My website, James’ Coffee Blog, is now over five years old. I seldom thought about how old my website was until recently, when I looked and realised that years had passed since the single black-and-white HTML page that comprised my site. “Hyperlinks are my friend,” I said, in a playful tone whose message foreshadowed my deepening appreciation for the web and what the web could be.
Five years on, I find myself as invigorated about the web as I was at the beginning. I started what would become James’ Coffee Blog interested in blogging, seeing a personal website as a way to share words on the web. Those words would help me nurture my passion for writing. My website could, I learned, be a place for me to grow and experiment as a writer. Having a website encouraged me to ask the question what could I write today? Whether or not I published what I wrote, I was writing. I was making something. I was proud.
My passion for the web is fuelled not only by my own experiences writing, but by seeing what others make. Seeing others’ websites, I have asked myself questions like How did they make that?, spurring my interest in web design. Web design is a topic I would later find the motivation to study in greater depth.
I have been delighted by stories that people have shared, eliciting reactions in me from I see myself in this to That was fascinating! Blog posts on personal websites have made me curious, they have made me feel seen, they have satisfied my interest in learning – they have opened up new worlds, from the technical to the poetic, from the introspective to the collaborative.
When I was thinking what would be a good fit for The Good Internet Magazine – a publication whose very existence makes me excited about the future of the web – a question came to mind: “what have I learned over the years that a new web weaver would find interesting?” Here is my answer to that question.
The expressiveness of the web
I have said “wow!” to myself many times when visiting others’ websites. From websites designed like notebooks to sites themed like libraries, the potential for creative expression on the web is great. You can express yourself through words, imagery, video, audio. Within all of these modalities, there are opportunities: you can write poems or stories or diary entries or essays, you can share professional photos or low-fidelity photos, you can share the music you wrote or add a sound effect to a web page.
I like to express myself through words. The theme of my personal website is to make my words as easy to read as possible. Based on this idea, I spent a lot of time learning about readability. What makes text readable on a digital device? What causes readability issues? I learned that line spacing helps make sure text is not too close together, that there is a range of widths after which point a line of text becomes harder to read, and that good contrast doesn’t just mean using black-and-white.
I found the lens through which I wanted to make my website – to bring my words front and centre. This came after a lot of experimentation. My previous theme had a Club Penguin background – the theme was fun and whimsical. Indeed, I think the presence of penguins has great potential to add to the joy one has on a website. Going into my site redesign, I wanted to preserve that whimsy, but without such a colourful background. I instead decided to use a cat mascot on my site. The tongue of the cat is sticking out and the cat has a coffee cup balanced on its head. Realistic? Probably not. Delightful? Absolutely.
I love seeing everyone’s takes on what it is they want to do on their website. Ana (https://ohhelloana.blog) has designed her website like a notebook, to the extent that there are little pieces of tape holding up notes on the page. Mu-An (https://muan.co) has a minimalist design with photo stories. Anh (https://anhvn.com) has designed several pages inspired by comic books. Nick (https://nicksimson.com) wrote a month-long series on typography. Tracy (https://tracydurnell.com) writes thoughtful long-form pieces and collects quotes from a range of sites – every post is fascinating to me.
There is no wrong or right way to make a website. If you like writing, you may want to have a blog-like website. If you like photos, you may be inspired to share a few on a photo-grid. If you like drawing, you may want to create a portfolio. Whatever you make, the most important thing is that you have fun!
Websites can (should?) change
It is likely that on a given day there is not a mention of “coffee” in a recent blog post of mine, despite my blog being called “James’ Coffee Blog.” Why? First: not everything needs a reason to be on a personal website! Second, I named my site at a time when I was writing a lot about coffee. At one point, I did a series where I interviewed Scottish coffee professionals. I wrote about brewing coffee at home. My blog wasn’t all about coffee, but I did really enjoy writing about the topic and, in so doing, meeting fascinating people who cared a lot about coffee.
Now, I spend more time writing stories – moments I observed that brought me joy, reflections from my life, journals from my walks. These blog posts all started with one blog post that I wrote on moments that brought me joy. I loved writing that blog post and, over months – and now years – I found myself being eager to write more of those stories. I started looking around at the world more searching for heartwarming moments, for things in Nature that interested me. It all started with one blog post.
My website has changed with me. I still love coffee, but I am not as active in the community any more. I love writing about Nature; I love telling stories. Inspired by storytelling, I started reading poetry, a form of writing that I didn’t really appreciate until I bought a few books about poetry and looked through the sections that were appealing to me. Among the dozens of poems in those books, I found stories I enjoyed. Not all poems were for me, but the same is true of everything – we all enjoy our own things; poets, designs, visions for what we want our website to be.
My writing has moved from being focused on coffee and technology to being more focused on storytelling. My site navigation has changed. My site theme has evolved as I have learned more about web design. Indeed, it is through having a personal website that I have been motivated to learn about web design – every CSS or design rule being a tool I can use to weave a new web page. So much has changed and, as it has changed, I have an archive of my writing that documents the journey.
We change. Our websites may change, too. And I think there is so much fun to be had in embracing our desire for change – whether in trying to write about something new, (re-)designing our website, or creating a web page inspired by a new interest.
