Oekaki Board: The Drawing-and-Posting Forums Where Anyone Could Sketch in the Browser
An oekaki board is a forum that allows visitors to draw directly inside their browser and post the sketch straight to the gallery even without downloading any software. The word…
Webzines: The DIY Online Magazines That Shaped the Early Web
Webzines are self-published online magazines built and edited like magazines rather than traditional-style blogs, and interestingly, they existed years before blogging became the internet’s default way to publish. Inspired by…
The Handmade Web: Why People Still Build Websites by Hand
The Handmade Web describes websites built by one person by hand, without using a template or modern AI systems. It names both a design philosophy and a real moment in…
Before Social Media, Blogrolls Were How We Followed People Online
A blogroll is a list of links to other blogs or personal websites that a blogger reads, trusts, or recommends to others. It is usually seen on a website sidebar…
How Hypertext Fiction Changed the Way We Read Stories
Hypertext fiction is a story built from linked chunks of text rather than a single fixed sequence of pages. Readers have a choice to click, and the path they take…
Last Modified Website Footer and the Forgotten Culture of Early Websites
Scroll to the bottom of an old website, and you’ll see a small line: “Last updated: September 2001.” This was the last modified website footer. A single date showed whether…
Blog Carnival Explained (2026 Guide)
A blog carnival is a roundup post where bloggers submit articles from many different participating blogs, usually published on a rotating host schedule with a fresh shared topic each time.…
Fanlisting Websites: Tiny Communities That Connected the Early Web
A fanlisting is a website dedicated to a single subject, created so fans around the world can easily add their name and country to a public list to show their…
The Quiet World of Text Only Websites
Text only websites are pages built with almost no images, styling, or scripts, so they render as plain text, are easy to read, and load instantly. They are not a…
Website Shoutbox: The Chat Widget Every Mid-2000s Website Had
A website shoutbox is a small embedded chat box that lets visitors post short, real-time messages on a website’s home page or inner pages. It became one of the most…
88×31 Web Buttons: The Tiny Icons That Connected the Early Internet
An 88x31 web button is a tiny image that is exactly 88 pixels wide and 31 pixels tall, the website owners mainly used them for display and trade to link…
What Are Now Pages Websites? The History, Structure, and Best Examples
A Now Page is a page on a personal website that is usually placed at the URL or Slug /now that answers a specific question, like what is this person…
Fan Shrines: What They Are, How They’re Built, and Where to Find Them Today
Fan shrines are personal websites built by a fan to explore a single character, pairing, or piece of media in as much depth as they want. There is no algorithm…
Blinkie Websites Worth Exploring
Blinkie websites are places where you can browse, collect, or generate blinkies, they are small animated GIF badges that once decorated personal homepages, MySpace profiles, and even forum signatures. A…
What Is a Digital Garden Website and How Does It Work?
A digital garden website is a personal website organised around how ideas connect to one another, not around when they were published. Instead of our traditional blog feed sorted by…