256
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by ajsadauskas@aus.social to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

What should I add to my '90s website?

So I'm currently toying around with NeoCities, and decided to trial it by building your classic mid '90s Geocities/Tripod/Angelfire pastiche website.

Some of the most important elements are already in place.

Tile background? Large font? Heading in bright pink with a shadow? Unusual colour choices? Random cat gifs? Under construction gif? Check! Check! Check!

In the true spirit of the '90s DIY web, some more pages (including the links page) are coming soon.

(I'm thinking of adding a page dedicated to either Britney or a nu-metal band.)

You can see the page so far here: https://that90ssite.neocities.org/

There are a few things that I want to add to make it complete, and I'm looking for suggestions.

The first, is to embed a midi file that plays automatically. Any suggestions on the best way of doing this?

Second, it's just not going to be complete without a guestbook.

Third, any webring suggestions?

Fourth, what's the best way of adding a java chat room in 2024?

Finally, anything else that really needs to be a part of a great '90s website?

UPDATE: Thanks for all the feedback! I've added more annoying GIFs, a guestbook, a links page, and a cyber cat hangout.

UPDATE 2: And added even more gifs, an amazing Amiga demo, and a ton of links.

@asklemmy #tech #webdev #neocities #technology

(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 5 points 9 months ago

It should work at 640x480 and no other resolution.

[-] ouRKaoS@lemmy.today 5 points 9 months ago

Needs an animated gif that doesn't properly render transparency, so the background is just a solid color.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] FireWire400@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

Background audio player that automatically plays some crusty grunge midis

[-] dutchkimble@lemy.lol 5 points 9 months ago

Can we have a globe please that magically spins?

[-] pacoboyd@lemm.ee 5 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

The midi file doesn't play automatically, but I see that's a thing your working on.

Also need gifs of Bart Simpson saying "Don't have a cow man"

[-] stealth_cookies@lemmy.ca 5 points 9 months ago

Needs a blink tag and some old style Microsoft Word art.

[-] plumbercraic@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 9 months ago

Custom curors that animate at rest and during loading so you're not sure which part of the curors clicks, and also not sure sure if something is being loaded or not. Bonus points if the cursor changes to yet another ambiguous animated one as you hover over a tiny button which would pause the midi track.

[-] ThatFembyWho 5 points 9 months ago

That site would have been considered remarkably beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. As such it's not quite realistic.

Much too legible. I recommend less contrast for the text.

I don't see you playing with alignment? I would like more centered text personally. And long lines of text without breaks.

Why not throw in some "lorem ipsum" placeholders.

Are you using a WYSIWYG editor?

Where are your dancing hampsters?

Also is this before or after it became trendy to copy/paste all sorts of scripts into the html? Remember scrolling text on the status bar, how about those ascii things that follow your mouse around?

I'd keep an eye on your page's size, remember we would be loading this on 56k dialup modems... if we were lucky!

[-] ThatFembyWho 2 points 9 months ago

Also remember the nearest comparison to building a website, was a book, magazine, or newspaper. So just plop those text and images down as if it was a book, only ever intended to be viewed at one fixed resolution (say, 800x600). No smartphones yet. No apps to inspire us. No web 2.0. No emphasis on minimalism or dynamic content.

Unexpected and unpleasant things should happen with different browsers, window sizes, etc.

[-] Saigonauticon@voltage.vn 4 points 9 months ago

Oh man -- you need a blink tag on some of that text. Support for the tag has been removed from all modern browsers.

So you'll need to add it in with javascript that updates CSS or something.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] unixben@aus.social 4 points 9 months ago

@ajsadauskas @asklemmy iframes - you definitely need them

[-] dingus182@endlesstalk.org 4 points 9 months ago
[-] ShadowCatEXE@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

You need some “important” data that’s in an unstyled bulky table. You also need some horizontal rules on the page to split up content.

[-] Facebones@reddthat.com 4 points 9 months ago

Spinning wordart!

[-] bjornsno@lemm.ee 4 points 9 months ago

Guestbook didn't work, after recaptcha it just said POST failed. Oh and you need a visitor counter!

[-] lachlan@mastodon.social 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

@ajsadauskas @linux Image maps? <marquee>? A digital view counter, or one of those gifs of a spinning odometer.
A link that goes to a clip art digger saying 'under construction' in 90s office clip art.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] xilliah@beehaw.org 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

256 colors. Especially for that background. Or maybe even less and use dithering.

[-] whome@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 9 months ago

That cat is way too high res

[-] Kalkaline@leminal.space 4 points 9 months ago

Line by line loading images, maybe an error message saying the connection dropped with the modem sound playing to restart the page.

[-] scorpious@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

Fun idea. ASCII Art!

[-] weew@lemmy.ca 4 points 9 months ago

Comic Sans MS

[-] NeroC_Bass@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 9 months ago

I had to go dig up the link again. Was looking for this folding license plate step thing I saw once, and found the sellers website. Looks like it is also straight out of the 90's

http://markthree.com/custom_vans_license_plate_steps.htm

[-] Moobythegoldensock@lemm.ee 3 points 9 months ago

Needs more dancing Jesus

[-] ComplexLotus@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

use html tables with large borders ... or that is how I feel the old times look

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] rufus@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

BOOTSTRA.386 (okay, on second thought, that's more the 80s and doesn't really fit.)

[-] Oha@lemmy.ohaa.xyz 3 points 9 months ago

Put some more random badges on the bottom
This site has a lot of them: https://web.badges.world/

[-] travis_nice@bne.social 3 points 9 months ago

@ajsadauskas @asklemmy You need to change the mouse cursor to anything but an arrow. Bonus points if it leaves a trail. Like a peace sign cursor that leaves a rainbow trail, or a clock face where the numbers fall off when it moves.

[-] Kalkaline@leminal.space 3 points 9 months ago

Infinite popups, simulated of course now that most web browsers block popups.

[-] hit_the_rails@reddthat.com 3 points 9 months ago

This is going on my bookmarks toolbar. Thank you!

[-] sanguinepar@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago

You might get some useful ideas on !oldweb@lemmy.ml (although it seems abandoned now)

[-] cheesymoonshadow@lemmings.world 3 points 9 months ago

I love it! Takes me right back. I was going to suggest adding a visitor counter but you already had it.

[-] oxjox@lemmy.ml 2 points 9 months ago

You've got the under construction gif. Done.

[-] luca@sironi.tk 2 points 9 months ago

@ajsadauskas@aus.social @asklemmy@lemmy.ml uh, nice vibes!

[-] Quexotic@infosec.pub 2 points 9 months ago

The problem is the MIDI file doesn't automatically play.

[-] taladar@sh.itjust.works 2 points 9 months ago

One of those Java applets at the bottom that looks like water reflecting the site background perhaps?

@ajsadauskas@aus.social @asklemmy@lemmy.ml I think I actually have a few of my 90s-era sites archived. One of them should have an auto play midi for the background music. I'll see if I can dig it up!

@ajsadauskas@aus.social @asklemmy@lemmy.ml I actually started down this path a little while back and have since gotten sidetracked.

https://weblike99.com/

load more comments (5 replies)
[-] pewgar_seemsimandroid 2 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

onion site version

[-] wlsnt@reddthat.com 2 points 9 months ago
load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›
this post was submitted on 10 Mar 2024
256 points (100.0% liked)

Asklemmy

44233 readers
368 users here now

A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions

Search asklemmy 🔍

If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!

  1. Open-ended question
  2. Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
  3. Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
  4. Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
  5. An actual topic of discussion

Looking for support?

Looking for a community?

~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS