iNETSCAPE'S UNTOLD WEBSTORIES	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
i2024-02-02	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iI mentioned yesterday that during Bloganuary I'd put non-Bloganuary-prompt	null	(FALSE)	0
ipost ideas onto the backburner, and considered extending my daily streak by	null	(FALSE)	0
iposting them in February. Here's part of my attempt to do that:	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iLet's take a trip into the Web of yesteryear, with thanks to our friends at	null	(FALSE)	0
ithe Internet Archive's WayBack Machine.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThe page we're interested in used to live at	null	(FALSE)	0
ihttp://www.netscape.com/comprod/columns/webstories/index.html, and promised to	null	(FALSE)	0
ibe a showcase for best practice in Web development. Back in October 1996, it	null	(FALSE)	0
ilooked like this:	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IScreenshot from Netscape Columns: Web Site Stories: a Coming Soon page which says "The series is scheduled to debut in November."	/2023/11/webstories-1996-10-26.png	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThe page is a placeholder for Netscape Webstories (or Web Site Stories, in	null	(FALSE)	0
isome places). It's part of a digital magazine called Netscape Columns which	null	(FALSE)	0
ipublished pieces written by Marc Andreeson, Jim Barksdale, and other bigwigs	null	(FALSE)	0
iin the hugely-influential pre-AOL-acquisition Netscape Communications.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThis new series would showcase best practice in designing and building Web	null	(FALSE)	0
isites (Yes, we used to write "Web sites" as two words. We also used to	null	(FALSE)	0
iconsistently capitalise the words Web and Internet. Some of us still do so.),	null	(FALSE)	0
igiving a voice to the technical folks best-placed to speak on that topic. That	null	(FALSE)	0
isounds cool!	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThose white boxes above and below the paragraph of text aren't missing images,	null	(FALSE)	0
iby the way: they're horizontal rules, using the little-known size attribute to	null	(FALSE)	0
ispecify a thickness of <hr size=4>! (In case it's not clear, this blog post is	null	(FALSE)	0
igoing to be as much about little-known and archaic Web design techniques as it	null	(FALSE)	0
iis about Netscape's website.)	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iCertainly you're excited by this new column and you'll come back in November	null	(FALSE)	0
i1996, right?	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IScreenshot from Netscape Columns: Web Site Stories: a Coming Soon page which says "The series is scheduled to begin in January."	/2023/11/webstories-1997-01a.png	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iOh. The launch has been delayed, I guess. Now it's coming in January.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThe <hr>s look better now their size has been reduced, though, so clearly	null	(FALSE)	0
isomebody's paying attention to the page. But let's take a moment and look at	null	(FALSE)	0
ithat page title. If you grew up writing web pages in the modern web, you might	null	(FALSE)	0
ianticipate that it's coded something like this:	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
i<h2 style="font-variant: small-caps; text-align: center;">Coming Soon</h2>	null	(FALSE)	0
iThere's plenty of other ways to get that same effect. Perhaps you prefer	null	(FALSE)	0
ifont-feature-settings: 'smcp' in your chosen font; that's perfectly valid.	null	(FALSE)	0
iMaybe you'd use margin: 0 auto or something to centre it: I won't judge.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iBut no, that's not how this works. The actual code for that page title is:	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
i<center>	null	(FALSE)	0
i  <h2>	null	(FALSE)	0
i    <font size="+3">C</font>OMING	null	(FALSE)	0
i    <font size="+3">S</font>OON	null	(FALSE)	0
i  </h2>	null	(FALSE)	0
i</center>	null	(FALSE)	0
iBack when this page was authored, we didn't have CSS (This is a white lie. CSS	null	(FALSE)	0
iwas first proposed almost at the same time as the Web! Microsoft Internet	null	(FALSE)	0
iExplorer was first to deliver a partial implementation of the initial	null	(FALSE)	0
istandard, late in 1996, but Netscape dragged their heels, perhaps in part	null	(FALSE)	0
ibecause they'd originally backed a competing standard called JavaScript Style	null	(FALSE)	0
iSheets (JSSS). JSSS had a lot going for it: if it had enjoyed widespread	null	(FALSE)	0
iadoption, for example, we'd have had the equivalent of CSS variables a full	null	(FALSE)	0
itwenty years earlier! In any case, back in 1996 you definitely wouldn't want	null	(FALSE)	0
