Remember to use dialup in 90’s? Back when the technology was new, the online world wasn’t overrun with businesses, e everyone was basically trying to figure out what the internet was era? If you miss those days and want to revisit an information superhighway where regular people have made bizarre homes for themselves online instead of just filling out text boxes on Twitter, rejoice: the old web lives on neocity.
Originally launched in 2013 as an effort to save the content on the deceased 1990s website hosting company GeoCitiesNeocities has evolved into a network that hosts over 600,000 custom websites created by humans the old-fashioned way: with HTML and Javascript.
Old web trends never die; they just become ironic
Navigate to Neocities (surfing the net is what people called farting on your computer) suggests an alternate reality where Web 1.0 never died. There are tons of abandoned and half-finished pages; midvmusic play automatically when you open each other page (I don’t miss this, actually); AND animated GIFs of construction equipment are everywhere. It’s a placeand for eye catching graphic design, cobweb ringsAND in-depth discussions on obscure topics.
The main difference between web pages from the neo-90s and the real deal it’s the tone. None of the Neocities sites I checked were run by older people who clung to the web experience they know best; instead, that’s all young people who consciously choose an obsolete style to recall a simpler time that they haven’t actually experienced.
True 90’s pages bristling with newness excitement (I can turn my cursor into a bomb! Look at my hit counter! I’m cutting edge!). Neo-90s websites are more about preserving the vibrations of the past through curated collections of GIF of flashing tiles, guestbook that you can sign (remember those?), and personal mission statements. Newer sites tend to be better structured and easier to navigate Sites from the 90s. The look is inspired by the best of Web 1.0 design, but with the benefit of hindsight. I guess that’s fine.
How to make your own old-school Neocities website
Neocities will allow anyone to register and create a page for free, with 1GB of storage and 200GB of bandwidth to work with. If a gig isn’t enough storage for all your animated GIFs and midi files, a $5-per-month subscription gets you 50GB of storage and way more bandwidth than you might need.
Once you have booked your seat, you can check out Neocities tutorials to learn the details of the HTML flashing tag, as well as take lessons on the newadvanced technologies like CSS and Javascript, all the tools you need to create your own little house on the world wide web.
For inspirationyou could visit the many sites on Neocities that feature tasteful and trendy 90s designbut for the real deal uncut Web of the 90s, visit GeoCities itself.
GeoCities Internet heroes of tomorrow, today
Launched in 1995, GeoCities was the first well-known Internet host of free user-created websites. Over 38 million pages were still ongoing hosted by the service when parent company Yahoo pulled the plug in 2009. Fortunately, all of that 90210-era greatness was not lost forever: Many of GeoCities’ sites are now available through the Internet Wayback Machineor you can check this out GeoCity Archivewith sites organized by neighborhood just like they did in the past.
Tips for giving your website a 90s vibe
If you’re looking for an authentic 90s personal site, keep in mind that most of the design choices back then were made by people who didn’t seem to know or care that they were manufacturing design choices.
Here are some once-ubiquitous indicators of Web 1.0 for inspiration.
- Tiled background: Because space was limited in the past, wallpapers were often a repeating 64X64 pixel design. You can’t go wrong with a star field, like the one used on the Original site for Space Jam.
- Put it all together: A hallmark of 90s websites was a cluttered look, all at once.
- Or just go with the facts: The alternative to the 90s hoarder style is the text only look, or the even more minimal there is literally nothing here but links to files, as you can see at this strangely unnerving GeoCities archived pAnd.
- Animate everything you can: You’ll need flashing and scrolling text and as many animated GIFs as possible. For more eye strain, add an animated GIF to your background image.
- Add frames: To make sure your visitors can navigate effortlessly to your awesome web links page, use frames. Watch this ancient personal page for a master class on frames, animated GIFs, and evil design.
- Don’t edit your content: Never wondering is it boring? Or who would really care about that? Post anything. His your page, and it’s more interesting if you’re more honest.
- Don’t forget to include any prizes you have won: People on the 90s internet loved giving out prizes for others to display on their page. If no one gives you one, make your own.
- Include your ICQ number: So your guests can message you on ICQ. (You know what it is, right?)
#Relive #90s #Internet #Neocities