The image on the left is my web page before writing an html5 version. This is still
the version you see for IE9 and earlier. I also made it my web page for IE, period. IE
seems to have some isues with my slideshow when seen through an iFrame, so I check for
IE and display my old web page when IE is detected.
I found that my html5 web page wasn't rendering properly on smaller screens, so I wrote
a mobile version of my html5 web page that displays for 1024 pixels and narrower screens;
eventually changing that to 1280 pixels and narrower. I'd test for possible mobile
browsers and 1024 pixel wide screens (eventually 1280 pixels) and display
indexMobile.html if I got a "true".
Then I took a web design course at Atlantic Technical College
(as of this writing I'm still enrolled) and found out about ways to get an individual
web page to display differently on different devices. I already knew ways I could
achieve different renderings of a single web page, but they seemed like more work then
creating separate web pages; now I know better. I took out all of my inline css and put
them in separate css pages; one for small screens and one for large screens. I'm
checking for screen size with a "media" statement, but I'm not doing the
mobile test anymore (I might, if I find my home page doesn't render
properly anymore on some mobile devices).
So why write a blog about this? This isn't even worth putting in my programming blogs, since it's pretty rudimentary stuff about web pages. ...but, this reminds me of an incident at work (about 14 years ago). My project manager asked me to make a change on the system, but it took me a few hours to accomplish, and I thought it should have been less then one hour. The problem I had was the total mess I came across on our development system. I told the manager that I could re-write the mess I found on the system within one week, and all future development involving this section of code would go much faster. The manger told me he was in total agreement with me, so I was surprised when he turned down my request to work on the mess. The manager told me to get any work request passed by his supervisors (probably accountants) was to show that such work offered an immediate profit for the company. The manager told me that he couldn't show any immediate increase in profits for the company by the work I suggested, and any future profits weren't quantifiable at this point.
I really have to wonder how much crummy software out there is the result of bean counters running development teams. Yes, the bean counters are in charge of the development teams when the bean counters have the final say on software projects based on short sighted profit goals. Dave's Home Page is a non-profit, and anything done with it is my decision. If I get tired of updating two web pages, I can re-write my home page without having to explain my work to a manager, that has to explain it to a bean counter (a "change" that doesn't immediately change anything - as far as site visitors are concerned).
All companies have a mission statement, and state that everything they do is guided by that mission statement. All companies (really) have the same mission statement; make profits. It's nice having your own web site, because you don't have to worry if your actions are making somebody money or not.