ito rely on CSS support.). The only styling elements were woven right in	null	(FALSE)	0
iamongst the semantic elements of a page (Wondering where the text and link	null	(FALSE)	0
icolours come from? <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000ff"	null	(FALSE)	0
ivlink="#ff0000" alink="#ff0000">. Yes really, that's where we used to put our	null	(FALSE)	0
icolours.). It was simple to understand and easy to learn... but it was a total	null	(FALSE)	0
imess (Personally, I really loved the aesthetic Netscape touted when using	null	(FALSE)	0
iTimes New Roman (or whatever serif font was available on your computer:	null	(FALSE)	0
iwebfonts weren't a thing yet) with temporary tweaks to font sizes, and I	null	(FALSE)	0
icopied it in some of my own sites. If you look back at my 2018 blog post	null	(FALSE)	0
icelebrating two decades of blogging, where I've got a screenshot of my blog as	null	(FALSE)	0
iit looked circa 1999, you'll see that I used exactly this technique for the	null	(FALSE)	0
iordinal suffixes on my post dates! On the same post, you'll see that I	null	(FALSE)	0
isomewhat replicated the "feel" of it again in my 2011 design, this time using	null	(FALSE)	0
ia stylesheet.).	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iAnyway, let's come back in January 1997 and see what this feature looks like	null	(FALSE)	0
iwhen it's up-and-running.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IScreenshot from Netscape Columns: Web Site Stories: a Coming Soon page which says "The series is scheduled to begin in the spring."	/2023/11/webstories-1997-01b.png	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iNope, now it's pushed back to "the spring".	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iUnder Construction pages were all the rage back in the nineties. Everybody had	null	(FALSE)	0
ione (or several), usually adorned with one or more of about a thousand	null	(FALSE)	0
idifferent animated GIFs for that purpose. (There's a whole section of	null	(FALSE)	0
iCameron's World dedicated to "under construction" banners, and that's a	null	(FALSE)	0
ibeautiful thing!)	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
gRotating animated "under construction" banner.	/2023/11/mamagnolia_acresunderconstruction1.gif	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iBuilding "in public" was an act of commitment, a statement of intent, and an	null	(FALSE)	0
iact of acceptance of the incompleteness of a digital garden. They're sort-of	null	(FALSE)	0
icoming back into fashion in the interpersonal Web, with the "garden and	null	(FALSE)	0
istream" metaphor (The idea of "garden and stream" is that you publish early	null	(FALSE)	0
iand often, refining as you go, in your garden, which can act as an extension	null	(FALSE)	0
iof whatever notetaking system you use already, but publish mostly "finished"	null	(FALSE)	0
icontent to your (chronological) stream. I see an increasing number of IndieWeb	null	(FALSE)	0
ibloggers going down this route, but I'm not convinced that it's for me.)	null	(FALSE)	0
itaking root. This isn't anything new, of course - Mark Bernstein touched on	null	(FALSE)	0
ithe concepts in 1998 - but it's not something that I can ever see returning to	null	(FALSE)	0
ithe "serious" modern corporate Web: but if you've seen a genuine, non-ironic	null	(FALSE)	0
i"under construction" page published to a non-root page of a company's website	null	(FALSE)	0
iwithin the last decade, please let me know!	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
gUnder construction banner with an animated yellow-and-black tape banner between two "men at work" signs.	/2023/11/HoHollywoodBungalow4907imgsourcesunderconstruction1.gif	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iRSS doesn't exist yet (although here's a fun fact: the very first version of	null	(FALSE)	0
iRSS came out of Netscape!). We're just going to have to bookmark the page and	null	(FALSE)	0
icheck back later in the year, I guess...	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IScreenshot from Netscape Columns: Web Site Stories: a Coming Soon page identical to the previous version but with a search box ("To search the Netscape Columns, type a word or phrase here:") beneath.	/2023/11/webstories-1997-02.png	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iOkay, so February clearly isn't Spring, but they've updated the page... to add	null	(FALSE)	0
ia search form.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iIt's a genuine <form> tag, too, not one of those old-fashioned <isindex> tags	null	(FALSE)	0
iyou'd still sometimes find even as late as 1997. Interestingly, it specifies	null	(FALSE)	0
ienctype="application/x-www-form-urlencoded". Today's developers probably don't	null	(FALSE)	0
ithink about the enctype attribute except when they're doing a form that	null	(FALSE)	0
