September 4, 1999.
Redesigning a Website

Giving iSoaker.com a face-lift is one of those inevitable things which all websites undergo as the internet grows and matures. One thing that I have strived for is ease of navigation complemented by download speed while being aesthetically pleasing (at least to me). Every website, once posted, will have those who find the site and love the design while others dislike it.

Looking at many other websites out there, I tried to get a feeling of the elements that make some sites great to visit time and time again while trying to avoid making the mistakes some webmasters have made by making one's site too complex and unappealing. There is beauty in simplicity but this does not exclude making a statement if the conditions are right.

From the previous version, this newer version does employ some newer web-technologies but overall layout remains the same as the original site (i.e. header, simple side-menu for navigation and body of page to the right.) However, some graphics (i.e. the sidemenu) were changed from static jpg and gif files into moving Flash movies. Flash was chosen due to its compactness of size while allowing for movement and easily-designed and edited rollovers. The result is Flash files being only slightly larger than their previous image file size.

The main Splash Flash image was redone slightly such that regular visitors to the site would realize an update had occurred. Updates continue to be chronicled in the "What's New?" page. (I had hoped other sites would also employ some method of letting those sites' visitors know of any changes which had occurred.)

Of course, websites, due to their nature, can never be completed. What is stunning today may appear passe tomorrow. However, I will endeavour to keep up with the times, both website wise as well as with water weapon technology. Leave NO one dry!

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