this is mouselings: 100 questions for webmasters!!
1. Please introduce yourself.
hi im silly!! im eating a really big carrot rn like as of writing this. its very good 🤤 (update it was too big and i couldnt finish it. sorry yall im ashamed of myself.)
2. How long have you been making websites?
i began development of my first ever website (advelos) the 27th of July 2025!!
3. And what got you into the hobby?
neocities!! i have no clue how i got into it but oh my god i fell in love with the indie web 💗ī¸. I would scroll on neocities for hours with a huge pain in my heart that i didnt know how to code, and when i tried to learn i got confused and overwhelmed :( when i finally took the step to just try istg my life changed
4. What kind of website are you most interested in?
personal websites, especially ones with alot of passion put into them!! ones with active blog posts, ones with cool shrines etc. i love it when i can see a sites raw love and passion put into it 💗ī¸
5. What's your workflow? Do you plan your websites out thoroughly or do you come up with the design as you go along?
i sketch out what i want the layout to be like in my notepad! (i originally bought it to be a cheap sketch book but its now used more than any sketchbook i own.. just for webdev..) sometimes, when im on a walk or in class, ill daydream about cool new pages that ill probably never get around to making. a thing can dream...
6. Please link to your biggest inspirations.
i owe my life to aioi for being the reason i got into neocities at the first place! im also really inspired by pretty much anyone i first saw on special sauce around july 2025!
7. What's your favourite part about making websites?
alot of things really, but i especially enjoy the customisation and oh freeing it is. im really passionate about tons of stuff so i really enjoy making websites as a creative outlet for my interests :3
8. And the thing you struggle with the most?
actually getting around to coding it.. im in college right now and 3 out of 4 days i get home by around 6 or 7 pm (haha 67) so i dont have alot of time. also waiting for my computer to start up and having to pack it away would be such a hastle because it was like 2-4gb and was SLOW ASF. my old 7.6gb got fixed by my friend recently so now using my computer has gotten much easier thanks to them!
9. Do you keep the same layout on all of your pages? Or do you use different ones?
VERY different for almost every page. there isnt much here now but the index, about me, blog and piclog both have very different themes. i really like deciding upon a theme that fits the page!! does make the page creation process a little bit longer tho because im pretty much starting from scratch every time..
10. How confident are you with CSS?
definatley alot more confident than before thats for sure...! i remeber when i was first starting out webdev, i asked for help with displaying my header and when i told them i didnt know what a css selector was they told me i shouldnt really be writing css if i didnt know what a selector was. at the time i felt a little angry and disheartened but now i can say they were 100% right, and it was genuinley good advice.
11. Do you know how to correctly use <dl>?
WTF IS A <DL> !!!!! đŸ‡ē🇸ī¸đŸĻ…ī¸đŸ”Ĩī¸
12. What is your favourite HTML element?
img. you can tell by how long my site takes to load ÂŦâ€ŋÂŦ
13. If you're making a new web page from scratch, what is the first thing you do?
DOCTYPE html and meta charset="UTF-8"
14. Do you know JavaScript?
absolutley not
15. How about PHP?
nope. god am i stupid??? probably
16. Does your website have a theme that you stick to?
every page is gonna be vastly different, however i like my index and my about me to be pretty cute with yellow in them, since i feel thats what reflects me most!
17. Are you more focused on content or design?
ahhh i really wish i could say content but its def design for me. as much as i like to ramble i am HORRIBLE at writing (i litteraly shortened down definitely to def in this response just because i didnt know how to spell it (yes i googled how to spell definitely))
18. Do you own a domain name? If not, would you ever want to?
nope! its probably gonna stay as advelos.neocities.org for a while. even if i did get supporter, which im planning on doing in the future, im not sure if id make the switch to my own domain. i wear the neocities url like a badge of honnor
19. What do you think of nostalgia-focused or "retro" websites?
I LOVE THEM!! theyre always such a treat to look at! i know theyre a pretty popular theme but i still enojy it alot
20. Is your HTML valid? Do you even check?
just checked, theres only an error for the favicon which idek why bc it seems to work?? i dont usually check bc i dont really understand much of it 😭ī¸ if i ever mis-type something vs code wil just tell me lawl
21. What are your opinion on buttons and banners?
LOVELOVELOVE THEM!! oh my god i really want to expand my button collection SOSO BAD!! IF UR READING THIS TELL ME!! ILL PUT UR BUTTON ON MY WALL!! links & neighbours page revamp is in progress just you wait.
