Those of you who are familiar with the earlier renditions of MSEnet are probably well-aware of the marked differences between those sites and Version3. Perhaps the greatest difference is my abandonment of the so-called "newer-is-better" theory of web design, which dictates that a truly "good" site must use the latest technology available at least a week before it becomes public knowledge. While this may be a perfectly valid theory, it tends to produce sites that are very advanced technologically but which lack any serious content. This is because the time that might be used adding information to the site is instead spent researching, learning, and implementing the "latest and greatest" internet fad.
So, MSEnet Version3 is taking a "retro" look at web site
design. I am "freezing" the technology
level of Version3 at HTML 3.2 and avoiding almost all reliance on advanced
JavaScript code -- meaning it will look fine on both Netscape Navigator
3.x and Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.x! Though I
have taken great pains to limit the "technology level" of this
site, I have not been blind to the nice features presented in the 4.x
browsers and beyond. Therefore, when their use does not lead to
incompatibilities with 3.x browsers, certain elements of HTML 4.0 have
been employed for effect.
This does not mean that Version3 will be a boring site. It may even include Java applets in the future. However, the use of internet protocols that are not universally understood by all browsers -- such as ActiveX, which Netscape still doesn't fully support -- will be kept at a bare minimum.
That explains the lack of "advanced" technology. But what of the site itself?
I have always wrestled with an overall, unifying theme for MSEnet. Unfortunately, I never really found something that would work. That is, until now. Several times I had begun architectural "sub-sites" within MSEnet. Some, such as Architorture, were merely intended as parodies (in this case, of the USC Architecture home page). One of them, LIGHT, eventually led to the concept for this site. I like to think of "The Inner Sanctum," a failed attempt at creating a three-dimensional interface to my web site, as my first search for a unifying theme.
It has now taken me three tries, but I feel that I have finally discovered the theme for my site: architecture. This may seem a no-brainer, considering I am an architecture major, but I had never really considered it as a viable thematic tool. Now, however, I can see how truly wonderful such a simple, yet powerful, unifying concept can be.
Past
Like most sites on the World Wide Web, MSEnet Version3 is a work in progress. However, there are several unifying features that I hope will persist.
The first, most pervasive, but perhaps least obvious, is that of the
color scheme. I have decided that color will be
kept to a minimum -- all images are grayscale (or close to it),
backgrounds are black, and text is white. The only intentional use of
color comes with hypertext links: The scheme employed is
relatively simple: backgrounds are black, text is white, unvisited
links are green, active links are yellow, and visited links are red.
One innovative feature I hope others will find refreshing is the naming conventions for the pages within MSEnet Version3. Rather than a page called "techspec.html" and labeled "Technical Specifications Page," I have chosen quasi-symbolic names. This example becomes GEAR, History and Theory become SHELL, and so forth. It creates an esoteric air of wonderment with the site -- nothing is entirely obvious until it is experienced first-hand.
MSEnet Version3 is divided into three main "sub-sites" (GEAR, SHELL, and ANGEL), as well as the "help site," COMPASS. Each of these are further subdivided: GEAR into Teeth, Spokes, and The Hub; SHELL into a series of Chambers, each of which centers on a particular historic or theoretical topic; ANGEL into Physical, Rational, Emotional, Social, and Spriritual areas; and lastly, COMPASS into North, East, South, and West. The meaning of each of these is up to you, the visitor, to discover.
(In regards to the division of ANGEL, it must be noted that the idea originated with my good friend David -- a fact for which I am deeply grateful!)
Present
This is a fuzzy topic for me. I would like to say that I have finally found the "right" look and feel for MSEnet, but who am I to predict the future? I can say, with some degree of certainty, that Version3 is what I want today.
Okay, then, is there a future in Version3? Well, there are possibilities at least. The possibility that I am pursuing with the most zeal is that of Java. I am currently learning Java, and I hope to someday soon add applets to MSEnet Version3. Right now, however, I really can't think of where or what they would be used for. Plus, one of my goals for Version3 was/is to abandon technology for a change and get back to the origins of web page design.
I have attempted to create, at this point, not a complete, self-contained web site, but the framework for a scalable information source. By develoing a coherent organizational strategy now, I can add additional pages seamlessly in the future.
This is all very nice, but the future? What might I add? That is definitely an unknown. Right now, Version3 is shaping up to be a premiere architecture site -- but obviously I have interests in other areas as well. (I still have Shadow.Net, my attempt at a web site for the Shadowrun role-playing game, lurking in my archives.) Who knows? Stay tuned to find out.
Future