You can have more than one space
At several points in my web weaving journey, I have thought about whether I should separate out my stories and my writing on coffee or code, each of these topics being potentially interesting to different audiences. I worried that people who came to my blog for one thing (coffee) would be confused if they saw writing on another topic (code). At every juncture, after great contemplation, I have decided against fragmenting my writing. All of the things I write about are parts of me.
Whereas large swathes of the web have encouraged us to focus on one thing – to write within character limits, to use video to express ourselves, to stay on topic to build an audience – my website can be different. I can write about all the things that interest me. Perhaps someone else will find what I write about interesting, too. If not, that’s okay: I make my website for me (although I am always delighted when someone finds something in what I write). And I want to put stories and articles about web design together.
With that said, I am liberated by the idea of having multiple spaces on the web, and curious about what it would mean to have different spaces for my writing. One thought that comes to mind is how Bon Iver is an identity of Justin Vernon. Vernon has also performed the bands Volcano Choir, Big Red Machine, and more.
Vernon exemplifies the idea of multiple creative spaces, each having their own direction. In this vein, I have recently been thinking: how does my perception of my blog change if I think of it as James’ Coffee Blog?, its own identity? My thinking is nascent, but I am fascinated by the extent to which websites are a part of our identity and, to a greater extent, how websites can be an identity unto themselves.
I have a subdomain on my website called “playground” inspired by Joe (artlung.com)’s “Lab” (https://lab.artlung.com) in which I create one-off web pages. I have a page that lists the tracks in Taylor Swift’s folklore album, designed in the folklore aesthetic. I have a concept design for my site that looks like a blueprint, an ode to my childhood aspiration to become an inventor, I have plain text pages formatted with different kinds of spacing.
Every one of these pages is an independent experiment – each a chance to try a new design, a new aesthetic, a new CSS rule.
By extension, every blog post I write can open up a new world. Every so often, I realise I want to explore a theme in my writing. This can be a series of tutorials, a concept I want to explore (like walking, or the seasons, or transitions), or an observation about websites (i.e. my enthusiasm for the next decade of the web).
New spaces encourages me to think outside of the constraints of what already exists. A web page designed from the ground up is a chance for me to explore a completely different direction than what I have in the past. Every blog post is an opportunity for something new.
While I prefer to keep most of my writing in one place, I do also like writing in a new place too, especially when I am trying to tread completely new ground. Knowing that my blog has at least a few occasional readers, I feel greater weight when I publish there. Sometimes I need a place to play – to experiment. This may be writing on my computer, or an entirely new web page devoted to a topic. I recently made a Neocities site about art, for example.
Long story short: create new spaces. Make web pages. Write blog posts. (Re-)design your website. Try new fonts. Experiment with different layouts. As you make new things, you will find a creative direction. You may even find several!
Join communities
One of the reasons I think my passion for maintaining a website has sustained for so long is that I make my website alongside communities.
When I started making the site that became James’ Coffee Blog, I joined an online meetup called Homebrew Website Club. Run every two weeks online at the time, and now weekly online, the meetup is a space to talk about all things personal websites. Through Homebrew Website Club, I had a space to share what I was making, to ask questions, and to learn from others. I loved seeing people demo what they made with their site. If I got stuck, someone could help, or at least point me in the right direction.
Homebrew Website Club is run adjacent to the IndieWeb community, whose wiki has been invaluable as I have been making my website. The community has spent years documenting the history of the web, things that community members have made (including things that can be used by others), and ideas for the future. With over 5,000 pages, there are so many things to learn. Years on, I discover a new wiki page every week or so. I get excited every time I see something new.
Community is so important in the personal web. Websites are hard to make, especially if you are writing code. They can take up a lot of time. It can be hard to know where to begin. With community, you have a place where you can listen out for new ideas and inspiration, a place where you can ask questions, and somewhere you can proudly say “I made this!” after you finish making something.
The IndieWeb and 32 Bit Cafe have both been formative parts of my web experience – the former being more technical and the latter being more approachable to beginners.
In addition to more formal communities with names, having a personal website makes you a member of the community of people with a personal website. By extension, the only requirement to be “indie web” – the phrase with which an increasing number of people associate with carving out a space one owns online – is to have a personal website.
People with personal websites often link to other websites they appreciate. Such links can be found on “blogrolls” or “link rolls” – perhaps with accompanying 88x31 pixel art buttons, an ode to a design trend in the early years of the web – as well as in blog posts too. Some websites are part of webrings, a collection of sites grouped by a common interest or theme. There are directories of sites like blogroll.org that link to hundreds of personal websites to explore.
In publishing your own web pages, words, and/or art – whatever you want to publish – and reading others, you are part of a community. If you see a site you like, you could email the site author to say you enjoyed their site! If a blog post made you think, you could write a blog post and link to the post that inspired you.
Websites are but part of us; and life happens
This year, I took a three-week break from blogging while particularly busy with work. I enjoyed the opportunity to let my blog exist in the background. During this time, I didn’t think about new web pages to make, blog posts, bugs to fix, or anything like that. I was focused on other things.
