February 12, 2004

Webmonkey

It appears that Webmonkey is ending its run. Paul Boutin discusses the shutdown, and News.com has a piece on the restructuring of Lycos (Webmonkey's parent).

Its too bad--I always liked Webmonkey, and I've pointed to plenty of good articles from this weblog, and I've used their articles and resources in some of the classes I've taught. Let's hope they keep the content online for all to reference. In a related note, there seems to be fewer and fewer sites for beginners to pick up tips on web development. This is not to say there isn't a bunch of great sites out there (Boxes and Arrows, Digital Web, and A List Apart come to mind), but they seem to be focused more on either theory or more advanced techniques. I'm not seeing much out there with a wide scope, a focus on more hands-on articles, and a target of beginners and intermediates. Plus, I think its getting harder and harder to create quality websites. The list of skills that are needed is growing: XHTML, CSS, JavaScript, Usability, Accessibility, Information Architecture, and so on.

All in all, Webmonkey will be missed.

(via Dave Winer)