Hey nerds, is anyone still maintaining any Web Rings? I used to love those. I know they don't serve much purpose in the modern corporate internet but it seems like they'd be a good fit for the handmade web. #question#SmallWeb#WebRing#SmolWeb
Depuis quelques années, une partie de la communauté internet se tourne vers des solutions plus simples et moins gourmandes en ressources, en réaction à ce que beaucoup considèrent comme l’« #emmerdification » progressive du web. Le protocole #Gemini a émergé comme une réponse prometteuse à ce besoin, mais après l’enthousiasme initial, une certaine désillusion semble s’installer [...]
It's a static site generator. Unlike many others, Publii is a graphical application, very easy to use. It manages content edition with 3 different methods:
Wysiwyg editor
Block editor (inspired by Medium IHMO)
Markdown editor
Adding images is simple, you can select one as featured for Organic data, put one in the header for the site or for each post.
It runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.
In the vast landscape of the internet, where bloated websites reign supreme, there lies a humble yet powerful movement: the SmolWeb! Embracing simplicity, efficiency, and accessibility, SmolWeb challenges conventional web development practices. If you're a web developer seeking a new perspective, here's why and how you should consider writing SmolWeb sites [...]
If you need a dual protocol gemini/https hosting, I propose a free solution on a personal server. You will get 1GB storage to put #gemtext and images files and build a #gemini capsule also accessible through https.
More info on https://pollux.casa/ or gemini://pollux.casa/
A smart autoindex generate an index of your posts if no index.gmi is found in a directory 😉 easier for a gemlog, read the doc to name files
I really like personal homepages and have quite a list of them bookmarked. I'll post one every week until I don't or unless I fall behind this schedule. 😉 So here's Cool Personal Homepages #CPH Vol. 14: starbreaker.org https://starbreaker.org/
While looking for smolweb resources, I met Wiby!
This search engine indexes websites compatible with old browsers. You will find simple HTML and non-commercial sites, and, if you have a smolwebsite, you can submit it to their database.
Last week I found out about the Gemini protocol. It's like a light weight alternative to the web. There is not much to it. Every resource loads only one file. You could compare the experience of browsing it to having reading mode in your browser always on. I like the simplicity of it and the DIY mentality
I worked on a little server for it the over the weekend but there is nothing on it yet so I'll post the link some other time.
I think that it's a good idea to have a look to it, because this design can be fully compatible with #smolweb concept. A bit different from minimalism, a website adopting #Brutalism may be lightweight and with its own singularity.
If you want to build a smolweb site, you should study this concept.
Be careful, some Brutalist templates exist but use heavy framework, avoid them.
Choosing Between #Smolweb and #Gemini: Advantages and Drawbacks
In the ever-evolving landscape of decentralized and minimalist web (and net) technologies, two platforms stand out: Smolweb and Gemini, if we forget good old Gopher. Both offer alternatives to traditional web browsing, emphasizing simplicity, speed, and privacy. But which is the right choice for you? [...]
The idea that there could be a part of the web that is usable by smaller browsers and without any JavaScript support, without hitting walls of JS web apps (which currently also excludes the majority of annoying and intrusive ads, much of the tracking, sites with AI generated non-information, etc.) is one that keeps coming up in my mind.
It would be so nice if the web, or a sbset of it, could be used with sensible use of the possibilities of existing technologies.
It's the web. Hyperlinked text, images, even arbitrary file downloads are possible. There are better ways to implement chats, email, live street navigation, image editing and all the other applications that exist in the web today.
What's the right tag to use for this topic? #SmallWeb#Smolweb#FreeWeb#IndieWeb#OpenWeb ? I guess I'll have to follow all of them to get many posts about this. What else should I look at or follow if I'm interested in seeing such an accessible web become more relevant and usable?
Anytime that you click on your browser reader mode you are implicitly admitting, and confirming, that #smolweb and #Gemini are the right way to read internet pages... 🤭
i am fascinated by this typeface history. as it turns out, Gerald Giampa was the owner of the LTC Spire typeface when it was licensed for use in the GeoWorks operating environment.
i had no idea that he was canadian, and moved his foundry to Prince Edward Island before it was destroyed in a tidal wave. P22 bought his font faces, and designed this absolutely gorgeous traditional web site called The Giampa Tour. it disappeared from the web over 10 years ago, and this is probably the first time it has been seen in a decade. it's full of incredibly nerdy typeface history, including some fantastic rants on how shitty Adobe was to deal with, even back in the late 1980s. 😆
this is what the world wide web was made for, and i'm so glad WBM managed to preserve a working copy, as P22 has been out of business for many years - and its website gone with it.
i've rebuilt the entire site using the WBM's snapshot for public viewing here, where it will remain as an online museum and tribute to Gerald Giampa's incredible work:
A prototype of "smolmd.php" is running on pages.casa.
Next to the classic htdocs directory of the user space, there is a "markdown" directory. If you put .md files in it, they are automatically served through http in html format, building a #smolweb site in the /md/ fake directory of the site.
I really like personal homepages and have quite a list of them bookmarked. I'll post one every week until I don't. So here's Cool Personal Homepages #CPH Vol. 10: Lost Letters https://lostletters.neocities.org/
To follow through on my pledge to do more of my #internet reading on the #indieweb, I've been visiting random blogs using this site and adding any interesting ones to an #RSS feed.
My intention is to browse this feed much the same way I would the news -call it a self-care practice. I want to spend more time in reflection and less in panic. I also want to get ideas for, perhaps, my own blog someday.
Did anyone build a search engine including only websites without any JavaScript ? (Not a proxy that strips JS — rendering the site unuseable — sites that don’t contain any as is).