22. What do you think of button walls in particular?
i have one myself! the only peeve i have with it is that most buttons can get lost in the giant sea of buttons, but writing a description for every button is kinda hard especially if you have a big collection. i personally think people should navigate around with buttons more!! you might find some hidden gems in a button wall!! give it a shot!
23. If you started over again, would you make something similar or completely different?
ive remade my index from v1 to v2 completley from scratch, and i kept the themeing and especially the layout pretty much the same. the only thing that changed was the theme being only yellow to yellow and pink, more decorative images and a much better understanding of coding in general! im really happy woth how my v2 turned out!
24. Are you envious of other people's websites?
when i didnt have a website, i used to be so envious to the point it made me SICK. the indie web was my fixation and it hit me HARD. now that i have a site of my own, that feeling still lives inside me, but its less of pure envy and more of "wow! that site is great" rather than "i wish my site looked like that". im alot more happy now that ive stopped being so critical of my work. its obviously not perfect, its probably not even good, but who cares if i had fun making it.
25. What text editor do you use?
vscode! i used to use some online text editor in my ipads web browser and let me tell you i was in the trenches.
26. Why do you use that one?
its got everything i need! a live preview, a way to save my files and it even autofills code and tells me when i miss something its almost as if vsCODE is designed for CODING...
27. Do you host your image files on your web server, or on another host?
as of right now, i host on filegarden. ive had some mishaps in the past, but none of them were really filegardens fault, its pretty nice to me :) despite this i DESPERATLEY need to move my files to my actual web server. while the 1gb limit gives me anxiety, i could probably just buy supporter. my loading times are god awful with how many images i have on my site, so id atleast like to web server host my index files for now.
28. This might not be relevant to you, but what's your opinion on the Neocities vs. Nekoweb debate?
both are great!! i actually really like nekoweb and i think theyre both equal. while neocities is bigger and for a broader audience, nekoweb as a much more dedicated userbase and has less restrictions. ive thought about moving to nekoweb a few times, but neocities is where my home is for now! i think its a pretty stupid debate, when both are pretty equal
29. How much server space would you estimate your main website takes up?
id say about 6 or 7 gb (this is a 67 joke i actually know nothing about server space)
30. Do you keep local backups of your files?
no and i really should!! i think ive copy and pasted my index code in my ipads note app but thats about it. i should atleast save it on my usb or something huh..
31. Do you prefer simple or highly visual websites?
highly visual!! maximalism forever!! idc if it takes 67 (sorry) years to load, i want to look at cool sites!! might be a bit controversial but i like cluttered sites with a billion graphics on them because you can tell theres alot of time put into it lol
32. Do you stick to certain colours? Do you do that on purpose, or is it your subconscious?
for my index and about me page, i primarily stick to yellow. i feel like the color yellow just defines me as a whole and its also my favourite color! however for the other pages itll widley fluctuate. (one thing im bummed about is that theres not many yellow graphics.. popular colors like pink and red and blue get EVERYTHING but if you search "yellow background" on pinterest ITS THE SAME DOT PATTERN. ALL THE TIME.)
33. Have you ever thought about quitting? Why?
nope! probably never will! the indie web changed my mental health and view on social media pretty drastically. i used to scroll for hours and hours on an app that just left me feeling sad afterwards, im happy to finally be out of it.
34. Do you have many webmaster friends, or is it a solitary hobby?
YES!!! I DO!! my friend Drift has a very awesome website that u should check out!! its awesome :3 besides that its kind of annoying trying to talk about webdev to my friends who dont know anything about it because theres alot of terminology (🤓ī¸) they dont understand
35. Do people in your real life know about your website?
yep!! i strap them too a chair and duct tape their mouth whenever i make a new page and force them to look at it :) thats what friends are for!
36. Do you update your website very often? How often is "very often"?
i think about my website pretty much every hour of my waking life (genuinley at least every day), but when it comes to updates im a little slower than id like to be. i code everything in vs code so you dont usually see updates untill a page is entirley finished. i have a pretty bad tendancy to completley leave a page once im done with it, and thats led to my piclog page being pretty negelected.. still! i hope you look foward to more frequent updates in the future!
37. And the overall design, do you change that much? Why or why not?
retheming a page takes alot of time and energy from me, so once i make a page it usually stays like that for a while. my v1 to v2 index project took around a month of pretty thorough work, but its probably one of my proudest pages so far. i am ITCHING to remake some of my older pages now that i have more html and css knowledge, but i really need to find the time 😭ī¸!
