Date interview began: September 7th, 2009
Interviewee: Stephanie from
The Goodie Box
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? Oh gosh... that goes way back! I think my very first site was called "VOX". It lasted for about four months. Looking back, I'm very disappointed I kept the site up for that long! I should've known better than to put such poor quality graphics up for everyone to use. I would definitely not bring that site (or any of it's content) back to Neopets... ever. Why would I anyway? I have The Goodie Box to look after now!
What do you like most about running The Goodie Box?Probably the most rewarding thing I gain from being the owner of The Goodie Box is the fanmail and compliments. I can't tell you how wide my smile stretches every time I hear someone compliment either my work, or just hearing how well they think TGB is doing. From a graphic stand-point though, I think I enjoy making buttons the most. That is after all the very first thing I ever did with TGB. Button requests is what kept it alive. ^^
What do you think is the most boring/tiring/annoying thing about running a site? I think the most annoying and tiring thing about running a site would have to be people who obviously don't read the rules, but send in the form anyway. I put rules on my page for a reason, they aren't there just to take up space. The most tiring thing about running a site is when people constantly ask you questions like 'When are button(or banner) requests going to be open?". But eventually you get used to neomails such as these. I know I wouldn't change it for the world. I mean, if people are actually asking me when my button/banner requests are going to be open, they must be anxious to get some of my graphics... right? -scratches head-
Do you ever see yourself opening a non-graphics site (review site, directory, etc.)? Hmm. Well I seriously though about opening a directory a few months ago actually. This was when TGB hadn't really gotten on it's feet yet. -wink-
I really like the whole idea of me owning a review site, but it's a lot of work. I don't think I'd 'fit' in or be qualified to own a review site, seeing as I use layouts for my sites that are not made by me. I guess I'm in the mind set of 'If you own a review site, your layout needs to be made by you'.
What advice would you give to a new graphic maker? I think the best advice I could give to a new graphic maker is if you have a question, don't be afraid to ask it of someone who you think would know the answer. It's very important to know as much as you can if you are a graphic maker! Oh, one more thing I would tell them - NEVER give up if you know your graphics are any good! (Yeah, I know that last one was kind of cheesy, but hey! I'm just trying to give adequate advice.)
The Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Either Draik or Kyrii
Favorite Color: A cross between blue and green, but more blue than green.
How long per day are you usually on Neopets?: Well, it depends. Now that I've started school, I'm on for roughly 4 1/2 hours a day. When I wasn't in school... well let's just say I was on WAY too much. ^^
Country you live in: USA
Favorite site that you don't own & why: Wow, this is extremely tough! I have so many favorite sites out there... But if I had to choose (no offense intended to anyone!) I would have to say my all-time favorite site is entitled 'The Restock Machine'. Found at http://www.neopets.com/~betanko The Restock Machine is a comic strip - type site that features amazing artwork - not to mention some adorable comics. I love this site because it inspires me to reach beyond what I thought I could achieve.
Date interview began: September 9th, 2009
Interviewee: Star from
Alliance,
Zeroed In,
Star's Lab,
Steamed, and
Confetti
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? My first site was Star's Lab, an adoption agency. It was supposed to be a review site I was supposed to start with my sister, but I really wanted to change it last minute. Starting the site was exciting!! I made a whole plan to start off the site, got listed, requested buttons & everything. I was really proud of it, but now, I'm not even sure I should even continue it.
Out of your sites, which is your favorite? Hmm... My answer always changes. If this interview was from 2 weeks ago, I would of said Steamed. Right now it's Confetti. It's just so unique, I even thought of it myself! -gasp from audience- Yes, I have thought of it, I even received some compliments on it. And it makes other people happy too. ^-^
Favorite thing about making a new site? For me, it's like starting out fresh, which is fun because I start out with clean slate & get to try things I haven't done on my other sites. It's fun how to see how everything comes together & other people's opinions or reactions of the site too. To me, it's all about the fun of it. (:
Are you thinking of opening a new site anytime soon? I thought about opening a graphics site a couple times. Geez, what was wrong with me at the time. I'm not very cut out for a graphics site, because I really don't want to download a program for it, or have the patience for it. If I do make a new site, I would want it really unique. ^-^
What advice would you give to a new sitemaker? Be creative & have fun! Give an old idea a new twist or come up with your own idea. If you like doing it continue!
