Today my web site is 15 years old

I suppose that, like most non-technical people, I first became aware of the Internet around 1995 when world-wide the number connected to the network doubled. Besides e-mail, for me the great benefit of the Internet was the web. I’ve never been interested in newsgroups or gaming and make limited use of social networks.

The more I used the web, the more I thought that I should like to generate my own content on my own site. Indeed I was convinced that soon most Internet users would want to have their own site and I’ve been surprised at how few people have a site.

So, on 2 July 1999, I started my own site with the help of my wife’s nephew Martin Rowe – the first piece of content was the Darlington newsletter for Christmas 1998. In succeeding months, I taught myself Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML) with the aid of my then CWU colleague Jane Taylor and developed the site with the encouragement of my good friend Eric Lee.

From the beginning, I have believed in the principle of simplicity, so the site is designed that any part of it can be reached with a couple of clicks from the home page. Also I firmly believe that content is king, so I have concentrated on adding well-written material rather than decorating the place with spinning symbols. Finally I’m a great believer that the web is all about links to other sites and therefore throughout my site there are lots of links to other sites relevant to the particular topic under discussion.

I confess that my site has now become something of a passion and I’ve asked myself why I love the exercise so much. My answer involves the four Cs:

  • It is creative, encouraging me to develop my IT skills and my knowledge of the Internet, the links especially taking me to corners of the web that I might not otherwise explore.
  • It is continuous, enabling me to work on it whenever I have time and incrementally to build up the content and develop the format.
  • It is comprehensive, allowing me to bring together all my interests from aviation to the cinema, from technology to literature, from history to travel.
  • It is cohesive, permitting me to bring into one place previous as well as current work, such as extracts from my book “Night Hawk”, book and film reviews, and of course those famous Darlington Christmas letters.

Fifteen years ago, my web site was literally one page and had no visitors. Today, it is a huge site with well over 100 sections and two blogs and it has up to 10,000 visitors a day. Thanks for visiting.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2014 at 2:41 pm and is filed under Internet, My life & thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

4 Comments

  • Janet
    July 3rd, 2014 at 8:56 am

    Congratulations, Roger! I came across your site about 10 years ago through a link to your “Life Skills” section, and as you know, became a regular visitor. I have recommended your site to many friends and acquaintances for the wealth of useful information contained, but also enjoy your personal anecdotes and thoughts even though many of your beliefs and opinions are diametrically opposed to mine. Best wishes for many more years on the web!

  • Roger Darlington
    July 3rd, 2014 at 11:30 am

    Thanks, Janet. That’s very kind.

  • Nadine Wiseman
    July 3rd, 2014 at 7:30 pm

    Thanks for your efforts Roger. I look forward to reading your NightHawk blog every day, and I also really appreciate your thoughtful responses to my enquiries.

    Many Happy Returns!

    Nadine

  • Roger Darlington
    July 4th, 2014 at 9:05 pm

    And thanks for interest and feedback, Nadine.