How to Make the Web Better
Be a good steward for the obvious, the little things, and the personal quirks. Don’t be Denethor.
Our profession stands on the generous nature of the web. Open source, blogging, and Twitter offer unlimited resources. I learn things and crush problems with my mind-vice for money. It’s a sweet deal.
But here comes imposter syndrome. You also see everything you don’t know, and seemingly everyone who knows that. React MultiThreaded ConjurBots are the future, and you’re missing it.
We need innovators and good stewards.
I’ve mentioned stewardship before because I respect the idea of caring for something you can’t own. It’s an act of love, and I love the Web.
I’ve been making the Web for 15.5 years — only took 13.5 years to be recognized as a brilliant newcomer. I’m 29 now, so half my life has been about building this knowledge.
To make the Web better, we need to steward our experience so newcomers can stand with us sooner, smarter, and then above.
A better Web
Field Manuals are guides for trailblazing the web. They document the principles, standards, and practices that Gravity Department works by.
It doesn’t happen all at once. I started my Field Manuals project almost two years ago. Lately I’m expanding into neglected areas of stewardship:
The obvious
- Writing CSS, HTML, JS, PHP, and XML you can read and maintain
- An 80/20 guide to Unix shell commands you’ll actually use
- There are better CMS than WordPress
The little things
- How to plan meetings and send a proper invite
- Managing website localizations and staying sane
- Everything to backup/delete when decommissioning a Mac
The personal quirks
- All the Mac apps I use to design and develop websites
- My mouse preferences improve productivity
- My TextExpander snippets saved +500,000 keystrokes
If we stop saying “just” and take a few minutes to write it down, then the Web would be better. And we’d feel better knowing it’s cared for.
Don’t be Denethor.
This post is part of the The Shift — a monthly a writing project designed to help us produce and consume unique perspectives on topics relevant to the web industry. Follow along with #startYourShift.