Site Architecture

This site is built using mostly Microsft technologies. Here is the rundown:

• Platform:

• Windows 2003 Server
• Intel P4 Server
• IIS 6.0



• Technologies:

• ASP - very little really, mostly just to support email, the guestbook, and server-side includes that support the header, menu, and footer that appears on the site pages
• DHTML (JavaScript, CSS, and HTML) - This is the backbone of the site. All the menus are built with DHTML. They are stored in separate files that are imported into each web page so that I can change the menus in one file and have the changes automatically propogated across the site. The slide shows are built using JavaScript.
• CSS - I use cascading style sheets for most of the formatting and layout. There are two global CSS files that every page includes (to format the colors for the pages and menus) - one for Netscape and one for IE (differences in how the browsers support CSS positioning caused this). This is nice because I can change the entire color scheme of the web site by changing two files at most.



• Miscellaneous:

• I wrote all of the code by hand (no FrontPage, Dreamweaver, etc.). You may see quite a few typos for that reason. Lot's of cutting and pasting.
• This site is designed for later versions of Netscape and IE. Other browsers may not work properly. If you are having problems with this site please send me an email letting me know what the problem is and what browser (including version and operating system) you are using so I can diagnose the problem.
• Feel free to send me suggestions as well

My weakest skill is in the graphic area, and so the site looks fairly plain. That's okay. I mostly wanted a site that easily and efficiently presents information, and has a couple of cool special effects. Maybe one day I will work on designing some good graphics and/or flash files and spice up the site. Hey, it's just a personal site. No one is paying me for this. If you'd like to help, let me know!