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Kacheeks or Aishas
Favorite Color: Aqua
How long per day are you usually on Neopets? Usually 5 hours, if I have no school on that day, it's a different story. XD
Country you live in: On this place called Earth
Favorite site you don't own&why: Futago because they make such great lookups & graphics! I wish I could make something like that! But like I said, I'm not very good with graphics. -_-
Date interview began: September 9th, 2009
Interviewee: Emily from
Somersault
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? My first site was created back in January 2007, though I would barely call it a site. It was completely premade and it didn't have affies or buttons or anything! This site was JustAdoptable* -my site that closed only last week. Back then it was called The Pet Saver Adoption Agency, and it listed an average of 4 pets, none were Painted or LE. Late 2007, I decided to learn to code and made it a great new layout, learnt about heaps more stuff and started listing other peoples pets. Painted ones, this was a fresh start so the named was changed to justAdoptable*! My link back buttons were an irregular size, in times new roman font and quite ugly. but at least I was making my way though the adventure of site making. It went through quite a few re-vamps, to get it where it was the other day. I was kinda proud of it, being so old. But i decided I no longer wanted to manage it. My aspiration is in graphics making. Its acctual closing date was the 6th of september 2009. My second site was made in 2008- critique*, It also closed the same day as JustAdoptable* for the opening of my new site somersault! Since JustAdoptable & Critique in total I have had 9 fabulous sites which are now closed but were alot of fun to mange! Justadoptable, critique button, Sweet Buttons, gamer*, Xide Designs , Fantastical, Emilys CSS, and Angels.
What is your favorite graphic to make? hm, I would have to say buttons! I have made more of them than any other graphics and i really enjoy making them! I enjoy making most graphics, but buttons have to be my favorite. I remember they used to take me about 20 minuites each to make. But now I have adapted my own styles they take me about 5 minuites each to make. So I got the hang of it :).
What is the most boring part about running a site? Writing Updates! I can't stand it. I always forget and then my site gets accused of being inactive when i physically update it every day! that is one of the main reasons I combined my sites now i only have to do 1 set of updates daily rather than 8, I now realize its a necessity and try to personalize and make updating as fun as i I can but deep down i still don't like it.
Favorite thing about making a new site? I love everything! Making the layout, trying to think of a super creative name, buttons, thinking up a type of site. I love it all! I don't think I will be making a new site anytime soon as i have a strong bond with somersault. and can add any extra stuff I want to it.
What advice would you give to a new graohics maker? Keep trying and don't give up! If your graphics look less than satisfactory, keep trying. Don't get down because you don't have the latest photo shop and 'can't make good graphics with out it', because that is not true. Everything I made was with free ware. paint, MS word and online image editors. When you learn how to use it you can do anything!
Favorite Neopet: Cybunny
Favorite Color: purple.
How many hours per day are you on Neopets? 13hrs on weekend and 4 on weekdays.
Country you live in: Australia
Favorite site you don't own&why:
The Goodie Box! Stephanie makes the best graphics, and they are fast and awesome looking! I check it everyday to see all the new wonderful graphics Stephanie has made!
Date interview began: September 9th, 2009
Interviewee: Pip from
2NE1,
Tell Me Tonight,
Secret Observer and
Diversity in Motion
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? Personally, I hated my first site. It was called Yay Me! Graphics. It was a custom made layout, and all my graphics were made by using Paint. Also, my graphics weren't even the correct sizes. I only took free awards. Then, I got it reviewed at two sites, and we got D. I felt ashamed. I decided to shut down, and read all these guides on sites, and yeah,.^^
What is your favorite kind of site to run? My favorite has to be either a graphics, or a review site. Graphics sites are really fun, and I personally love making icons, banners, siggies, and other stuff, and see people use my stuff. It's a wonderful sight to see you know. XD Why a review site, they're so boring? Well because, I give people the honest truth. Not a lot of review sites, now a days do that. They're just there for the fame. Personally, I tell honest truth, and have been.