At several points through my time in maintaining James’ Coffee Blog, I have worried about not writing “enough.” In writing these words, I wonder: what does it even mean to write “enough”? Is there ever enough? As the years go by, I am growing to appreciate the difference in desire to make something new (which comes with excitement) and the feeling like I “should” be making something or that I am not doing enough (both of which make me feel stressed).
After taking a three-week break, my site didn’t fall apart. It kept running. I came back as strong a writer as I was before. The time gave me an opportunity to rekindle the flame that excites me, while also affording me the chance to discover new things that may interest me. Indeed, in the free time I did have, I spent time in art galleries – touching grass, per se. I loved being away from the computer, and grew to appreciate this time more.
That is to say: breaks are okay. Breaks are normal! Breaks are important.
I have come to greatly appreciate the IndieWeb’s concept of “life happens,” which is related to the idea of taking breaks but has a scope that encompasses all things that may motivate taking a break. Life happens is defined as:
a summary expression of numerous things that people experience in their actual physical lives that suddenly take higher priority than nearly anything else (like participation in volunteer-based communities), and the IndieWeb community is here to acknowledge, accept, and be supportive of community members experiencing this.
This concept reminds us once again that websites are part of us and that other parts of us can take precedence.
If you need a break from your website, take a break. It will always be there when you come back (as will the community, too).
Looking forward
When I look back, I am struck by how my passion and enthusiasm has not only sustained, but grown. With every passing year, I see more new personal websites. Some of my favourite writers on the web only started blogging a year or two ago. I see more enthusiasm for an independent web: one free from the artificial constraints placed on creatives by mainstream social platforms.
When I look forward, I see both challenges and promise for the web.
One question in particular looms large: how do we make it easier for people to set up websites? In addition, I find myself asking: how can we help more people realise the spark we felt when we started our websites? What were the magic moments? And what do those moments tell us about how we should communicate the values of having a personal website. Indeed, websites will not be for everyone – but it is almost definite that someone will not feel inspired to start a website if the promise of doing so is unclear or not properly communicated.
As the web changes, we are forced to reckon with the fundamental shifts happening around us, too. With generative AI being able to codify knowledge in a way that is hard to remove, to synthesise text and images at scale, and to reproduce text and images in our likenesses, what does this mean for the future of the web? We cannot be ignorant to these changes, nor assume that the status quo that has worked in the past will work today.
Not all of the changes have been negative. “decentralised” tooling has increased awareness, and with it increased adoption. More people are using independent tools and social networks. There is a growing sense of malaise about social networks and how they affect our lives, our communities, and our societies. Feeling that something is not quite right is a step in seeking, or demanding, better.
One of the greatest features of the web is that we get to weave it. We can build websites. If you have technical skills – or a desire to acquire them – you can even build tools for others. I run a web reader that is designed to be calm specifically because no tool existed that let me read the web the way I wanted: without notifications or read statuses, and with direct links to someone’s websites instead of in a reading interface.
Last year, I asked myself what the next decade of the web may look like. I wrote:
Things can be different.
There are many beacons of hope across the web that suggest things can be different. People who write on their blogs. Photographers who share and sell art on their websites. Mastodon, a public commons where people can chat and where you can move your identity between different site owners if a site owner does something with which you disagree. The Verge, a news publication, has showed that whatever happens with the ecosystem – search engines changing, for example – journalists can build destinations where people go; that a home page can be where someone goes to news, rather than exclusively a social media timeline.
We are already making change, but to make more we need to reaffirm the foundations of the web: that the web is for people. We need to go out and shout from the rooftops that the web can be different. To do so effectively, we all need to be the change we want to see in the web. I do this by being myself on my personal website, and by sharing my writing on my site actively.
What changes you want to see will likely be different from mine. That’s good. The web should support a plurality of visions. My vision for the web is for us to look to smaller communities. To say that perhaps we don’t need scale. Indeed, the scale of social media was not a boon to me. It felt great to be connected to so many people, but I am not built for that. I want a small space where I can see everything my friends post online. I am curious: what is your vision for the web?
Over the last five years, I have found great joy in maintaining a website. I have explored my creativity, going from writing about the web (clarifying what I love so much about this thing we call the web) to interviewing coffee professionals (and finding community) to writing stories about Nature (and finding place). Having a place to write and share what I write with others motivated me to write more. In so doing, I learned HTML and CSS. I made friends. I discovered new websites – worlds unto themselves.
I have learned that community makes the personal web special, that breaks are important, that your website should be whatever you want it to be. I have learned that we have work to do on the web – that we may need to ask fundamental questions about what the web is, what web we want, and how we are going to make it happen. Those are questions that take a community to answer – one that we have.
And with that, I wish you luck in your web weaving! Perhaps five years from now you will be looking back wondering how it has been so many years since you started your website.
James writes words, weaves webs, and loves seeing new home pages. He is energized by the wonders of the web, and motivated to build a calmer, more people-friendly web. James writes on his personal website jamesg.blog, participants in the IndieWeb community, and co-hosts Homebrew Website Club events for people interested in personal websites. In his spare time, James can be found listening to Taylor Swift songs, playing piano, and learning about art.
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