ihandles file uploads and they know they need to switch it to	null	(FALSE)	0
ienctype="multipart/form-data", (or their framework does this automatically for	null	(FALSE)	0
ithem!).	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iBut these aren't the only options, and some older browsers at this time still	null	(FALSE)	0
idefaulted to enctype="text/plain".  So long as you're using a POST and not GET	null	(FALSE)	0
imethod, the distinction is mostly academic, but if your backend CGI program	null	(FALSE)	0
ianticipates that special characters will come-in encoded, back then you'd be	null	(FALSE)	0
iwise to specify that you wanted URL-encoding or you might get a nasty surprise	null	(FALSE)	0
iwhen somebody turns up using LMB or something equally-exotic.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iAnyway, let's come back in June. The content must surely be up by now:	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IScreenshot from Netscape Columns: Web Site Stories: a Coming Soon page which says "The series is scheduled to begin in August."	/2023/11/webstories-1997-06.png	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iOh come on! Now we're waiting until August?	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iAt least the page isn't abandoned. Somebody's coming back and editing it from	null	(FALSE)	0
itime to time to let us know about the still-ongoing series of delays. And	null	(FALSE)	0
ithat's not a trivial task: this isn't a CMS. They're probably editing the	null	(FALSE)	0
i.html file itself in their favourite text editor, then putting the appropriate	null	(FALSE)	0
ifile:// address into their copy of Netscape Navigator (and maybe other	null	(FALSE)	0
ibrowsers) to test it, then uploading the file - probably using FTP - to the	null	(FALSE)	0
iwebserver... all the while thanking their lucky stars that they've only got	null	(FALSE)	0
ithe one page they need to change.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iWe didn't have scripting languages like PHP yet, you see (Another white lie.	null	(FALSE)	0
iPHP was released way back in 1995 and even the very first version supported	null	(FALSE)	0
isomething a lot like server-side includes, using the syntax <!--include	null	(FALSE)	0
i/file/name.html-->. But it was a little computationally-intensive to run	null	(FALSE)	0
iwilly-nilly.). We didn't really have static site generators. Most servers	null	(FALSE)	0
ididn't implement server-side includes. So if you had to make a change to every	null	(FALSE)	0
ipage on a site, for example editing the main navigation menu, you'd probably	null	(FALSE)	0
ihave to open and edit dozens or even hundreds of pages. Little wonder that	null	(FALSE)	0
iframesets caught on, despite their (many) faults, with their ability to render	null	(FALSE)	0
iyour navigation separately from your page content.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iOkay, let's come back in August I guess:	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IScreenshot from Netscape Columns: Web Site Stories: a Coming Soon page which says "The series is scheduled to begin in the spring." Again.	/2023/11/webstories-1997-10-08.png	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iNow we're told that we're to come back... in the Spring again? That could mean	null	(FALSE)	0
iSpring 1998, I suppose... or it could just be that somebody accidentally	null	(FALSE)	0
ire-uploaded an old copy of the page.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iHey: the footer's gone too? This is clearly a partial re-upload: somebody	null	(FALSE)	0
irealised they were accidentally overwriting the page with the previous-but-one	null	(FALSE)	0
iversion, hit "cancel" in their FTP client (or yanked the cable out of the	null	(FALSE)	0
iwall), and assumed that they'd successfully stopped the upload before any	null	(FALSE)	0
idamage was done.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThey had not.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IScreenshot of a Windows 95 dialog box, asking "Are you sure you want to delete index.html?" The cursor hovers over the "Yes" button.	/2023/11/win95-are-you-sure-delete-indexhtml.png	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iI didn't mention that top menu, did I? It looks like it's a series of links,	null	(FALSE)	0
istyled to look like flat buttons, right? But you know that's not possible	null	(FALSE)	0
ibecause you can't rely on having the right fonts available: plus you'd have to	null	(FALSE)	0
ido some <table> trickery to lay it out, at which point you'd struggle to	null	(FALSE)	0
iensure that the menu was the same width as the banner above it. So how did	null	(FALSE)	0
ithey do it?	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThe menu is what's known as a client-side imagemap. Here's what the code looks	null	(FALSE)	0