What is the most boring/tiring/annoying thing about running a site? The most boringest thing about a site, is really either catching thieves, or updating. Those two I cant stand. You have to deal with thieves stealing your layouts, and getting the truth from them. Updating, is really boring, because in some sites updating isn't necesary, but you have to do it anyways.
Are you planning on opening another site soon? Yes. I am planning to make more sites in the future! Its going to be Leaves of Carnivals' revamp, and more sites. I might try making some new sites, like a ranking site, and more! :D
What advice would you give to a sitemaker? My advice to future sitemakers is to enjoy it! Have fun with your site. If someone puts your site down by saying bad things, ignore it. Be yourself. If you think your site is great, think positive, rather being negative. :D
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Poogle, Lutari or Draik
Favorite Color: Yellow, Orange, and Teal
Hours per day are you usually on Neopets: Errmm, depends. 2-3 hours
Country you live in: Canada, represent!
Favorite site you don't own&why: If I had to pick one, I'd chose Sarcastic Sunshine by EL!SEH. Why? I love her graphics, and stuff. They're so adorable, and better than what I'd make!
Date interview began: September 10th, 2009
Interviewee: Kitty from
Signature Fonts
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? My first site was Kitty's Fonts, a font site I made a few years back on my old account, before I started this one. Oh, it was awful! The layout was premade, and I didn't have a banner or affiliates-- just one link back button. My fonts had no previews, and they weren't high quality either... well, I was only about 10 years old then. It was a pretty unsuccessful site, now that I think about it. I made another site a few years later, also on my old account, called Dazzled CSS. This one was better-- I had a nice layout, a cute banner, and some really nice petpages. Sadly, my account was CGed, and I lost the codes for the pages (the only one I managed to remake is currently used for my wishlist, actually ;D). I almost didn't talk about this, because it was so short-lived, but I think I progressed a lot as a sitemaker since my first site.
How do you come up with your fonts? Well, I mostly just match the colors of the avatar, and think of a saying either based on the words on the avatar, or just out of my head. As for style... I like bolded georgia most of the time, with terminal/verdana accents. I don't use a lot of symbols, as some computers can't view them, and too many make them look overused and ameteur-ish. I play around with different aspects like colored underlines or different positionings to get each font to look unique, not in the same style as all the others.
Do you ever picture yourself running another site? I've thought about running another site, actually... I still love making CSS layouts. I'm also into pixelling now, and after I made a few icons for Signature Fonts, I make a few of them in my spare time too. I have a bunch of stuff hoarded in folders, just in case I ever really get into it.
Has anyone been caught stealing your fonts? Actually, yes. There was one user who claimed one of Sunnyneo's fonts as theirs, then when she was caught, said mine was her /real/ font. Several people noticed, though, and she was flamed for it. I neomailed her about the incident, but she replied very rudely (with some words I can't repeat). She hasn't come on neopets since I confronted her.
What advice would you give to fontmakers? I'd probably advise fontmakers to keep improving their fonts, even if they think it's perfect. Have your fonts rated, and see what you could do to make them better. And if you get a bad rate, or a not-so-pleasing comment, don't let it get to you. Think of it as constructive criticism: a way to build on what you have and improve.
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Xweetok
Favorite Color: Purple
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: Ehh... too much
Country you live in: USA
Favorite site you don't own&why: Probably Appraisals, owned by Joggly (Cass). I love the idea, and it really helped me improve!
Date interview began: September 19th, 2009
Interviewee: Kazuki from
Final Destination Designs
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? Well, Final Destination Designs actually is my first site. I had been making graphics for a while, and I just decided one day, that I've been making too many userlookups, and every time I changed it, the old one went to waste. Final Destination Designs went through a couple of changes; it was named Kazuki's Premades for about two days (obviously utterly no one knew about it then), and then the name changed to Final Destination Designs when I was listening to a song of the same name. I have to say, though, I was probably also inspired by a few of the premade sites I saw out there; they seemed to be so well liked and doing so well, I kind of wanted to be like them. xD
Have you ever tried making Neopets-realted graphics/layouts? I have, actually. It is in my opinion that I should not do them, because I somehow actually have graphics that look not up to standard when I try making Neopets graphics. I don't know why, but it may be because I don't really have interest in Neo graphics, which results in substandard work. I don't want to provide that to any person who wants to grace me by using my stuff, so I don't do NR, along with the fact that there are many amazing sites out there already that have NR stuff.
