Yes, HTMLCenter has relaunched with a new design and a new commitment to helping you with your web design and development questions. I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at where HTMLCenter has been over the last 10 years!
HTMLCenter first started with two friends, myself and Darshan Somashekar. We met on IRC in the #html channel and this was during a time when HTML was the big thing. We were both helping people in the channel and realized that a site that could house our tutorials and reviews would be a good thing. So off we started building in late ‘1996. The initial site went live in early 1997 but was very limited. Then in early 1998, from a tiny hotel room, I (along with Darshan in Chicago) built the first “real” version of HTMLCenter. Darshan created the design and I did the code. Darshan today runs the largest bibliography site, Easybib.
In 1999 we launched two other sites and one “hub” site. WebGfxCenter and CGIcenter both launched in early 1999. We also created CenterNetworks, the hub site for all of our “Center” sites. In 2002, we merged all of the sites into HTMLCenter to create one cohesive brand. CenterNetworks is now a new web resource that has been growing by 30% month-over-month since its launch in September 2006.
In 2001 we welcomed another team member in, Till Klampaeckel. Till became the guru of programming on HTMLCenter. He also led the shift from ColdFusion to PHP backend in 2006. What a great move that was! The speed, the power, the women! (ok, I am lying about the last one). Till now works for MacNews in Berlin.
The forums continue to grow and our moderators Curtiss and Leprekawn just rock. Our moderator team is the best in the business. Not only do they take care of all the spam and crap, but they are very good at solving issues and tackling the problems other forums seem to not be able to answer.
We have redesigned the site a bunch of times throughout the years. The last two designs were created by Mark Langeneck at Emeriti. This new design is frankly, awesome. I love it. Besides being beautiful, it is so much quicker than the old design. This design is using XHTML and CSS. There are still some bugs to workout on the content side to make it completely compliant. But Mark just did such a masterful job on creating something that met my needs along with creating a beautiful site.
So what’s next for HTMLCenter? Content updates as most of the current content is a version behind. We have signed a couple new writers to create tutorials around CSS and XHTML coding. If you are interested in writing for HTMLCenter either for tutorials or for reviews, drop me a line. We’d love to have you! And in the coming weeks, the HTMLCenter blog will relaunch with a new emphasis on web development topics. So for 2007, it’s all about the content!
Lastly, I want to thank you. and you. and you. and you. Seriously. It brings a tear to my eye to think that HTMLCenter is alive and kicking for such a long time. Your continued patronage is really appreciated. I love getting emails from people saying that HTMLCenter helped solve a problem or issue or that you learned something new. We will continue to grow and expand to meet your needs. If you ever have a comment, thought, or idea for us, let me know. Or a complaint – I can’t fix a problem if I don’t know it is a problem! So again, thank you for your loyalty for the last decade and what I hope will be the next decade as well.
Thank you,
Allen Stern
Tags: web design | web | web development | css | xhtml | htmlcenter
3 Responses
The new site looks great. I can’t wait until the blog gets relaunched. Everything is really shaping up to bring new life into this site.
BTW – Digg this entry. I started it, now everyone else needs to get on it. :)
congrats guys, I wish you the best of luck with the blog, looking forward to it!
Welcome back, you guys. Long overdue, loud cheers, et cetera. But:
Um … okay, I understand the need for advertising, but … MUST they be ANIMATED advertisements?