> I was just curious to know what it was that
inspired you to create RinkWorks in the first
place. I'm currently planning on making my
own site, but I really don't know what all I want
on it. Hearing about other people's inspiration
can often help quite a bit. And besides, I'm
sure there are other people who would like to
know. :)

I currently have two web sites up that I
maintain fairly frequently. One of them is
nothing more than an on-line photo album that
I update whenever I get new pictures, and the
other is a graphic design newsletter that
usually gets updated every three months. I'm
also working on a third site right now that will
house an on-line portfolio of my design work
and hopefully will bring in freelance business
for me.

The first peice of advice I would give you is not
to start any design or coding on your site until
you know what you want on it. There's no point
in starting until you have some content.

Once you have your content, you should
decide how you want your site to look before
you begin creating it. Think about things like
color scheme and design elements and
navigation layout. These things are essential,
because they will determine how you code
your site, and believe me, you don't want
change your mind about the way your web site
looks in the middle of coding it; you'll waste
hours of your time if you do.

Finally, if your reason for making a website is
just to be like everybody else (i.e., "everybody
else is doing it so why can't I?") then consider
this: there are thousands of so-called "sites"
out there that are nothing more than a bunch
of random babblings and ugly graphics held
together by nothing more than a few
hyperlinks. If you're going to make a website
dedicated to your autobiography and your
random musings on life, at least do it well.
For examples of what *not* to do with a web
site, check out
http://www.websitesthatsuck.com

If you want to make a website because
you want to learn *how* to make a web site,
then that's a good reason, but I still think you
should come up with a theme and some
content. Resist the urge to be inspired by
Slapdash City.

Gri"the following website comes highly
recommended"shny