how do you not feel discouraged by like other ppls sites

[candycanearter07]

i know it sounds like stupid and stuff and the obvious thing is to just "not worry about it" but like holy heck some of yalls sites are insane and its kinda overwhelming  and like idk if its just anxiety but like dang

[urgellx]

It's the same as seeing great paintings (or other mediums) from relatively unknown artists, you can just revel yourself in how good it is
while you visit it, see it as an inspiration or as motivation to get better and do something grander or more out-there. At least that's how
i see it. 

[Kolo]

Instead of feeling discouraged, use that admiration as inspiration! Steal ideas! Interesting layouts? Pick out what you like about them, emulate them, and then add your own twist on top! Cute images or page ideas? Make your own versions! The nature of the web is to be shared, after all.

Also, keep in mind that some of the sites you're viewing may have had a lot more time to build themselves up than yours. Time is a huge factor in complexity, because many sites are perpetual beasts :) so any additions to the site continue to build on that foundational complexity!

[candycanearter07]

Instead of feeling discouraged, use that admiration as inspiration! Steal ideas! Interesting layouts? Pick out what you like about them, emulate them, and then add your own twist on top! Cute images or page ideas? Make your own versions! The nature of the web is to be shared, after all.

Also, keep in mind that some of the sites you're viewing may have had a lot more time to build themselves up than yours. Time is a huge factor in complexity, because many sites are perpetual beasts :) so any additions to the site continue to build on that foundational complexity!

but theres like so much there sometimes its really hard to emulate and like idk its overwhelming

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

While I do not sites but mainly video games and music, I think this applies for webcrafting as well:
I've my personal history, and my own unique situation - and my art is a result of it. Others might have more developed skills, but they can't do what I do since they have a wholly different basis (that makes them do what they do).

Your art is a expression of your individual history and situation, and as such has an inherent worth (that others might see or not - being skilled rises the chance for people to spend a thought). If you think you are missing skills (be it because you want them, or you want to use them as a mean to make your art more visible), stay onto it - you might not get masterly skills (because these usually require, beneath excessive training and - often - teaching through others, also a predisposition) but you will come close to it if you stay on it :). But again: They are not needed. Existence is not about becoming perfect.

...And so, I do what I like. Not living from it helps a lot in this regard (but is, at times, also a hinderance).

[Paprika]

Hey.

Just wanted to say that I'm finally emerging from this state. I've started my own NeoCities on April 2023 and in early March until end of June 2024 I really felt bad about my website because there's so many cool stuff out there. Just look at Melon's stuff, incredible for me. NeoCities is also full of this and all that artsy/cute stuff really really overwhelmed me.

It was always on the back of my mind. I tried to replicate stuff I've seen but I'm terrible at JavaScript and at art in general. I wanted to be part of "the cool design gang" because, you know, it's super uber duper cool to have those floating boxes and cool art thingies. At some point in May I sincerely thought about deleting my whole website because my basic design is barely touched-up Sadgrl's template. I wanted a cool shelf where you'd browse the comics by their backs and have a pull effect to open one with the review as the content.

I dived into several videos, websites and tutorials on how to do it and believe me, I was BENT on doing it. Like "Go big or go home" but in my case "go home" meant "delete your content". I always struggled in my web life because I started several blogs on comic-books or gamebooks and I always, always deleted it out of spite, thinking "Someone else did it better than me". In my teenage years I started learning guitar and I gave up after seeing a dude with a double guitar playing an advanced song. I felt like total crap. If I wasn't able to do this then I shouldn't even try.

IT'S A STUPID THING TO THINK.

Like, that person learned guitar too, his first notes were probably as bad as mine.. I still abandoned guitar but I always compared myself to others in silence, looking at their successes and cool stuff. And truth to be told, it's pretty much what social-media part of the web is. "I'm the best" "I can do this blind with two feet fingers" "look at how popular my character/art/thing is !" and it mined me deeply..