What is your favorite part about making a new site/ revamping an old one? Hm. I've made a request site before, Kiss of Beauty. But it closed down because I couldn't keep up with the requests. To me, the best part is actually the layout creation. I like creating a new layout, and seeing it come to be. Receiving good feedback on the layout also makes it all the more fun. Yeah. I think my favorite part about making a new site or revamping an old one is the layout.
Has anyone been caught stealing one of your graphics/layouts? Yes, actually. Just once, but it counts. I have stated that coding can be freely used without credit, but they ripped off one of my layouts, and edited it so horribly so that my original watermark cannot be seen. I Neomailed them politely, and they took it out without responding, so, luckily, that problem was solved without much of a hassle.
What advice would you give to a new graphic maker? Well, to be honest, I'd ask them to look at their work, and compare it to others'. If they think it is inadequate (if they see a big quality difference such as patches of white, uneven cropping, bad fonts, blurry/grainy images that are not effects), try to improve before they go on to create a site. I've been seeing a lot of wanna be sites, and they actually make me really sad. Ensure that you have a decent graphics program, or if you HAVE to use Paint, make sure you're RIDICULOUSLY good at it. Make sure you're competent before you start anything, at least, it will give your site a good name, and push you off to a very good start.
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Gnorbu
Favorite Color: Royal Purple
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: More than 5.
Country you live in: Singapore
Favorite site you don't own&why? Courier. It's made of epic win.
Date interview began: September 19th, 2009
Interviewee: Purple from
Flare and
Locket
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? My very first site was called Purple's Graphics Tutorial, and it wasreally, really, really rubbish. It was basically a guide to makingimages on MS Paint and uploading them, which anyone can do. I alsothought CSS and HTML were the same, and didn't know the difference then!
How do you come up with the ideas for your sites? That's a tricky one! I normally think of ideas when I'm not trying to think of them. Occasionally I have dreams about things I could make into sites, and other times, I just combine different ideas together. It usually seems to work out successfully. ^-^
What is the hardest part of running Flare? Updating it, definately! When people send me new topics and replies, I sometimes can't put them up. But I really need to put them up as soon as possible, because it's all part of the service, getting messages out quickly.
What plans do you have for your sites? For Flare, near Christmas time, I'm planning an advent calender. In a few days time, Locket will be revamped, and apart from that, I plan to keep improving my sites as much as I possibly can!
What advice would you give to a new sitemaker? It's a bit hard at first, because there are many "neopian site" traditions that you're probably not used to, such as 88x31 link buttons, affiliates, etc, and you sometimes don't feel you fit into other sites. My advice would be to "go with the flow," and try sitemaking out. Take people's suggestions; it can really help when you're stuck. If you don't like sitemaking, it's fine to close your site. Some sites have been around for months, but others don't work out. A small amount of people decide to open a new site every week, and they all end up closing. I suggest starting small, taking advice, keep working hard, and then you'll gradually become more popular. At first, it may not seem like sitemaking's fun, but it really is!
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Poogle
Favorite Color: Purple, of course! Next favourite colour is a fruity green.
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: Umm... it does depend. Much too long. xD
Country you live in: United Kingdom - England
Favorite site you don't own&why: I do have quite a few... My favourite review site is The Three. It's a new double review site that's thorough and actually goes into the nitty gritty details. I love the site introduction, and the site overall stands out to me, compared with other review sites. My favourite site ideas are Courier - it's such a brilliant and thoughtful idea - and Appraisals (now closed) - not a full review, but with all the useful little details you need. I also couldn't leave The Goodie Box out - a customs and graphics site with graphics that are pure quality, and everything's so neat and tidy.
