What should I add to my '90s website?
So I’m currently toying around with NeoCities, and decided to trial it by building your classic mid '90s Geocities/Tripod/Angelfire pastiche website.
Some of the most important elements are already in place.
Tile background? Large font? Heading in bright pink with a shadow? Unusual colour choices? Random cat gifs? Under construction gif? Check! Check! Check!
In the true spirit of the '90s DIY web, some more pages (including the links page) are coming soon.
(I’m thinking of adding a page dedicated to either Britney or a nu-metal band.)
You can see the page so far here: https://that90ssite.neocities.org/
There are a few things that I want to add to make it complete, and I’m looking for suggestions.
The first, is to embed a midi file that plays automatically. Any suggestions on the best way of doing this?
Second, it’s just not going to be complete without a guestbook.
Third, any webring suggestions?
Fourth, what’s the best way of adding a java chat room in 2024?
Finally, anything else that really needs to be a part of a great '90s website?
UPDATE: Thanks for all the feedback! I’ve added more annoying GIFs, a guestbook, a links page, and a cyber cat hangout.
UPDATE 2: And added even more gifs, an amazing Amiga demo, and a ton of links.
You 100% need a visitor counter at the bottom.
Visitor counter
@ajsadauskas @asklemmy Add a Web ring link … even if it’s just a link back to your site
Heres a site in the similar vain, https://anarchymeanything.com/
Guest book,
Webring
Visit counter
Good luck, i like the older internet so much nostalgia
Are you in a webring with other 90’s websites?
For the authentic experience, you need two versions of the site: An Internet Explorer version, and a Netscape version. The two browsers didn’t support the same features back then, so a lot of sites would have two different versions.
Also run it on your own server and limit the transfer speed (can set a rate limit in the Nginx config) so it loads slowly :D
@ajsadauskas@aus.social @asklemmy@lemmy.ml uh, nice vibes!
Oh man – you need a blink tag on some of that text. Support for the tag has been removed from all modern browsers.
So you’ll need to add it in with javascript that updates CSS or something.
there is a website for a pizza place in seattle whose website does this, maybe you can get some inspiration. dinos
@ajsadauskas @asklemmy (Trying to remember my own GeoCities site from back then), Many had a “best viewed on Netscape” icon
I think mine had mostly my own song lyrics, with a different background for each page, with a menu page and forward/back links on each lyrics page.
Were frames 90s? Friend of mine used frames to make his site look like a console from Star Trek TNG
@ajsadauskas @asklemmy You need to change the mouse cursor to anything but an arrow. Bonus points if it leaves a trail. Like a peace sign cursor that leaves a rainbow trail, or a clock face where the numbers fall off when it moves.
@ajsadauskas@aus.social @asklemmy@lemmy.ml I think I actually have a few of my 90s-era sites archived. One of them should have an auto play midi for the background music. I’ll see if I can dig it up!
@ajsadauskas@aus.social @asklemmy@lemmy.ml I actually started down this path a little while back and have since gotten sidetracked.
@ajsadauskas @asklemmy Width doesn’t fit properly on mobile, well done 🤣👍