Why I refuse to use certain html features...

Update: I'm not the only one on the net with an html rant page. Try this (IMHO much better written if less focused) HTML Hell Page.

I've seen lots of people put pretty things in their home pages, but don't expect me to do so soon. Here's why:

  1. Lots of images may be pretty, but they make your page load more slowly. Just the TEXT of my page is 40k, and I've split it several times to get it that small. I DON'T need to make it bigger with pictures that add no additional content.
  2. Many browsers don't support these features, and I don't have time to go through and check that things work on every browser. The few special features I HAVE put in are to make it load faster, and have no effect on browsers that don't support them.
  3. Lots of people put backgrounds in their pages. With all but a few exceptions, I think the backgrounds make the text in the pages difficult to read. Some people have done it right in choosing a background that is mostly a solid color and also choosen sharply contrasting text colors, but most people just goof it up. (YES, THIS IS A PET PEEVE!)
  4. My machine at home already thrashes enough when in X and using netscape. I don't need some goofy gif making it thrash or eating cpu more when I scroll through my own home page.
This is not to say that I won't use fancy stuff in OTHER pages, and not to say that I will never use any extended features. IMHO if the features speed up the loading of the page, or add information to the page's content, it'd be worth it. I've recently seen several pages that probably would be better in table format; perhaps I'll rewrite them eventually.

Of course, this is all just my personal opinion. Don't let my opinion influence you. (EXCEPT FOR THE STUPID MULTICOLOR TEXTURED BACKGROUNDS THAT MAKE TEXT UNREADABLE, that is. Sheeh!)

SSD 6-Jun-95