hii

[armaina]

Hey, I've been aware of this place and have read it here and there for a while. Mostly became aware of this place through Sadgirl and 32bit Cafe. I don't really have a way of good introduction so you're going to get a little bit of my web history.

I've been making websites since before Geocities even had ads, I got my start with dragon adoptions because the requirement to participate was to have your own website. I started with the Geocities composer, but very quickly moved to netscape navigator's composer and copy pasting code from other websites to poke at it and learn how it all works.

I don't have a copy of that era of website but I do have my last iteration of my dragon adoptions pages from 2003 archived on a neocities account:
https://armaina.neocities.org/Dragons/

Ever since then I've been making websites for all manner of reasons. Fandoms, hobbies, and my creative works were primary reasons I made little websites. I hopped from Geocities to a couple other free services, until I was gifted hosting and a domain name for my high school graduation from my parents. I've owned the domain name armaina.com for over 20 years, now. I've also been paying for hosting for my site in that time.

I worked at GoDaddy for 3 years between 2005-2008 so I'm rather versed on matters regarding DNS, Domain registration, and iCANN nonsense. (I remember when iCANN dragged their heels on vanity TLDs...)

Despite my long history in making websites, my CSS skills are only 'moderate'. (I simply could not wrap my head around flex box, and have become much more comfortable with CSS after I learned Grid.) Text that isn't prose is difficult for me to parse so I avoid CSS that's overly complicated. I also only know enough PHP to get into trouble, couldn't code any of it from scratch if I tried. I also manage a VPS and sometimes it makes me want to scream and I'm terrified of ruining everything with a single command or update but I honestly don't think I could go back to shared hosting with all the freedom and sense of accomplishment it's provided me.

Apart from webmaking, I do a lot of art. Showcasing my art, worldbuilding, and characters is my primary goal for what I make with my websites these days, though I do sometimes dip into hobby stuff but showcasing and making home for my creative works is my primary goal and motivating factor. Storycrafting is my biggest passion, webmaking is the venue that I choose to house it in.

For fun, have this blog post about old websites that I used to frequent in the late 90's and early 00's:
https://armaina.dreamwidth.org/783502.html
And this retrospective blog post about late 1990's, early 2000's web pet adoption communities:
https://armaina.dreamwidth.org/782858.html

Shoutout to anyone else that may be familiar with some of the old communities I mentioned. (still hope to make a connection with anyone that hung out around Dragonwolf.com and Nat's World....)

Oh, and check out my websites I guess. First one is my main site, second is a site specifically for my comic setting.
https://armaina.com/ | https://anexentum.com/

And a question for you: Have participated in classic style web-pet adoptions? (ones that aren't account managed in any way.) If so, what were your favorites you remember, do you still have the images or posts? If so, please share! 

[malice]

Welcome!!

I've owned the domain name armaina.com for over 20 years, now. I've also been paying for hosting for my site in that time.

Out of curiosity, I went on Wayback Machine to find the oldest archive of your site since it's been around for so long. I found a 2002 capture! nice music taste :3

The current iteration of your site is also super cool, of course! I'll probably spend the next few hours looking through all your art

I simply could not wrap my head around flex box

Ohhh I feel VINDICATED now. People keep telling me to use flex boxes and say that they'll make everything easier for me, but I just can't figure them out! CSS in general is a beast I've barely managed to tame

And a question for you: Have participated in classic style web-pet adoptions?

I haven't, but it sounds fun! I've seen people on Neocities find pets from defunct websites and "take them in", which I thought was really sweet.

I hope you have a great time here!!

[armaina]

nice music taste :3

Thanks! I have a Last FM so you can see what I'm listening to 20 years later lol https://www.last.fm/user/Armaina

Ohhh I feel VINDICATED now. People keep telling me to use flex boxes and say that they'll make everything easier for me, but I just can't figure them out! CSS in general is a beast I've barely managed to tame

CSS grid is literally the only way I've been able to wrap my head around pure CSS websites. You chop a page up into grids and then designate where each block goes and it goes there! no having to worry about making all the different ratios play right, it goes exactly where it's supposed to. It makes SO much more sense to how my brain functions and I highly recommend anyone struggling with flex to give it a try.

I haven't, but it sounds fun! I've seen people on Neocities find pets from defunct websites and "take them in", which I thought was really sweet.

I hope you have a great time here!!

Yeah there are also some revival groups like http://www.nexusofdragons.com/ that their whole thing is kinda revitalizing both old dragon adopt communities and create new ones, it's pretty neat!

And thank you!

[malice]

Thanks! I have a Last FM so you can see what I'm listening to 20 years later lol https://www.last.fm/user/Armaina

LACUNA COILLLLLL!! Agh I need to see them live so badly, they were touring with The Birthday Massacre last year, but they never went to my state :< (I did end up seeing TBM though, they rocked!)

Lotta good stuff in there!

Yeah there are also some revival groups like http://www.nexusofdragons.com/ that their whole thing is kinda revitalizing both old dragon adopt communities and create new ones, it's pretty neat!

Ooo, I'll check this out, thanks!

[greyskieshappymind]

Welcome to the forum!

I'm keeping your main sites bookmarked for when I get motivation to read something :]

I never really got super deep into webpet stuff. First time I tried it was Subeta, and it was more fun looking at the different pets than doing things with them. Pixel Cat's End does have my interest for it's tactical RPG gameplay but I'm not super absorbed in it. My best friend got me super sentimental about dragons though, so I'm open to seeing if Flight Rising can match that for me.