deciding on a style.

Posted on: 13 Jan 2026
[imported from home 9.0]

something i tried and failed multiple times to do when making my website was deciding on a style. either because it was too simple, too complicated (especially for myself on the file management!), or just too boring. making something that works without scripts (for the most part), looks acceptably nice, and fits my general theme took many iterations, and this one you're seeing yourself was almost tossed yesterday, because of some niche issue.

i've been making a personal website of some form for about a decade now and i've scrapped eight styles, themes, and attitudes on the way to making what i have now, version 9. [Director's Interruption: This is obviously no longer correct.] i've learned a lot on the way - admittedly, a fair share from stack overflow - and made a point to try to apply what i learn in the pages i make in some way. of course, there's some things that just aren't going to stick, but that's what another version is for.

my code has remained a bit primitive through the years, mainly because i'm stubborn and a bit set in my methods. i hand-code everything, don't copy and paste beyond my own templates, and don't use a static site generator or anything of that ilk. it makes handling the site a little rougher, but i get to keep it entirely in my control. i've come to prefer it that way, i think it adds a little charm in some way.

(click to view full size [53 KB])

so the point of this post is how you decide on a style. and really, it may be a little clickbaity because my opinion on the matter is to just visualize it. get a sheet of paper, and draw little boxes to distinguish what you want it to look like. a header here, a menubar there. it doesn't matter if it's cohesive or something. what matters is whether you do this first step or not.

after you've done that, the next part is easier said than done. you just make it. even if it's silly, even if it ends up dumb. because you can learn from it. you can learn how to position elements, how to size things, what fits where. and if you still hate it when you're done, you can adjust it, tinker with your framework, or you can throw it out and start over with a new doodle you create.

the joy in making a website includes the mistakes you make. it's okay to get frustrated, but it's important to remember that you're putting in the effort to make this yourself. it's not going to be smooth sailing the entire time. but come hell or high waters, once you find a style that sits well with you, you're going to have so much fun with it. it'll have been worth the iterations and time it took you to get there.