I feel so geeky.. A snapshot of the last week or so at work:
- I've been looking at databases and programming custom PHP scripts.
- Our webhosting contract is ending, and I'm looking into reliable dedicated hosting providers.
- My current reading list include books on running linux web servers, and programming database-driven websites.
Ah... this is the life..
As for myself, I'm getting ready to migrate my personal site (what you're reading now) as well. Found a super deal at InMotionHosting.com and signed up. I'll be getting more for lesser. So you should be seeing this blog get a new look soon.
I'm switching to WordPress as well. MovableType has been great, but I guess I've picked up an inclination towards open source and PHP along the way. I suppose there is some attachment to MT as well, seeing that I've used it for two years or so. I think I might miss the familiar light blue backend. Oh well, I know I will like WordPress more and more. Besides, my new webhosting account has Fantastico, which makes upgrading a breeze. (Update: I upgraded to MT 3.33 and will stick to it for now. WP might be fun, but MT is a solid product which is getting better.)
Web design has changed so much. Those of us who were baptised in HTML 1.0 circa the mid-90s have got to keep abreast! Dynamic content used to be the exception and not the rule, but now it's the other way around. Company websites used to get away with merely providing static information on history, products and services, and contact information. Now they have to be dynamic, with up-to-date information. If I wanted to find information about an event, I'll expect the website to be as informative as, if not more than, an enquiry phonecall. There are tons of open source Content Management Systems out there, so web designers have no excuse now. Anyone who can blog can use a CMS.
What used to be standard practice in web design, by and large, have become outmoded as well. Me and my HTML 1.0 peers have got to unlearn many old ways of doing things. Web designers have collectively gotten wiser as time goes by. Table layout, which at one time was so treasured that we cheered when Macromedia Fireworks gave us automatic slicing and HTML export, is frowned upon now. Discoursing at near-philosophical levels, web designers now talk about the importance of keeping content and presentation separate. HTML files used to be confusing tangled bunch of cryptic code generated by succesive uses of Frontpage, Dreamweaver, and what not. Now we are expected not just to keep them clean, but semantic as well! Sophisticated yet clear page layout can be achieved with CSS. Let's forget there was such a thing as slicing. (It irks me no end that the web developers we outsource to have implemented sliced pages extensively on our website.)
Alan commented that the post on my new job did not mention what job it is! Haha, my bad. Well, my official job title is Web Designer and I work for Fei Yue Community Services. My main work revolves around a website we started for youths (which I prefer to remain unstated here). Occasionally, I am also the IT support around the office.
Comments (2)
*nods head vigorously*
I know what you mean... as a fellow HTML1.0er... =) ha, been toying with the idea of writing Web 2.0 apps, though 4.5 years of programming has made me quite tired of it haha. :) But never mind! Can try again...
Posted by yeu@nn | December 2, 2006 1:34 PM
Posted on December 2, 2006 13:34
BTW you read huanyan's latest blog? he finally installed ubuntu on his comp...
Posted by yeu@nn | December 12, 2006 8:27 PM
Posted on December 12, 2006 20:27