The Best Woodworking Web Site?

OK, I know, there's more than one. The trouble is anyone who owns the software and has an uncle that needs a Web page is building Web sites, calling themselves Web site builders and probably 99% of the sites suck and that includes most nearly all the Web sites, like say 99%. I mean, these same guys/gurls would have bought a typewriter (pre-Al Gore's World Wide Web) and thought themselves to be the next (insert name of great writer here/I say Hemingway)(1).

Right?

(Rant Off)

So, without further ado, I nominate Pat Warner's site as "The Best Woodworking Web Site".

formatting link
Mileage May Vary.

Feel free to nominate your own.

Just say no to banner ads, bad design, mouse droppings, blinkies and (insert other annoyances Web site designers have at their disposal here).

(1) What I am most thankful for is these same people have no foot hold into other areas of design like cars (imagine the crap they'd come up with), clothing, print media, housing and so on.

Yeah I know, I went (Rant Off) above. Just can't help myself when it comes to trashing Web page designers/you can't trash them enough. The World Wide Web is the double wide trailer of design. I mean, the damn thing oughtta be regulated.

UA100

Reply to
Unisaw A100
Loading thread data ...

Gulp. Now I'm shaking in my boots. Especially since you just recently mentioned mine. I thought I'd worked out most of the web-design-no-nos on my page. I know I don't have banner ads or blinkies. I don't know if I have mouse droppings or bad design.

Of course the problem is, no one ever sends you email telling you your site sucks. And what if the gush email you do get is just someone trying to be double-wide polite? What do you learn from that?

- - LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

formatting link

Reply to
LRod

Ok, your site does not suck. However, its not a website. Its a BLOG.

Bob

Reply to
bluemax1811-newsgroups

I wish I knew what that was. Then I'd know whether to be insulted or not.

Seriously, thanks for the "does not suck" vote.

- - LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

formatting link

Reply to
LRod

formatting link

Reply to
Allyn Vaughn

formatting link

Reply to
very_dirty_dave

(snip)

Yeah, and how come

...GM can't design interiors? ...women over 200 pounds wear sweats? ...Howard Stern is allowed to appear in public? ...we all can't just get along?

I'm thinking it has something to do with our humanity, but what do I know?

Bob

Reply to
Bob Schmall

Unisaw A100 wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Yes, Pat's is good. I've learned much there, and bought a little.

Maybe not in the vein that you intended, but as an all- around, excellent wReck supplement/supplant, I offer the group effort

formatting link

Thank you Mssrs. Walentine, et al...

In the category of "the design is dated, but not compared to the content":

formatting link

Thank you again, Mr. Leach.

And an honorable mention, and word of gratitude, is certainly due Jeff Gorman, from the side of the pond which spells funny...

Patriarch, who rather likes these 'on-topic trolls'...

Reply to
Patriarch

I have been known to do that. Just yesterday I sent an email to a vendor pointing out that the photos on his site were beautiful, but it took several minutes at 56K to load the page.

I'll check out your site.

Reply to
Larry Blanchard

Welcome to the wonderful world of freedom. We see the same thing happen every time a new generation of tools comes along that makes what used to be the province of highly trained professionals available to anyone.

We saw it in the 60s when cheap, easy, offset printing was taken up by the counter-culture and the result was things like the underground newspaper.

We saw it in the 80s when desktop publishing and laser printers came along.

And we saw it starting in the 1990s with web design. (Or lack thereof.)

The fact is that when you put powerful tools in most people's hands you're going to get crap -- most of the time. I'm sure old-time cabinet makers felt the same way when inexpensive power tools made hobby woodworking popular.

But on the whole it is a very good thing. In all cases we get an enormous outpouring of crap that by and large settles down into a lot of solid, pedestrian work and a whole new generation of really brilliant stuff from a small minority.

I've been particularly struck by this in web design because I've only recently started working with it again after being away for about five years. Five years ago, when HTML 3.2 was new and Netscape and Internet Explorer were duking it out, web design was an unholy mess. It was dominated by refugee graphic designers who insisted that every element appear just exactly _so_ and would do anything to make that happen. One-pixel gifs, non-breaking spaces and all kinds of browser-specific tricks were the norm and people got very upset if you suggested that you actually respect the medium you were designing in.

Today there's still a lot of ugly crap out there and, of course, a lot of juvenilia like blinking images, but things are a lot better. The dominant school of web design understands the medium better and is dedicated to working with it rather than fighting it.

Meanwhile these new technologies enable us to share information better and more freely. Remember 'freedom of the press belong to he who owns one?'. Not nearly as true any more. Or just consider this NG.

Now if we could just convince these people that content and not cream sauce is important. But that's the topic for another rant.

--RC

Reply to
Rick Cook

Blatent promo...

formatting link
UK one man joinery business...

maybe not the best but it's hosted on an ITX computer cased in an Ash Box !!!

NMB

Reply to
Nicholas

formatting link
was the one that got me started in woodworking about 3 years ago. I think Howard does a good job of keeping it up to date.

TonyMo Ontario

Reply to
Tony Mo

formatting link
bought all the books that Andy mentioned under the Craftsman style section. Cost me a hundred bucks... Worth it though.

He has a nice section on fuming white oak. I'll be doing that next week, or perhaps the week after.

Reply to
Ed Clarke

Sat, Mar 5, 2005, 12:24pm (EST+5) snipped-for-privacy@wi.rr.com (Unisaw=A0A100) says: So, without further ado, I nominate Pat Warner's site as "The Best Woodworking Web Site".

JOAT Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong.

- David Fasold

Reply to
J T

Sat, Mar 5, 2005, 12:24pm (EST+5) snipped-for-privacy@wi.rr.com (Unisaw=A0A100) says: So, without further ado, I nominate Pat Warner's site as "The Best Woodworking Web Site".

Damn, hit the wrong button, the first time.

Well, depends on how you consider it. Pat's site is good, which is why I have a link to it on my woodworking page, loads of good stuff there. But, as far as web pages go, my personal favorite is my own. Not because it's fancy, or just because I made it; rather, because everything there is something I use, will use, or am interested in. I don't much care if people look at it, or not; it's a reference site, for me, and has what "I" want on it, with stuff added, or discarded, about daily.

Here's the wood portion of my web page. Don't expect it to not change.

formatting link
JOAT Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong.

- David Fasold

Reply to
J T

Sat, Mar 5, 2005, 3:15pm (EST+5) snipped-for-privacy@ccc.com (Allyn=A0Vaughn) posted:

formatting link

The link says: A blog is your easy-to-use web site, where you can quickly post thoughts, interact with people, and more.

Ah, I was afraid for a bit that my web page was a blog. No fear it isn't. I definitely don't interact with people there. LMAO

JOAT Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong.

- David Fasold

Reply to
J T

I'm more looking at the "professional" sites. Pat sells from his. You don't. In other words, we turn a blind eye to ho-mades.

I appreciate complements. I learn from criticism.

UA100

Reply to
Unisaw A100

Agreed that we should convince people but I disagree that it's for another rant.

UA100

Reply to
Unisaw A100

Agreed. Same here. But,

I think more than an honourable mention. It is my favourite. Simple, clean and a wealth of useful info.

formatting link

Reply to
Luigi Zanasi

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.