We were chatting in chat about the overall bugginess of RS and the fact there is no one place where there is a directory of sites that are not RS based. As this is how it used to be, everyone was on little sites all across the web. You would come here to socialize, but now we are more spread out socially, and most Galleries are now on RS. However there are some of us that have gotten to the point that RS is not good for what we want for our online galleries, and others have kept up their beautifully curated galleries even from when RS was new.
So I'm putting the call out here, do you have a site not on RS? And if so, would it be okay to post up a link a page I am putting together on my site so there is at least one place/directory to go to find these sites!?
Let me know!
Thanks!
JD
"Any idea is a good idea except the non-happy ones. Those we push down deep inside where you'll never, ever, ever, EVER find them!" - Princess Unikitty
http://www.jadeduo.net Please Stay By My Side, In My Dreams - Sailor Moon, DBZ, Cardcaptor Sakura, Saiyuki, Gundam Wing, Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi, Junjou Romantica, Fullmetal Alchemist, Bleach, and Tsubasa...
Actively Searching for: Saiyuki Burial (Anything), CCS Episodes 65-67, and Primo Sailor Jupiter Cels
Anime-Beta Annual Cel Contest - Grand Poobah, 2014, 2015, and 2016
Anime-Beta Annual Sketch Contest - Grand Poobah, 2015
Anime-Beta Annual Sketch Contest - Survey Wench, 2016, 2017
I've been tracking this trend too. A compiled list would be a great source of inspiration for anyone seeking a creative spark when crafting their own creations. I'm also curious what people are using to create their own sites. I imagine that most often it's a WordPress host but hearing about the strengths and shortcomings of the various tools people are using would be really useful for anyone potentially considering going indie themselves.
I wouldn't mind. I love looking at other galleries, and it is kind of hard to do a search on RS. I have a few favorites bookmarked, but browsing can be a challenge.
I use just plain old-fashioned XML with CSS. I hand typed all of the code on MS word pad. Since a lot of the pages are similar, I keep a rough template to modify each time I add something to the gallery. I know that there are a lot of programs out there, but many of them weren't available at the time I started my gallery 1999-2000 ish. Now that I have the templates and a set routine, it is a lot easier to keep adding to the same format than think about converting such a large gallery (over 500 cels - not to mention the sketches and backgrounds) to something else. As for a web host, I got my own domain name back then with Yahoo Small Business. Again, its been easier to just keep everything the same. Space has gotten cheaper, and the amount of extra room in my domain has grown quite a bit. Even with my gallery and using a lot of the extra storage space as backup for photos etc, I only use about 8% of my capacity.
I think my experiment with SmugMug has gone well enough to call it a success so I'm putting my gallery there, such as it is. It's not nearly as nice as many that I've seen in either quality or quantity but, on the chance that it would be worthy of adding to the directory, here it is:
