XeoMage
Updated: 2010.08.31 
XeoMage is the personal website of Matthew Johnson. It is a medium to publish my assorted writings and information. It is also an excellent way for me to learn about creating web sites. Thanks to this site I have an understanding of XHTML, CSS, PHP, and SQL languages, as well as how to run Apache and MySQL. The entire site is written from scratch in PHP, and validates as XHTML 1.0 Strict.
Getting around XeoMage is intended to be straight forward and simple. All pages feature a main menu at the left side. These are the main sections on the site. A description of the section will appear if you move your mouse pointer over the title of the section. The date the site was last updated is also listed at the bottom of the menu. By moving your mouse pointer over the updated text, sections that were recently updated show the date of their newest content. There is an RSS Feed icon to the right of the updated date. If you have an RSS Feed reader, clicking this will allow you to subscribe to updates. When you go to a section, such as the Poetry page, you will see a menu to pages in that section. Pages that have several dated entries rather than one item, such as the Updates page or the Journal page, have a menu to older entries, so that if you're so inclined you can read through the past.
Finally, for the best XeoMage experience, make sure you're using the latest available version of your web browser. I have made every effort to support Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Konqueror, and any other standards-compliant browser, but I can't support every version of every browser. In addition, my carefully selected color scheme will only turn out right if you have your colors set to True Color (24 or 32 bit). Finally, you need at least 800x600 resolution. The page will scale to 640x480, but it looks really cramped. For best results, go to 1024x768 or higher. I use 1600x1200, but I have young eyes.
The XeoMage web site is the exclusive property of Matthew Johnson. The term 'XeoMage' refers to the web site hosted at http://www.xeomage.com and all data available therein. All rights are reserved. Specifically, the content of XeoMage, including the poetry, writing, photos, journals, and all other written material may not be copied, altered, or mirrored without express written consent. The author also reserves all rights to any HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code, including code not currently used. The author reserves the right to any images displayed on the page, including images not currently displayed. Any link to the XeoMage web page must not display it in the frame of another web page. Anyone may link to the XeoMage main page, without notified consent. Anyone that would like to reproduce or copy material on XeoMage for publication or other purpose must contact the author and obtain permission. If there is a link to a page that you oversee or represent that you would like removed, contact the author. If you are offended by content on XeoMage, including but not limited to language, opinion, implied meaning or other content, please feel free not to visit the site. XeoMage.com does not collect user information or place cookies on vistors PCs. If at any time private information is collected, a policy will be displayed on this page.
For information on the development of XeoMage.com, check out the development journal on proto.
Massive overhaul, long overdue. The second-largest redesign after 9.0, the site adopts an even simpler design with a fixed menu on the left and a single scrolling page, dubbed Xeo³. Numbered pages replaced by seasons. Updates section retired in favor of automatic update handling and RSS Feed. AJAX editing replaces administration back-end. Writing broken into Fiction and Articles, return of Thought(s) section, Me renamed Profile, Pictures renamed Photos. Quotes section removed.
Backend gradually transitioned to be 100% template driven. Minor improvements to RSS, Ajax, and CSS. Projects section launched, Quotes page added.
After I decided the Internet had quite enough resources for helping people with computers, I copied the layout of my friend's page and made "My Web Page" It was in the late summer of 1997. I had a main page, a personal page, poetry, stories, files, and links. The graphics were on the left with descriptions to the right. News was integrated into the personal info as though the updates in the page were events in my life.
I changed the name to Oracle because I thought I could come up with something better than "My Web Page" I also updated the section images as my graphics skills improved.
Oracle got it's first major design update with the advent of a central table containing the links on the main page. I ditched Files added Quotes and began to differentiate between Oracle updates on the News page and events in my life in My World on the Me page. I added a navigation menu to the top and integrated frames into the page, with the Oracle logo always visible at the top and content in the bottom.
I took out the frames and changed the main page design to a complex table with smaller graphics so it would load faster. Design was loosely based on the imagery in StarCraft by Blizzard Entertainment. I think it looked right cool. I dubbed it the Teal-SC look.
Design enhancements were made that further incorporated the Teal-SC look and redesigned the larger pages to be more organized. This involved the reintegration of frames.
Redesign, keeping with the Teal-SC look. More integrated, friendlier to lower resolution screens, and better organized. Prettier, too. Frames eliminated again, vowed forever. Reviews added. Array mouse-overs added to index page for popup description, overhaul of Computer Reviews, transfer of old movies to archive to reduce page size. Graphics quality downgraded made more efficient. Page load time reduces slightly. All fonts gradually converted to Arial. Things is thrown out and replaced by Thought.
Redesign, evolving the Teal-SC look to include Macromedia Flash, and fewer graphics overall. Index page is rebuilt from scratch in Flash. Pages load on average in 1/6 the time of previous version. Content relatively unchanged. Plug-in requires development of parallel 'text-only' site.
Redesign of layout and style. Teal-SC abandoned as well as Flash due to Plug-in requirements. New DHTML menus and addition of Pictures page. New style and color scheme is called Blueuro, and succeeds at being easy on the eyes and is friendly to low resolutions. DHTML menu is not compatible with all browsers.
Blueuro scheme enhanced with layout, backend, and HTML 4.0 compliance. View-ability in Netscape drastically improved. Several revisions to core HTML take place, some content enhancements, removal of Computer Reviews and Thought page and return of Things page. Layout scales to all resolutions with ease.
Massive overhaul. XeoMage.com domain name registered, since Oracle is too common, hence site changes names a second time. DHTML abandoned due to cross-browser frustration. Ingenious JavaScript document writing allows layout to be kept separate from content and updates are incredibly easy. New expanded Links page, Stories renamed to Lore, News renamed Updates, new Miscellaneous Reviews, and previous Updates and My Worlds kept. Design scheme referred to as "Xeo". Addition of Services Page.
Menus moved from top to left side. Several other slight adjustments, and color scheme changes. XeoMage hosted on my own web server.
Another massive overhaul. With the transition to a self-run web server, a database-driven design is adopted. Content served through single web page written in PHP. Layout changes to elegant two-panel system using CSS2 positioning. Design scheme is called Xeo². Car Reviews dropped, My World split from the Me page and renamed Journal.
Borders are flattened, Reviews is scaled back to Movie reviews, Things is renamed Writing, and the Lore section is pulled due to general lack of interest. Gradual improvements and adjustments to positioning code and style sheet. Page refined but stagnant. Design virtually unchanged for four and a half years.