Several issues ago Hal mentioned to me he would like to see a write-up about some of my internet activities. Well, I'll let everyone know right now, I am not a website expert and know very little about html code. I have used several different website hosts over the last few years, and for now have settled on Free Web Tools to host my gaming sites. Free Web Tools is a free service (never could have guessed by their name, eh?) but is fairly restrictive in what one can do to the site. Pages are template driven, meaning you cannot do what you what, but can only do what they have available. That said, Free Web Tools is very easy to use and update. No HTML code is needed to create a website and each site you create can up to 15 or so pages of various types (photos, links, catalog, etc.) up to a maximum of 20 megabytes of space. One can either use their templates to build a site, or if you have your own web publishing software Free Web Tools is fully compatible. Until I break down and buy Microsoft's FrontPage in conjunction with registering my own domain name, Free Web Tools will do just fine. There aren't a lot of bells and whistles using the free service but the basics (counter, guestbook, etc.) are available. One thing I do not like about Free Web Tools is the pop up ads one has to deal with. Not a problem for me, because I use Pop Up Stopper to quash all pop ups (and it's free).
I also host a few discussion groups using Yahoo and SmartGroups. I used to use Yahoo exclusively, but they state from time to time that they might start charging for their egroup service, so I started a couple of sites using Smartgroups just to see what their service is like. Both services function much the same; there are places for links, files, photos and various other things, and they both have a calendar function. I like Yahoo because I can customize the look of the group, but SmartGroups has a place to put ads when one wants to sell those extra figures that will never get painted.
Okay, let's dig into the sites themselves. The first one I created was a fan site for the Frying Pan & Blanket Amalgamated line of 20mm figures. I had written FP&BA last summer offering to build a small site for them to help spread the word about these figures, but I received no reply. Therefore I decided to create a fan site so they would still benefit from an internet presence, and I could satisfy my own vanity in website creation! The site has done fairly well, I started it on August 28"i, 2002, and as of today (February 12th, 2003) there have been 1,164 visits - not too shabby for such an obscure 20mm figure company. The site has the entire product line listed, some photos of figures (I'm always looking for more), orders of battle, company contact information, a review of the FP&BA Wayne's Legion line, and related links. This is the site I think turned out the best, the line art I added in conjunction with the color scheme makes a visually pleasing internet experience.
The next site I have is one that covers the small wars of the United States, meaning the American colonial experience 1870-1930. Primary focus is on miniatures with photos and reviews. There is also a timeline and related links. I'm hoping to add to this site once I start my Yangpat project using the Cannon Fodder, Pulp Figures, and Copplestone Castings miniatures.
I also have a small site for the gaming group I am in, the Wayne's Legion Historical Garners. I haven't worked on this site much, but will be adding to it over time. The focus is of course on our gaming group, but will also have information on the Indian Wars that took place in the Northwest Territory from 1790-95.
The most recent site I have created is my Balkan Wars site. I am starting a new gaming project set in the Balkans 1912-13 using the Alphacast 15mm figures. So far I have information on battles, organizations, and uniforms, as well as figure photos and reviews. Of course the mandatory links page is there, and this site will expand as the project gets rolling along. It a little under a month and a half, this site had 543 visitors.
The discussion groups I host are So Far From God (Mexican-American War), Our Moccasins Trickled Blood (1790-95), The Second Schleswig War (German-Danish War), Small Wars of the United States, and a Wayne's Legion Historical Garners group. The first three are on Yahoo, the latter two are hosted on SmartGroups.
The So Far From God group has over 130 members on it, and is co-hosted by John Coleman. Discussions are not limited to the Mexican-American War, but we also talk about the Texas War of Independence as well. And we have such notables as Tony Adams and Pete Panzeri gracing our ranks. The Moccasins group was set up to discuss my rules that appeared in MWAN 114, but the 110 members discuss all aspects of frontier warfare 1750-1830. Really good stuff, and a great bunch of garners on this group. The War of 1864 group is very small and inactive with only 9 members (I've been thinking about shutting the group down because of the lack of interest). The Small Wars group has been sporadic with the number of posts, but the 70 members do show there is some interest in this period. Paul Hinson ably assists the Small Wars group. The Wayne's Legion group is strictly for the members of my gaming group. All of the discussion groups have links, files to download, photos, and other pertinent information.
I hope you will all take a few moments and visit my sites and tell me what you think. I appreciate any feedback and make changes appropriately.
My Websites
Frying Pan & Blanket Amalgamated - http://fryingpan.freewebtools.com
Small Wars of the United States - http://yangpat.freewebtools.com
The Wayne's Legion Historical Garners - http://wayneslegion.freewebtools.com
The Balkan Wars - http://balkanwars.freewebtools.com
My Discussion Groups
So Far From God - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mexamwar
Our Moccasins Trickled Blood - littp://groups.yahoo.com/group/ moccasins
The Second Schleswig War - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/warof1864
Small Wars of the United States (egroup) - http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/smallwars
Other Sites
Free Web Tools - http://www.freewebtools.com
SmartGroups - http://www.smartgroups.com
Yahoo Groups - http://groups.yahoo.com
Pop Up Stopper - http://www.panicware.com
Back to MWAN # 123 Table of Contents
Back to MWAN List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Magazine List
© Copyright 2003 Hal Thinglum
This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com