Monday, March 4, 2013

MTN Cartoons 1999-2013

On 11/3/99, I launched my first website.


MTN Cartoons (mtncartoons.com) was devoted mostly to my single panel cartoons (AKA gag cartoons); the page listing the books I had written did only that—list my books. No descriptions, reviews, background. It was almost an aside.

Around 2007, I set out to overhaul the site to reflect that writing had become the primary focus of my career. I bought the (pricy) design software. I bought the Dummies guide. I mapped out what I wanted.


But then in 2008, I launched this blog.

It soon began to serve my objectives in having an online presence and I decided that, at least for the time being, I didn’t need another site.

I let MTN Cartoons linger only because my primary email was through that URL. But eventually my gmail became more convenient.

So on 1/31/13, I canceled my hosting for MTN Cartoons. In a matter of days, the site was down. One of those depressing “placeholder” sites of useless links was up.

I remember being proud that I was one of the first people (let alone first cartoonists) I knew to have a site. And I’m proud that it lasted as long as it did, though I had not updated it since 2005.

I remember asking someone with web design experience about “framing” the cartoons with the blue border I ultimately used along the left side. He said it’s not the way the web works; because screen resolutions differ from computer to computer, you create a site that flows down (vertical) rather than one hindered by horizontal aesthetics.

I remember being happy with the way I showcased my cartoons, though even then it was not the most functional approach. (Of the hundreds of cartoons I’d done, I included only 30, and there was no thumbnail gallery or “view by category.” You simply clicked from one to the random next, though I did think I presented a clever way to skip ahead—three choices of “1-10,” “11-20,” and “21-30.” Ah, simpler, un-savvy days.)

I will continue to sprinkle cartoons throughout this blog, and there are plenty elsewhere online for the googling.


Here are screenshots of most of the pages, a nostalgic romp through.memorial to my contribution to Web 1.0.

 






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