So even tho I felt bad, I kept going with my little website. In July I had a talk with a close friend and I opened up about my feelings and my friend said "You don't know how much I envy your knowledge and passion for your hobbies. I wish I could say 10% of what you say in the same manner you say it. This website is you and it should stay like this. Improve if you feel the need to, but don't make it because you want to look cool because you're already super cool."

I couldn't speak a word because I was struck but what they said. I never guessed that someone could have jealousy/envy towards my content. I always thought everyone else did it better. Thing is : it's untrue.

I have my own qualities, I have my own ideas, I have my own things and it's okay. I'm not a coding expert, I'm not a JavaScript Master. I'm me, with a bit of HTML and CSS coding and I made that website because I felt alone in my hobbies not to flex on someone else. In the end I gave up doing that crazy visual idea. Maybe one day when I'll have more knowledge and experience but right now I will pursue what I do because it's the reason why I started my own website. To talk about my hobbies, not to make a super advanced coding thing.

It's hard to get past that feeling but it is possible. What you do will always be cool and you shouldn't compare yourself to others, especially if they have more experience/knowledge in it. You don't wake up being the fastest runner, you practice. Some are runners, some are painters, others are carpenters. You might think you're bad but there's probably someone out there marveling at what you do and wish they could do as good as you.

Be yourself. Be kind to yourself. Be free from competition. Be patient. Take your time.

You're cool.

Never give up, never surrender.

[candycanearter07]

Hey.

Just wanted to say that I'm finally emerging from this state. I've started my own NeoCities on April 2023 and in early March until end of June 2024 I really felt bad about my website because there's so many cool stuff out there. Just look at Melon's stuff, incredible for me. NeoCities is also full of this and all that artsy/cute stuff really really overwhelmed me.

It was always on the back of my mind. I tried to replicate stuff I've seen but I'm terrible at JavaScript and at art in general. I wanted to be part of "the cool design gang" because, you know, it's super uber duper cool to have those floating boxes and cool art thingies. At some point in May I sincerely thought about deleting my whole website because my basic design is barely touched-up Sadgrl's template. I wanted a cool shelf where you'd browse the comics by their backs and have a pull effect to open one with the review as the content.

I dived into several videos, websites and tutorials on how to do it and believe me, I was BENT on doing it. Like "Go big or go home" but in my case "go home" meant "delete your content". I always struggled in my web life because I started several blogs on comic-books or gamebooks and I always, always deleted it out of spite, thinking "Someone else did it better than me". In my teenage years I started learning guitar and I gave up after seeing a dude with a double guitar playing an advanced song. I felt like total crap. If I wasn't able to do this then I shouldn't even try.

IT'S A STUPID THING TO THINK.

Like, that person learned guitar too, his first notes were probably as bad as mine.. I still abandoned guitar but I always compared myself to others in silence, looking at their successes and cool stuff. And truth to be told, it's pretty much what social-media part of the web is. "I'm the best" "I can do this blind with two feet fingers" "look at how popular my character/art/thing is !" and it mined me deeply..

So even tho I felt bad, I kept going with my little website. In July I had a talk with a close friend and I opened up about my feelings and my friend said "You don't know how much I envy your knowledge and passion for your hobbies. I wish I could say 10% of what you say in the same manner you say it. This website is you and it should stay like this. Improve if you feel the need to, but don't make it because you want to look cool because you're already super cool."

I couldn't speak a word because I was struck but what they said. I never guessed that someone could have jealousy/envy towards my content. I always thought everyone else did it better. Thing is : it's untrue.

I have my own qualities, I have my own ideas, I have my own things and it's okay. I'm not a coding expert, I'm not a JavaScript Master. I'm me, with a bit of HTML and CSS coding and I made that website because I felt alone in my hobbies not to flex on someone else. In the end I gave up doing that crazy visual idea. Maybe one day when I'll have more knowledge and experience but right now I will pursue what I do because it's the reason why I started my own website. To talk about my hobbies, not to make a super advanced coding thing.