ilike:	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
i<a href="/comprod/columns/images/nav.map">	null	(FALSE)	0
i  <img src="/comprod/columns/images/websitestories_ban.gif" width=468 height=32 border=0 usemap="#maintopmap" ismap>	null	(FALSE)	0
i</a><map name="mainmap">	null	(FALSE)	0
i  <area coords="0,1,92,24" href="/comprod/columns/mainthing/index.html">	null	(FALSE)	0
i  <area coords="94,1,187,24" href="/comprod/columns/techvision/index.html">	null	(FALSE)	0
i  <area coords="189,1,278,24" href="/comprod/columns/webstories/index.html">	null	(FALSE)	0
i  <area coords="280,1,373,24" href="/comprod/columns/intranet/index.html">	null	(FALSE)	0
i  <area coords="375,1,467,24" href="/comprod/columns/newsgroup/index.html">	null	(FALSE)	0
i</map>	null	(FALSE)	0
iThe image (which specifies border=0 because back then the default behaviour	null	(FALSE)	0
ifor graphical browser was to put a thick border around images within	null	(FALSE)	0
ihyperlinks) says usemap="#maintopmap" to cross-reference the <map> below it,	null	(FALSE)	0
iwhich defines rectangular areas on the image and where they link to, if you	null	(FALSE)	0
iclick them! This ingenious and popular approach meant that you could transmit	null	(FALSE)	0
ia single image - saving on HTTP round-trips, which were relatively	null	(FALSE)	0
itime-consuming before widespread adoption of HTTP/1.1's persistent connections	null	(FALSE)	0
i- along with a little metadata to indicate which pixels linked to which pages.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThe ismap attribute is provided as a fallback for browsers that didn't yet	null	(FALSE)	0
isupport client-side image maps but did support server-side image maps: there	null	(FALSE)	0
iwere a few! When you put ismap on an image within a hyperlink, then when the	null	(FALSE)	0
iimage is clicked on the href has appended to it a query parameter of the form	null	(FALSE)	0
i?123,456, where those digits refer to the horizontal and vertical coordinates,	null	(FALSE)	0
ifrom the top-left, of the pixel that was clicked on! These could then be	null	(FALSE)	0
idecoded by the webserver via a .map file or handled by a CGI program.	null	(FALSE)	0
iServer-side image maps were sometimes used where client-side maps were	null	(FALSE)	0
iundesirable, e.g. when you want to record the actual coordinates picked in a	null	(FALSE)	0
ispot-the-ball competition or where you don't want to reveal in advance which	null	(FALSE)	0
ihotspot leads to what destination, but mostly they were just used as a	null	(FALSE)	0
ifallback. (Server-side imagemaps are enjoying a bit of a renaissance on .onion	null	(FALSE)	0
iservices, whose visitors often keep JavaScript disabled, to make image-based	null	(FALSE)	0
iCAPTCHAs. Simply show the visitor an image and describe the bit you want them	null	(FALSE)	0
ito click on, e.g. "the blue pentagon with one side missing", then compare the	null	(FALSE)	0
icoordinates of the pixel they click on to the knowledge of the right answer.	null	(FALSE)	0
iHighly-inaccessible, of course, but innovative from a purely-technical	null	(FALSE)	0
iperspective.)	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iBoth client-side and server-side image maps still function in every modern web	null	(FALSE)	0
ibrowser, but I've not seen them used in the wild for a long time, not least	null	(FALSE)	0
ibecause they're hard (maybe impossible?) to make accessible and they can't	null	(FALSE)	0
icope with images being resized, but also because nowadays if you really wanted	null	(FALSE)	0
ito make an navigation "image" you'd probably cut it into a series of smaller	null	(FALSE)	0
iimages and make each its own link.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iAnyway, let's come back in October 1997 and see if they've fixed their	null	(FALSE)	0
inow-incomplete page:	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IScreenshot from Netscape Columns: Web Site Stories: the Coming Soon page is now laid out in two columns, but the expected launch date has been removed.	/2023/11/webstories-1997-10-10.png	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iOh, they have! From the look of things, they've re-written the page from	null	(FALSE)	0
iscratch, replacing the version that got scrambled by that other employee.	null	(FALSE)	0
iThey've swapped out the banner and menu for a new design, replaced the footer,	null	(FALSE)	0
iand now the content's laid out in a pair of columns.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThere's still no reliable CSS, so you're not looking at columns: (no	null	(FALSE)	0
iimplementations until 2014) nor at display: flex (2010) here. What you're	null	(FALSE)	0
ilooking at is... a fixed-width <table> with a single row and three columns!	null	(FALSE)	0