Date interview began: September 20th, 2009
Interviewee: Violette from
Ultraviolette Designs,
.dot Helpfuls, and
Success
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? Well, I wouldn't know if you would consider it a site. I wanted my kacheek to win the petpage contest, and i wanted to give it a personality, so I started on it, and when I was about 90% done, I looked at my work and saw how horrible it was! ahahh. I used poor HTML and no CSS at all. But then I read Kitty's Coding Help @ /~yurbleburble_26 and saw how easy it could be to make a decent layout, and I created .dot, my first REAL site. But how dumb of me to think that it was the first page directory ever made! hahahah.
Do you use your own directory? Yes, I do. Actually, when I first put it up, I just put it up for my own reference so that I wouldnt have to write down all of these sites, and decided to decorate it. Now that I think of it, I never really saw it as a site at the time. I just thought of it as a little petpage that I made for me to use, and that the public can also refer to when they need to locate a page.
Are you thinking of opening another site? YES I definitely am! Actually, yesterday (9.20.09) I just opened a third site. I really do want to open so many more sites, but the thing that prevents me from doing so is my schedule. I think I'd want to open a review site or sotm if I ever open another, but chances of that at the moment are really slim.
What is the hardest part of making a guide? I guess the hardest thing about making a guide is to make sure you follow your own guide as well! It would be just shameful if you tell everyone to have good coding, yet your layout doesnt work in all browsers. That was really one I watched out for in the process of making the guide, I must admit, hahahh. And putting your ideas into a way that everyone will understand is a pretty tough challenge at times, too.
What advice would you give to a new sitemaker? Hmmm...I guess it would be to make sure you have enough time to manage your site before you start it, and stay active with your site, even if you haven't updated it much. Just let your visitors know that you're still there. Also, the one small thing that bugs me so much, don't request so many buttons, reviews, and affiliates when you open up. Take it easy, because better opportunities might pop up later on.
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: all the chombies, all the zombies! (and not because they rhyme!)
Favorite color: green or yellow
Hours per day you're on Neopets: about 4. used to me 9, ahahh
Country you live in: usa
Favorite site you don't own and why: on neopets: carnival revisione because of its style; exclusive, for its superawesomelytootootoopopular petpage css; so much more because there are too many!! ;; offsite: swimchick dot net for its amazing graphics, tutorials, and entertaining blogs!
Date interview began: September 21st, 2009
Interviewee: Tina from
Dark Light,
Eternal Mayhem, and
Rave
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? My first site was Dark Light, although it wasn't called that. It went through several name changes before I finally decided to call it Dark Light. It had a rocky start, but it's been over a year since it's been open and it's doing really well. I've gotten way better at making graphics since I first opened the site.
What is your favorite kind of icon to make? I love making icons. They're so easy to make and so cute. You can do a lot with them if you know how.
What is the hardest kind of graphic to make? The most difficult kind of graphic to make would either be blogs or buttons. It all depends. With blogs, I have to measure them out perfectly so that when I code them everything fits right. Buttons can be hard when the image is too "busy". That makes it hard to add text. They can also be difficult depending on the animation used on the button. Some animation styles are tricky and require my complete attention.
Are you thinking of opening another site? For right now, no. I've got my hands full with Dark Light, Eternal Mayhem, and Rave. But if I come up with any new ideas, I might just open another.
What advice would you give to a new reviewer? Be honest. Don't sugarcoat things if you're afraid of hurting someone's feelings. Reviewers have to be fair, honest, and helpful. Be very through when reviewing a site. A good review takes time. And remember, people come to you for advice, feedback, and suggestions. Reviews are more than just a rating. They help others make their site better.
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Lupes and Hissis.
Favorite Color: Purple and black.
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: I get on quite a lot, so about six to eight hours.
Country you live in: The United States.
Favorite site you don't own&why: This is a tough one. There are so many great sites out there. But I had to pick a favorite, it would be Emzee's Music Codes. Emily has an amazing variety of songs and she has clean versions to some not so clean songs. I frequent her site quite a lot. She always has the right songs for Rave and Eternal Mayhem.
