Recently, I have heard that lots of people would like to hear about the work that goes into making this wonderful site.
I know what you're thinking : Who are these people?!? Well, I feel the same way, but I also feel sorry for them, so, risking hours of extra work, I decided to do it.
The History of the Source
The Source's history is a long and painful one. And here it is. So far, there have been 5 Sources. They have varied drastically in terms of rubbishness, with Source
1 being an unholy mess, and Source 4 being a comparatively beautiful swan.
In the world of EarthSource, things don't stay still for long. No sooner has a Source left the stable, then a new, completely different one is burning down the track.
Hey, that was a nice analogy!
Here you can read the memoirs of the first agony-frought months, laugh in joy as I finally ditch the frames, and punch the air in triumph as page download times are cut by half.
Or you could just laugh at my many mistakes.
Source 1 : The Crappy Years
Source 2 : The slightly prettier but still bad years
Source 3 : The 'The same guy did this!?!' years
Source 4 : The site that funk built
Or read the whole shebang together
Recent Updates
Much to my dismay, I'm still working on EarthSource. And I keep a record so that my psychiatrist can check where my sudden bout of insanity-driven barking stems from. So read on, for a day-by-day account of the pain that is EarthSource. Feel free to cry at any time.
April 14th 2000
>>Source 5!! Huzzah!!
Now this is quality. Can you believe I squeezed yet an other quality re-design from my over worked head? I put lots of work into this one, and....it doesn't show. Oh well, the differences between this and Source 4 are very subtle, but tellingly, they make all the difference.
In classic fashion, here's a list of improvements :
- Looks purdy
- Is easy to write. Hey, it matters to me
- Includes less rubbish than ever before.
- Works in anything. Netscape, Explorer, big resolutions, small resolutions, you name it.
Well, that's it. Sorry if that seemed slightly uninspired (yep, I noticed too), but I'm tired. No more boogey nights for me!
April 16th 2000
Hey, a new page! Yep, I decided I needed a 'link to us' page, because otherwise no one's ever going to come here, and I'd be waffling on for no reason. And we can't have that. I got rid of all the affiliate sites too, because most of them were rubbish, and why would I send people away from here?! Thick!
The new design (which I'm writing into right now) is bloody brilliant. And this time, before I rewrite the whole site, I'm going to test the layout thoroughly. I can't believe I ran in blindly before, expecting everything to run smoothly. Thankfully, it's been one of the quietest testing periods ever, so I should be ready to update in no time. Aces!
April 18th 2000
Crap! I need a new slogan for the site. "Your Information Source" was just slightly crapolla, so I'm going to have to think up something catchy, yet witty. Pish. Is it possible? If you have an idea, send them to Me for selection. And quick!
April 30th 2000
Hey, I nearly have the entire site remade. I spent ages yesterday making some animations for the Link to Us page. Some of them are, I think, pretty good, but remember, this was the first time I have ever made some animations, and it was pretty hard.
Anyway, my story; when I was making them, and coming up with ideas for them, I realised that if the site was to have the 'attitude' that I showed in these banners, there'd have to be a change in the way I do things at EarthSource. You know : stop just ripping stuff straight out of Encarta. Because, as I have been so very aware of recently, the articles are very crap. So I might try to write some of them myself, or do something to make them more enjoyable. Because that was my original idea for the site - a fun book. Or something.
But, of course, there is a problem in this wish. How long would that take? Bloody ages anyway. Although, it would be great if I could do it, the site would be special.
May 14th 2000
Man, I've been working pretty hard on the Source recently to get it up to scratch. Loads of unneeded stuff has been evicted, and new, spanky stuff has been brought in. Notice particularly that 'The SideLine' is nowhere to be seen. I had planned to make this a big part of the site, but didn't know how to make stuff appear randomly in each page and, more importantly I couldn't think of anything clever to say. A sad loss indeed, but don't let it get you down! It may make a triumphant reappearance in the future.
I finally finished the 'history' part of these updates, adding Source 3, after spending an hour tracking it down on the net. I hadn't realised quite how dire it used to be...
May 18th 2000
Look at this : brand new splash screens at the start of articles! Don't they look fabulous? Well, no, not in Netscape anyway. Well they are just a rough draught for now, they'll be replaced in due course. And if I ever have time, I'll probably remake some of the Link to Us animations too, especially since they balls up in, yes you guessed it, Netscape. Grr!
I still have a looong way to go 'til I finish this redesign. Which is crap. But, it's turning out really good, which is great.
June 7th 2000
Been taking a break from writing the site for a while, mainly because I finished school (Hurrah!), and started my summer job (Hiss!). And I'm not filling petrol anymore, no sir. I'm packing bags! That's called moving up in the world.
And I'm not having it easy either. But you know what? Homer Simpson was right; "It's my first day" is the best excuse ever. Observe :
Granny Grey : You put my milk in upside down!
Me : It's my first day.
Mr. Grimrump : You put the potatoes in on top of the bread, now the bread is all mushed up!
Me : It's my first day.
Fat momma : Hey, you put a bag over my kids head, and now he's not moving.
Me : Uhh.... *runs away*
June 13th 2000
"Tuck in your shirt! Remember, appearance is 100%."
What an arse my boss is. Man, this job is taking up all my time. When I'm not at work, I'm getting ready for work, and when I'm not doing that, I'm falling asleep because of work.
Oh well. I did a site-wide check today, looking for mess-ups. I found a major Netscape mess-up, which I fixed. Pretty proud of that, me.
23rd June 2000
I'm going to be taking a bit of a break, siesta if you will, from writing EarthSource to concentrate on my new brainchild - HTMLSource! Huzzah. Notice the 'Source' in the title did you? Yeah, I'm going to start a huge network and make loads of cash you see.
'The Source Network : number One for excellence'
Ace! If you wanna check out the work, then go here :
» www.htmlsource.f2s.com
1st September 2000
That was a bit of a long break, wasn't it? Sadly, it's probably going to continue indefinitely. I've been very busy writing » HTMLSource for the last month or two and it's just so much more enjoyable to write the content of a site myself that I don't think I can ever go back to working on EarthSource.
I may make a return sometime in the future, but at the moment I just don't have the time, plus, it's not worth the effort.
A sad farewell then? It was always going to be. This was my first website, one I devoted almost a year into crafting, and it's still something I'm immensely proud of (not that I'm going to start showing it to people though). Hopefully it will live on as a reminder of my youth, and stupidity, for ever onwards.
Bye then,
~ Ross Shannon
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