iYes: three - the middle column is only 10 pixels wide and provides the "gap"	null	(FALSE)	0
ibetween the two columns of text. (Nowadays, use of tables for layout - or,	null	(FALSE)	0
iindeed, for anything other than tabular data - is very-much frowned upon: it's	null	(FALSE)	0
ioften bad for accessibility and responsive design. But back before we had the	null	(FALSE)	0
ifeatures granted to us by the modern Web, it was literally the only way to get	null	(FALSE)	0
icontent to appear side-by-side on a page, and designers got incredibly	null	(FALSE)	0
icreative about how they misused tables to lay out content, especially as	null	(FALSE)	0
ibrowsers became more-sophisticated and began to support cells that spanned	null	(FALSE)	0
imultiple rows or columns, tables "nested" within one another, and background	null	(FALSE)	0
iimages.)	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iThis wasn't Netscape's only option, though. Did you ever hear of the	null	(FALSE)	0
i<multicol> tag? It was the closest thing the early Web had to a	null	(FALSE)	0
isemantically-sound, progressively-enhanced multi-column layout! The author of	null	(FALSE)	0
ithis page could have written this:	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
i<multicol cols=2 gutter=10 width=301>	null	(FALSE)	0
i  <p>	null	(FALSE)	0
i    Want to create the best possible web site? Join us as we explore the newest	null	(FALSE)	0
i    technologies, discover the coolest tricks, and learn the best secrets for	null	(FALSE)	0
i    designing, building, and maintaining successful web sites.	null	(FALSE)	0
i  </p>	null	(FALSE)	0
i  <p>	null	(FALSE)	0
i    Members of the Netscape web site team, recognized designers, and technical	null	(FALSE)	0
i    experts will share their insights and experiences in Web Site Stories. 	null	(FALSE)	0
i  </p>	null	(FALSE)	0
i</multicol>	null	(FALSE)	0
iThat would have given them the exact same effect, but with less code and it	null	(FALSE)	0
iwould have degraded gracefully. Browsers ignore tags they don't understand, so	null	(FALSE)	0
ia browser without support for <multicol> would have simply rendered the two	null	(FALSE)	0
iparagraphs one after the other. Genius!	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iSo why didn't they? Probably because <multicol> only ever worked in Netscape	null	(FALSE)	0
iNavigator.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iIntroduced in 1996 for version 3.0, this feature was absolutely characteristic	null	(FALSE)	0
iof the First Browser War. The two "superpowers", Netscape and Microsoft, both	null	(FALSE)	0
iengaged in unilateral changes to the HTML specification, adding new features	null	(FALSE)	0
iand launching them without announcement in order to try to get the upper hand	null	(FALSE)	0
iover the other. Both sides would often refuse to implement one-another's new	null	(FALSE)	0
itags unless they were forced to by widespread adoption by page authors,	null	(FALSE)	0
iinstead promoting their own competing mechanisms (It was a horrible time to be	null	(FALSE)	0
ia web developer: having to make hacky workarounds in order to make use of the	null	(FALSE)	0
ilatest features but still support the widest array of browsers. But I'd still	null	(FALSE)	0
itake that over the horrors of rendering engine monoculture!).	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iBetween adding this new language feature to their browser and writing this	null	(FALSE)	0
ipage, Netscape's market share had fallen from around 80% to around 55%, and	null	(FALSE)	0
imost of their losses were picked up by IE. Using <multicol> would have made	null	(FALSE)	0
itheir page look worse in Microsoft's hot up-and-coming browser, which wouldn't	null	(FALSE)	0
ihave helped them persuade more people to download a copy of Navigator and	null	(FALSE)	0
icertainly wouldn't be a good image on a soon-to-launch (any day now!) page	null	(FALSE)	0
iabout best-practice on the Web! So Netscape's authors opted for the dominant,	null	(FALSE)	0
icross-platform solution on this page (Or maybe they didn't even think about it	null	(FALSE)	0
iand just copy-pasted from somewhere else on their site. I'm speculating.).	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iAnyway, let's fast-forward a bit and see this project finally leave its "under	null	(FALSE)	0
iconstruction" phase and launch!	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
IScreenshot showing the homepage of Netscape Columns from 15 February 1998; the first recorded copy NOT to have a header link to the Webstories / Web Site Stories page.	/2023/11/webstories-root-1998-02-15.png	danq.me	70
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iOh. It's gone.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iSometime between October 1997 and February 1998 the long promised "Web Site	null	(FALSE)	0
