Site FAQ
Q: What's in this site, and how do I find it?
A: What you will find? Well, text mostly. Anything I feel like writing and uploading. Interesting things (maybe), funny stuff (hopefully), maybe even something that makes you think about things ...
As for the layout of the site, it all starts with the Mainpage. To the left is a menu containing the basic sections:
- Mainpage Well, have a guess ... There shouldn't be much need for this page though, as all the menus, and therefore all pages, are available from everywhere on the site.
- New Here you will find a summary of the latest additions to this site, last first. A good place to start for veteran visitors (anyone?).
- Info This choice makes another menu appear under the first one. You will find information about me, my family, my friends and related subjects. The Lists section contains quite some links to other sub-pages not reachable through the thought section.
- Thoughts This ever expanding category contains written down thought-clips, sorted either by subject or by date.
- Links External, i.e. linking to things not on this site, links. One page with search engines and one with ... er, others. Otherwise, most hyperlinks on this site are to other documents in the site.
- Mail me Click this to, well, send a message. To me, that is. They're always welcome.
Q: This site looks like %¤#*! Is it supposed to look like this?
A: Ummm ... Maybe. If you use Internet Explorer 4.0 or later, yes, it's supposed to look like this. It is meant to be mostly black, grey and white!
In Netscape (4.5) the appearance of the text is somewhat different than I intended it to be, but that is a minor issue. In Opera (3.21), some parts don't look very good at all, I'll see if I can figure out a way to fix it ... Also Opera doesn't seem to support stylesheets, so the text looks different.
If you think it looks wrong when it should look right, maybe you should read the mainpage. You should use frames, support stylesheets and be able to view .gif pictures. Optimal resolution is 800*600, more just gives more empty space. 256 colors isn't a problem. If you fulfill all the above requirements, then it's your personal
taste that needs adjustment ;-) ...
Q: Why aren't there any colours/fancy backgrounds/etc on the site?
A: What do you mean no colour? Take a look at the links ... Seriously, I kind of like it this way, and it's just like I wanted it to be.
Simple, low-tech, sort of ... Also, in case you haven't noticed, this site is really quick to load. I think that's very important for web sites.
Btw, if you think backgrounds and colors are the whole point, then maybe you've missed something ;-). See also my thought on webdesign.
Q: How did you do this?
A: By hand, mostly. All the code was written by me in Notepad. I think that's the best way to learn HTML, and you also know exactly what the code looks like and what everything is for (no "naturalsizeflag='3'" here).
Q: Hey! You use frames you little ¤%&/#! Why?
A: It dawned on me I would need a good navigation system if this site was to be able to expand the way I wanted it to. I didn't want to have to click through too many documents to get to something. Also, I didn't want to get into Java or dynamic HTML or anything. Doing it all with tables isn't really an option either ("Ok, here's a new page! Now I'll just have to paste that into the sidebar on every other page ...").
Q: Why did you do this?
A: Well ... Tough one that. I have another homepage here, which I did before this one. But it was largely made in Adobe Pagemill, and the code wasn't really readable at all, so it was a pain to change anything. And the image map I used for main menu couldn't take any more options, and it wasn't very quick to load. Also Torget didn't allow FTP-access to your homepage.
I wanted a homepage that was quick to load where I could put up anything I wanted. I also wanted it to be easy to expand and update.
So, I started from scratch here at Tripod. They allow you to update by FTP and provide more space for the same price (0, that is). Everything's great!
Site history and stuff, the long version ...
Q: Do you like getting email?
A: Didn't you read the mainpage? Anyway, the answer is YES! It really feels nice to get proof someone sees what you do, so send 'em here! I answer them too, and often pretty fast, unless you force me into not doing so :-) ... Spammers need not apply though (as if that would keep them at bay) ...
Q: Do you get a lot of visitors?
A: Not too many, I think ... The cryptic, unexplained numbers you see on the mainpage are a hit counter, and that's been around for quite a long time now. It's also the only counter on the whole site, so if anyone comes in without hitting the mainpage, he/she goes completely unnoticed. He/she won't get the menu-frames either of course, so he/she will have some problems getting around ...
Q: These small arrows 
and 
, what do they do?
A: Oh, them! They represent the latest step in improved navigation! The cutting edge in ... Eh, well ... They're there to tell you a bit about a link in a menu. means the link will open a page in this main window with several sub-pages. means the link will produce a menu on the left side of the screen. No arrow, , means the link will open a page without any special sub-pages in the main window. They basically tell you what you can expect after the click and where to look for it. Quite simple really ...
Q: What's this sub-page talk?
A: Weeell ... I use the term to indicate that a page in the main window has links to several other pages not available through the menu system. Simply pages that are below the other page in the structure. The lists-page, for example, has a lot of sub-pages.
Q: Any differences between the mirrors?
A: The start page differs in the link to the other mirror, and of course the counter is different too. But otherwise, nope, the content is exactly the same, and both are updated at the same time. And by the way, http://come.to/bjoreman leads to the Swedish mirror, in case you were wondering ...
Q: Do things get deleted from this site often?
A: No, never. See the site building policy.
Q: I want to start a nice site too, any tips?
A: Read through my webdesign section for some of my ideas on the subject. Oh, and updating by FTP is a lot more convenient than any kind of web based updating. If I've inspired you to create something of your own, I'd like to hear about it!
Q: Why is this site so slow to load, and what can I do about it?
A: Go to the mainpage and try the other mirror, there may be some difference between them (the Swedish one is naturally faster for me). But if that doesn't help, and in the special case of this site, I'd like to say that getting a faster internet connection probably is the best answer ... The few images here are really small, those corners and arrows are under 80 bytes each, and things really look worse without them. Everything else is just text, so if this site is slow to load, most other sites must be a nightmare for you ...
Q: How many pages/files are there on this site?
A: Well, the number changes with every update, and I don't feel like changing this question as often ... Currently, 7/3 2000, however, there are 359 files uploaded, 288 of which are HTML documents. Apart from the style sheets all of these files are accessible through the site structure, one way or the other ... If you want more numbers, the news page notes when a 100 HTML-file-barrier is broken, and that's currently that about that.
Q: Externals? What do you mean?
A: Externals are what I've decided to call bunches of off-site-links gathered into one menu on a page, headlined with something including the word external. They lead to stuff on other sites and open in new windows (I know it's inconsequent with the previous/other external links in this site, but I also imagine these ones could be used in a slightly different way, plus anyone can change his mind, right? :-). Related links if you will, just thought that term was a little too standard and boring :-) ... I've never liked the idea of mixing in-site links with offsite ones without clear indications, this is a solution that enables me to throw in more externals whithout breaking this. The word comes from Guardians, where it takes on another meaning though ...
