What went into this page design?

or How to build a web site by the totally clueless

In the past, LSCNY did not have a Tech Administrator, but instead relied on the more technically savvy members of it's staff, supplemented by outside contractors. Jim Murphy, one of our lawyers, designed and maintained the previous web site, and I came in three times a week to make sure everyone's computer was working.

Fast forward to 2009. Legal Services' technology needs had increased to the point where someone was needed on site at all times. At the beginning of the year, I was hired full time to address all of LSCNY's technology.

One of the first things I wanted to update when I took the position was this web page. I wanted a cleaner look, one more fitting to the times. I had all sorts of ideas on what I wanted to do, but there was one hitch. I had no idea what I was doing!! Like I said, I was a nuts and bolts guy.

So I dove in without abandon. I figured "What the hey. I can figure it out. I've been programming since the stone age and I've done some basic HTML editing."

The first thing I needed were some tools. Being a big open source fan, I hit Osalt.com. If there's something you want in software and there's an open source alternative, they'll help you find it. I downloaded KompoZer, a web authoring program, and GIMPShop and Inkscape, two of the best image editing packages available, in my opinion. And then I sat there, staring at a blank screen. I still had no clue.

So, after a little more Googling, I wound up at OSWD.org. They have thousands of web page templates there. I downloaded a few designs and started to look into what made them function. The best design for my purposes was done by a gentleman who goes by the name of Wolfgang at 1-2-3-4.info.

After a couple of weeks of design, it became apparent that some programming was going to be needed to make things function the way I wanted. Oddly enough, even though I've been writing code for 30 years in 6 different programming languages, I had never taken the time to learn Java, one of the most popular language used in web design, and I didn't feel like investing the time in learning it now.

Armed with my strengths, back to Google I went, where I wound up at...Microsoft. Me, the guy who dislikes the software giants, at the company that seems to be everything open source software isn't. But their Visual Web Developer was available for the downloading, it did everything I needed, and it only hurt a little to swallow my pride.

Hope you like how it turned out, and keep checking back.