iStories" section of Netscape Columns quietly disappeared from the website.	null	(FALSE)	0
iPresumably, it never published a single article, instead remaining a perpetual	null	(FALSE)	0
i"Coming Soon" page right up until the day it was deleted.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iI'm not sure if there's a better metaphor for Netscape's general demeanour in	null	(FALSE)	0
i1998 - the year in which they finally ceased to be the dominant market leader	null	(FALSE)	0
iin web browsers - than the quiet deletion of a page about how Netscape	null	(FALSE)	0
icustomers are making the best of the Web. This page might not have been	null	(FALSE)	0
iimportant, or significant, or even completed, but its disappearance may	null	(FALSE)	0
irepresent Netscape's refocus on trying to stay relevant in the face of	null	(FALSE)	0
iexistential threat.	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iOf course, Microsoft won the First Browser War. They did so by pouring a	null	(FALSE)	0
ifortune's worth of developer effort into staying technologically one-step	null	(FALSE)	0
iahead, refusing to adopt standards proposed by their rival, and their	null	(FALSE)	0
iunprecedented decision to give away their browser for free (This turned out to	null	(FALSE)	0
ibe the master-stroke: not only did it partially-extricate Microsoft from their	null	(FALSE)	0
iagreement with Spyglass Inc., who licensed their browser engine to Microsoft	null	(FALSE)	0
iin exchange for a percentage of sales value, but once Microsoft started	null	(FALSE)	0
ibundling Internet Explorer with Windows it meant that virtually every computer	null	(FALSE)	0
icame with their browser factory-installed! This strategy kept Microsoft on top	null	(FALSE)	0
iuntil Firefox and Google Chrome kicked-off the Second Browser War in the early	null	(FALSE)	0
i2010s. But that's another story.).	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
iLINKS	null	(FALSE)	0
i	null	(FALSE)	0
1My blog post from yesterday, Reflecting on Bloganuary	/posts/reflecting-on-bloganuary	danq.me	70
hMy blog posts that contributed to Bloganuary 2024	URL:https://danq.me/tag/bloganuary-2024/	(FALSE)	0
hMy blog stats page showing my streak of consecutive daily posts	URL:https://danq.me/stats/#longest-streak	(FALSE)	0
hThe WayBack Machine, from the Internet Archive	URL:https://web.archive.org/	(FALSE)	0
i=>  +3	null	(FALSE)	0
hHåkon W Lie's original proposal for Cascading Style Sheets for HTML, written in 1994 and archived by the W3C	URL:https://www.w3.org/People/howcome/p/cascade.html	(FALSE)	0
hChuck Musciano's examination of JavaScript Style Sheets and how they differ from Cascading Style Sheets, written back when it was unclear which technology would come to dominate.	URL:http://sunsite.uakom.sk/sunworldonline/swol-04-1997/swol-04-webmaster.html	(FALSE)	0
hMy blog post, "20 Years of Blogging", published 2018	URL:https://danq.me/2018/10/08/20-years-of-blogging/	(FALSE)	0
hTextFiles.com's collection of nearly a thousand "Under Construction" GIFs previously features on Geocities websites	URL:http://textfiles.com/underconstruction/	(FALSE)	0
hCameron's World	URL:https://www.cameronsworld.net/	(FALSE)	0
hMark Bernstein's article, "Hypertext Gardens: Delightful Vistas"	URL:http://www.eastgate.com/garden/Enter.html	(FALSE)	0
hGeeksforGeeks article about the isindex tag	URL:https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/html-isindex-tag/	(FALSE)	0
hLine Mode Browser (LMB) on the World Wide Web Consortium site	URL:https://www.w3.org/LineMode/	(FALSE)	0
h2001 Computer World article describing the use of server-side includes	URL:https://www.computerworld.com/article/2794418/how-to-use-server-side-includes.html	(FALSE)	0
hMDN definition of framesets (which you shouldn't use, by the way)	URL:https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/frameset	(FALSE)	0
hMDN description of client-side imagemaps	URL:https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Element/map	(FALSE)	0
hMDN article about persistent connections	URL:https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTTP/Headers/Keep-Alive	(FALSE)	0
hDocumentation by Friedrich-Alexander-Universität on the format of server-side imagemap configuration files	URL:https://www4.cs.fau.de/Services/Doc/webdocs/webdocs/HTMLdocs/NewHTML/serv-ismap.html	(FALSE)	0
hWikipedia article about Tor 'onion services'	URL:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(network)#Onion_services	(FALSE)	0
hTutorialspoint article about the multicol HTML tag	URL:https://www.tutorialspoint.com/html/html_multicol_tag.htm	(FALSE)	0
hCSS Tricks article by Rachel Nabors on the importance of browser diversity (which is very definitely under threat in the 2020s)	URL:https://css-tricks.com/the-ecological-impact-of-browser-diversity/	(FALSE)	0
.