It's hard to get past that feeling but it is possible. What you do will always be cool and you shouldn't compare yourself to others, especially if they have more experience/knowledge in it. You don't wake up being the fastest runner, you practice. Some are runners, some are painters, others are carpenters. You might think you're bad but there's probably someone out there marveling at what you do and wish they could do as good as you.

Be yourself. Be kind to yourself. Be free from competition. Be patient. Take your time.

You're cool.

Never give up, never surrender.

^^ t thanks for your kind words!!

[wygolvillage]

I used to be like this! But now whenever I see a cool site I start jotting down ideas, like Kolo's reply. I like thinking of creative ways to stretch simple bits of code to create more complex interactive mechanics. It's good to practice getting in that headspace because then it means you can start appreciating those other sites on their own terms, rather than what they can do but you think you can't. My site used to be pretty simple and bare bones before it became the sprawling thing that it is now. We all start from somewhere.

[BlazingCobaltX]

I understand the feeling you're experiencing. When it comes to creative stuff like writing and drawing I've felt a lot of envy over other people's work, and then a sense of defeatism when I struggled to replicate anything that they did. Feeling like this can unfortunately be a factor in straying from the hobby altogether.

Interestingly, when I got into the whole website development thing, this feeling of envy never really took over. I think it's two things: The general encouragement to freely take from one another, and how easy it is to do so. F12 shows you the building blocks for everybody's site, and taking the time to study it has helped me figure out how exactly to do the things I want. That information is usually missing when looking at artworks.

In addition, there's a lot of room to build a website according to your own skills. I've made a choice to not bother with anything beyond HTML and CSS, which allows me to just focus on these skills instead of worrying about the many things I know nothing about. Right now, if I see something that's really cool but it requires other stuff, I either just skip it or try to make do with the toolbox I have.

[Eunice]

I've felt a bit intimidated too. I made my first website in the 1990's and I still make them in that old-fashioned style. I look around At the sites being made today and none of them are remotely like the ones I remember. It's hard being 60-something in a world of 20-30's. But I can't think like that, just carry on with what I'm doing. And most important of all, enjoy it! You don't have to look like everyone else.

[94673]

I constantly hype myself up. My website is the best and it's catered specifically to me, making it the perfect website for me. No other website can come close because it wasn't fine-tuned to be 'my' website like my website is, etc. If you keep saying it, eventually you'll believe it.

[jack_dawlia]

i sometimes think like this too, but try to remember (for example) the fact that as amazing as the websites covered in images with a seperate css for each page are, that that workflow wouldn't work for me ^_^ (though im sure it does for many people). for me, what's better then a site that looks really impressive is a site that you actually enjoy working on!

also remembering that web crafting is a patient process, maybe one day i will have a site as impressive as the people i look up to, or not and thats okay! do what works for you, try challenge yourself and experiment, and be kind to yourself

just how i like to think about it when i get stuck being kinda discouraged :)

[Salty]

I've felt a bit intimidated too. I made my first website in the 1990's and I still make them in that old-fashioned style. I look around At the sites being made today and none of them are remotely like the ones I remember. It's hard being 60-something in a world of 20-30's. But I can't think like that, just carry on with what I'm doing. And most important of all, enjoy it! You don't have to look like everyone else.

This is so sweet! I think it's so cool that you've kept the same domain for so long, I hope I can keep doing this well into my 60s and beyond!! 

[ManicRaccoon]

It's totally normal to feel intimidated ! Webdev and web design can be hard, takes time and nearly everyone experiences some kind of impostor syndrome by comparing themselves to others

Developing is a neverending learning experience and each time you do something it will become easier and easier, and after a few weeks or months or years you'll be able to do things you wouldn't even know how to approach

[cmdr_nova]

I used to think like that. I'd spend days working on my site, and then I'd see another site that looks so effortlessly good and give up. But now that I'm a little older and wiser, instead of giving up, I just look at their code to see what they did and learn from it