lot of money. As time has gone by and the traffic to this site has increased, I have dipped my toe into the water too. But I promise it will never intrude on the information.
By hand coding the HTML, I have control over what goes in. Less code equals faster load times. I watched a Youtube video about 'Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), the host said that every second you can knock off you load time increases the likelihood of the page being read by 10%.
By comparison, my most image intensive page (http://www.simonk695.plus.com/Vauxhall-Vectra/Vauxhall-Vectra-Stalling.html) takes 0.8 seconds to load.
Press the key combination ctrl+U (on a Windows PC) on any webpage and it will display the code that makes up that page. Sometimes it is truly frightening.
Have you ever started to do a job and then found you don't have a special tool to do it? Or 'that' spanner is out on loan? When I can remember, I write down what I needed to do the job, adding the details to this site.
(Just kidding!) Actually, it would be nice to get something back for all my efforts. Though I will never ignore rule one.
Over the years though, I have found that some information is really hard to track down, while other stuff can be miss-leading. For instance, when I first started writing this, I ran a Vauxhall Vectra. They were a pretty easy car to keep going yourself without having to resort to paying the dealership to do jobs that you could do yourself.
Most people like me would pop along to 'a major motor factors' and buy a Haynes manual (other manuals ARE available) and fix things themselves. Am I right?
Well, you could a few years ago. Frankly, the Haynes manual for the Vectra, although packed with pages, is nothing more than a starting point. Which is where 'The Internet' comes in. Looking through forums can give you a wealth of information that is not covered else-where.
(All cars are petrol and were converted to LPG at the time of purchase, unless stated)
Vauxhall Cavalier 2.0L - bought at 90,000 miles - sold at 217,000 miles - 127,000 miles in my care.
Vauxhall Vectra 1.6 - bought at 96,000 miles - sold at 207,000 miles - roughly 110,000 miles in my care.
Vauxhall Vectra 2.0GLi - bought at 37,000 miles - sold at 158,000 miles - 121,000 miles in my care.
Volvo S60 2.0T - bought at 90,000 miles - sold at 200,000 miles - 110,000 miles in my care.
Volvo S40 1.6 - bought at 106,000 miles with LPG already fitted. This is my current car, and since I am now retired, I doubt it will reach the giddy mileage the others have.
Last updated: 19/11/2020
All pages created with Notepad++ unless otherwise stated.