38. Is your website more you-focused, hobby-focused, or outside world-focused?
definitley more me-focused. my website acts as both my bedroom and my garden! (metaphorically of course)
39. Do you do web design professionally?
nope, never really considered it (see below)
40. If not, would you like to? And if you're comfortable answering, what do you do for work?
i dont think my skill levels will ever be there for professional websites, and even so i want this to stay as my little hobby! i hate how, especially when your young, your hobbies are always pushed onto you as a potential career option, when you really just wanna have fun :) im unemployed and i wish to stay that way forever! 😭ī¸ my dream job would probably be stocking shelves at some convenience store. weird right?? i have a really huge passion for art, webdev, editing etc but i dont really want them as a career. id prefer something that i can just brain off and get on with. preferably something physical because i am HORRIBLE at written work and sitting down for a long time.
41. Do you communicate with people by email very much?
i wish!! i think emails and letters in general should become WAY more normalised than how they are now. i dont have a public emaill for now but i think guestbook is pretty simmilar and i cherish every message i get! same with sending them, i think guestbook fills in the same purpose that emails would for me
42. Some people reject social media and use websites as a replacement. Do you keep social media outside of your website?
eh, i have my socials up but i hardly go on them anymore. i got fairly popular on tiktok (one of my edits got 1mil!!) but that bridge has burned now, im probably not coming back. i have a tumblr but i hardly touch it.
43. How about instant messengers? Do you use a mainstream one like Discord or Telegram? Or something like Matrix? Do you avoid them?
discord is my primary form of communication! sometimes whatsapp too, but i hardly tal to my friends who only use whatsapp because i primarily use my ipad and whatsapp for ipad is horrific lol
44. Do you listen to music while you work on websites? If so, what kinds of artists?
i do!! specifically for written tasks i try to listen to music like mixes. i LOVEE jungle music for when im locking in, but right now im listening to this mix !! i also really like bossa nova and i listen to it pretty often when i need to walk or write. other than that i like rave/gabber/hardcore and i listen to sped up tiktok audios when i walk or daydream on the bus bc theyre pretty stimulating! when working on my website, i like putting on a youtube video in the background! however my algorithm is SO bad and no matter how hard i try, it just reccomends me videos ive already seen or videos i dont like.
45. Do you keep everything you make on one website, or do you have more than one?
everything on one site! i havent switched to supporter yet, and even then i dont see myself making another site.
46. On a similar note, do you keep to one topic on your site, or many?
many! although its pretty centered on my interests and thoughts (its almost as if a personal website is personal...)
47. Do you present your real self, or at least try? Or do you construct a persona on purpose?
i try my hardest to present my real self! some times i cant help to put up a persona since my personality sometimes doesnt reflect my theme, but im trying to lean towards putting my authetic self on for show rather than a cute little persona. its pretty hard being a system and all that but this place is for me to fully let go and present my true self. ive already got a lot up there, so i really hope people are nice about it.
48. Have you ever made a good friend thanks to your website?
not yet! i have alot of mutual followers but i havent really made a close friend yet. id really like to tho!! if you ever want to be my friend PLS TALK TO ME!! I DONT BITE!!
49. Are you happy with the way HTML and CSS currently work?
the code languages themselves? yes. my HTML and CSS? uhmmmm...
50. What are practices that you think people should avoid?
perfectionsim will be the death of you and me. especially on the indie web where nothing is perfect. i also think people are too quick to police others. your allowed to complain about things that annoy you, but in the end who really cares if a website isnt mobile friendly? enjoyment > catering to others imo. ofc it sucks if you want to share something to the world and well, the world can't see it, but i dont think little things like that are too much of an issue! (yes i am also saying this because my site is mobile unfriendly WHATEVER!!!!! GO AWYA!!!!!!)
51. What about under-utilised practices, or things you think people should do more?
i think people should go for walks more. this applies to the whole internet. go for a stroll for just 10 minutes :) "this doesnt apply to webdev!!" yes it does, go for a walk when your in a rut, trust me
52. Do you use a lot of semantic HTML? Or are you guilty of generic structure?
no clue what semantic HTML means!!
