Along comes a reboot

Apr 16, 2006 · 3 minute read

Well, it’s nearly 6 months since I launched the new design on here and entered into the 2005 Fall reboot with minimal acclaim but lots of nice comments and some traffic. That means it’s nearly time for the Spring event! I still like this design, which is something of a first for a pet project, so made a descision early to do something different.

I like the reboot. It’s a deadline for a start, with all the good and bad things that that entails. And as I’ve mentioned to a few people recently the 6 month release schedule seems just about right.

My new pet project aims to fill a gap that I’ve noticed when scouring the web for knowledge. I’ve mentioned before on here about being a fan of books, and have something of a stash of web, design and software related titles that I plough through pretty much constantly. But knowing what to buy, and what to read next, is never easy – even when I consider myself in the know. I’ve still got a fair few titles from when I started out which, in hindsight, were not the best starting point for a budding web designer.

So along comes Webdesignbookshelf.com

The domain is sorted. The design is nearly sorted (but subject to change a bit). The backend I did a while back (more on some of that later). I’ve no idea what happens to it in IE yet, but you cant have everything. One think I do need to sort however is content.

What I’m aiming for is good quality reviews. For the start I’m not looking to have a percentage score, or a star rating system, or similar. In my experience these tend to cheapen the end result, and become the be all and end all of the review. Books deserve more. Alot of it depends on context as well. The recent Javascript Anthology is a good book and worth the admission price, but I skipped most of it as it covered things from quite a basic point of view to begin with, something I wasn’t expecting. It really kicked into action later on, especially the accessibility chapter and the section on obect orientation. I would have liked to know all that before I bought it.

With so much information available online, and new sites popping up all the time, I still think books have a place. Especially with lots of talk of self publishing at the moment maybe we’ll see more books bypassing the old publishing processes. This could include books bypassing any kind of editorial process as well, good quality reviews can help act as a filter, a helping hand if you will.

Anyway, if anyone reading this far fancies contributing a review or two please let me know. I cant promise wealth, or fame and fortune just yet. But you should get a warm feeling that your helping a community, and you name up in lights if you like that sort of thing. And watch out for the May 1st launch over at the reboot, should be another good one.