53. Do you consider different browsers?
i try too! i code on brave (chromium) but i have tested on firefox. it has a weird bit of jank of firefox fsr?? nothing too unbearable but its definitley not the most optimal way to look at my site
54. Speaking of, what's your preferred browser? Convince your readers why they should use it.
brave!! i just havent found a reason to switch yet :) firefox is good too but like i said, my site breaks a little bit on firefox, idk why! the scrollbars are really thin too but if i remove scrollbar-width:thin from my code my scroll bars look really chunky on chromium :(
55. And what OS are you on?
Linux mint!
56. Do you have a strong opinion on that, or do you just happen to use it?
well
57. Are your websites mobile-friendly?
might be controversial but nope, and i dont intend on them to be in the future. the amount of people looking at neocities sites on a phone is miniscule compared to people on a laptop, ipad etc. and i find trying to make a mobile friendly layout restricting in the creation process.
58. What are your thoughts on autoplay?
i dont miiinnnddddd it... it can be pretty jarring at times. i do really think music adds to a page, but make sure you have a music player rather than autoplay
59. What are your thoughts on webrings? Are you in any?
WEBRINGS ARE AWESOME!!!! i havent joined any yet but now that my site has some content on it, im excited to start joining some!
60. Do you have any web shrines? What do you like to see in that sort of page?
I HAVE SO MANY SHRINES PLANNED ITS INSANE. ouughhehh i love web shrines so much dont get me STARTED. i cant wait to start making shrines but im focusing on my about me page for now. i wish people made more shrine pages! something i like to see is a shrine page with multiple tabs! like lets say you like cereal, id want to see a page with sections like what kind of cereal is your favourite, the history of cereal, cereal fun facts, cereal gallery etc. ! i get underwhelmed when a shrine is just a wiki page like "this is character. they are 67 years old. they fight monsters" like tell me about YOUR opinions on the character! what drew you to them? have you drawn anything of them? do you have any niche and weird information to share?
61. Are your websites "cliche", in your opinion?
its definitley your average cute pink moe site thats for sure
62. What is your ideal website? Are you striving for that, or for something else?
probably one with a good amount of content! advelos is relativley new, 3 months and 10 days old as of rn (they grow up so fast đŸĨšī¸) , so i havent really had the time to put as much as id like on there. but right now i strive for more things to see!
63. Are you an artist? Do you draw or design your own assets?
i am! i havent drawn anything for my site but i have thrown together some graphics in ibis paint :) i wont deny that being an artist has helped in the creation process. not that i had to draw anything, but just being familliar with the creative process in general helped
64. What are your favourite resource sites?
tumblr, pintrest and random stamp hoards
65. Is there a habit you just can't get away from no matter how hard you try?
css grid ill never leave you
66. What's your biggest advice for a new webmaster?
just start. make your website, and make it as ugly as possible. i struggle with learning things in general and learning html and css genuinley made me want to give up. i was STRESSED. the thing is i tried to learn everything all at once, i wouldnt think of writing a single line of code untill i knew every single thing about the language. i didnt start. but youll never know whats wrong with your recipie untill you try it. make as many mistakes as you can, and then make more.
67. Do you keep all your styling in CSS? Or do you hard-code some?
all in the css! haha question number 67 sorry i need to be sedated
68. What do you think of frameset layouts?
no clue what they are :p if ur talking about iframe based layouts theyre cool! just gotta make sure the links arent finicky
69. How about table-based layouts?
havent really seen much of them so i wouldnt really know! i assume theyd be a little more finicky than grid or flexbox tho
70. Do you subscribe to the ideas of "one-column", "two-column" and "three-column" layouts? Do you use any of these?
no clue what u mean sorry!! my site uses 4 columns with two and three merging in some boxes to make a twice as wide box
71. Do you spend longer on the HTML or the CSS?
oh my god. css. dont even joke lad
72. Have you ever made a page with no CSS? It's useful for your thoughts.
nope! i havent really thought about doing so but it sounds fun! although my blog page has css, the bulk of it (the actual blog) is pretty much only html.
73. Do you ever find yourself making layouts with nothing to put on them? Or do you only make layouts when the need arises?
only when the need arises, i wish i had more time to make layouts tho! id love to make templates in the future (ooooh maybe site commisions)
74. Would you consider yourself a beginner? Or advanced? Somewhere in the middle?
i first started webdev about 4 months ago, so i wouldnt say im a complete beginner, but im not at a stage where i could fix other peoples html and css problems
75. Do you have a habit of looking at the source code of websites you visit?
i mostly view on my ipad (I KNOW I KNOWWW) so i dont really have that option. if theres ever a site i see that i reeeally wanna see their source code ill save the link and inspect on my computer! if your wondering, you guys are free to view my code and take any snippets youd like! (within reason LOL)
76. How did YOU learn how to make websites?
blood, sweat, tears and a fuck ton of hours on w3s
77. Do you ever force elements to do things they're not supposed to?
i torture them into behaving :) the div tags screams of agony are music to my ears! (this is a joke i treat my div tags very nicley and give them a little treat if they work as intended)
78. Thoughts on floating elements?
theyre cool on the rare chance they dont obstruct everything
79. When you're sizing stuff, what do you use first? Do you use px, em, %, or something else?
PX FOREVER I WILL DIE ON THE PX HILL
80. Do you have a favourite font?
porkys is my fav! its plastered all over my site graphics!! i also really like kosugi as my main font
81. Would you run a website with another person? How would that work?
ID LOVE TO!! i have no clue what it would even be about but id be happy to work with someone as passionate as me!
82. Do you surf the Web to find new personal websites very often?
all day everyday, im absolutley enthralled with personal sites u have no idea. i spend my mornings looking through the recent activity page
83. Do you bookmark other people's websites? How would you feel knowing someone else bookmarked yours?
i hardly use my bookmarks, id probably just add their button! id be SO happy if someone bookmarked my page!! every singe time someone says they like my page, my heart melts entirley
84. What do you want people to be most impressed with when they see your website?
definitley how pretty or cute it is! i want people to think "wow they put alot of time and care into this"! or at least for now. later down the line id love for people to take away something from my site, no matter what it is. id like people to be impressed with how expansive and interesting it is
85. Are you interested in technology outside of websites? Do you collect?
nope, im not partiularly tech savy. that said i love watching youtube videos about tech or the web in general, more particularly the old web!
86. How often and for how long are you online?
im out for around 11 hours each day for college, so i dont have much free time that isnt the weekends. when i come home from college i immidatley sleep, and on the weekends im recovering from the tiring week, so i dont really have much time to be online. when i have free time though, the majority of it is spent doing something for my website, but i also like playing games and going for walks so i dont spend all my time online.
87. When it comes to your website, who is your target audience?
the girls and the gays
88. Have you ever been interested in XHTML?
nope and never will
89. Do you program in general? Have you ever written a program for use with or on your website, not counting simple JavaScript?
ditto question 88
90. Speaking of programs that help you make websites, what do you think of static site generators (SSGs)? Have you ever used one?
i dont really know much about ssgs and never really cared for them. although, i do feel like the general appeal of having your own corner of the web is making it yourself!
91. Do you keep a hitcounter? Why or why not?
nope, too lazy to add one and ive heard some hit counter horror stories. still, i think theyre neat! ill always clap for a page if i like it and the option is there
92. Do you frequent forums? Which ones?
i used to frequent toyhouse forums, but got burnt out from art in general and got fixated on things that werent my ocs.. i seem to get back into toyhouse around may/june every year in time for artfight so maybe that will happen then!
93. Do you write your page content directly into the editor, or do you prepare it elsewhere, like a text document or a Word document?
i code in vscode, and i keep my html there untill im done with it. sometimes for blog posts ill write them in my notes app before adding it in!
94. Do you think you appear cool to others? A more accurate answer now: do other people ever say you're cool?
no but i wouldnt cry over it. yes and i cry over it. 💗ī¸ i love u guys
95. Are you embarrassed of your old work? Have you ever deleted everything out of shame?
ABSOLUTLEY IM EMBARASSED ill never delete it though, ill always have some sort of archive
96. Would you close down your website if you couldn't update it, or would you leave an archive?
leave it as an archive absolutley. i think its important that things remain archived on the internet, even if the thing itself isnt important.
97. Do you reveal a lot about yourself on your website? Or are you more secretive?
you could probably find my full legal name and adress if you looked hard enough
98. Are you willing to reveal who your best online friend is, and/or if they have a website?
my online best friend is algebros!!! IF UR READING THIS HAI!!!!!!!!! I LOVE U GUYS /P !!! they dont have a website but if they ever wanted to make one theyd know who to call
99. And do you optimise the images on your website?
no but i really should
100. We're out of time! How do you feel after answering 100 questions? ....other than exhausted.
exhausted sorry i panicked!! but fr this was a great questionare, if you read this far i encourage you to do it too!! i talk alot about the unfinished state of my site so ill probably do this again in 6 or 7 months OKAY IM SORRY IMMS ORRY THATS THE LAST 67 JOKE.