Date interview began: September 21st, 2009
Interviewee: Amber from
Amber's Pixels
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? My first site was a collaboration by me, srawasfrozen (Sra), and mercyxmethod (Rachel). We made it about 6 years ago! It was called KH Forever Graphics and had pixels by me and userlookups by Sra and Rachel. We took it down because neopets got a whole new look and our lookups didn't work anymore. We also decided to make our own sites after that.
Have you ever made other graphics such as icons, banners, etc.? Well, I have tried, but I'm not as good as other graphics makers out there. I stick to pixels because that is something I'm good at. I don't think anyone would use icons or banners I make. xD I'm not that creative with those kinds of things.
Do you ever see yourself running a site that doesn't involve graphics? No. I tried to make a review site, but I got overwhelmed by the amount of reviews I had to do. I like graphics sites because you don't have to update unless you have something to add. With a directory, review, or guide site, you have to keep updating it with new information. I can update Amber's Pixels whenever I want. (:
What is the hardest part of running Amber's Pixels? Definitely dealing with stealers! Some people might have just forgotten to put up credit and are sorry when I neomail them, but others can be really difficult. I always feel bad when I have to confront others about copying or stealing; I'm not good with that stuff, especially if the person seems really nice. But, that's just part of owning a site I guess. :/
What advice would you give to a new pixeller? DON'T GIVE UP. Believe me! You won't become a good pixeller over night. You have to work at it. With practice, learning different techniques for shading, and getting to know paint (or whatever program you are using) better, you'll improve. If I had given up, I wouldn't be where I am today. Some helpful pixelling tips would be to save the image as a .png file so it doesn't look grainy, clean up the edges (messy outlines make the pixel look amateur), and shade it well (use lighter and darker shades to contrast more and make it pop).
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: It's a tie: Xweetoks and Usuls
Favorite Color: Yellow
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: Usually 1, more during the summer though. ;D
Country you live in: USA
Favorite site you don't own&why: Definitely DBZ's Pixels! They are really detailed and big.
Date interview began: September 22nd, 2009
Interviewee: Lilia from
Desire,
Pastel,
Pinnacle, and
Picnik Basket
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? My first site is still up, now it's called Desire but before it was called ButtonMaker. The site takes button requests but sadly I don't really have time to make buttons these days due to school :(. Desire is my most favourite site out of my four because I love to make buttons which have really improved over the year of making them XD.
Do you use your own directory? I like to use it when I'm looking for a site. I usually put on sites that I like and find useful and interesting. After I made my directory I found that I could use it a lot. Most of the time I don't have time because I find working on my other sites a lot more fun than working on a directory, but I'm planning to change the layout and instead of buttons put links.
If you had to open another site, what would it be? Hmm, now thats a question I've been consdirering for a while now. I think it would probably be a button contest site, the only thing in my way is the layout and my limited time. I would love to hold the contests but I wish I could judge them though =/
What is the most boring thing about running a site? The most boring thing... well when I change the layout its very dull working with the coding, but mainly I'd say having to update the site. Making graphics falls under the updates category, and sometimes it's just so boring making a button or an avatar.
What advice would you give to a new buttonmaker? I'd say to get an awesome layout so that someone would actually want to stay at the site, another thing is to use a guide if you don't know how to make a button, or how to make one look good. Look at your button and see if it's the way you want it to look, or if you think it looks horrible, redo it; no one wants a bad button. When you're making your first buttons, what I would do is go on the boards and ask people what they think.
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Draik
Favorite Color: Light blue
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets? usually half an hour
Country you live in: Canada
Favorite site you don't own&why: hmm, I like The Goodie Box XD. I just love the layout and I think that Stephanie makes
amazing graphics
Date interview began: September 23rd, 2009
Interviewee: Rebecca from
Buttoness and
Foomanshu
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? My first site was The Panda Page. It was created back in January, 2009.I loved the site so much at first even though it didn't have a layout (Back then, I didn't even know sites needed layouts!), and none of the graphics were made by me. They were just graphics from tinypic and photobucket that I simply stole! I only knew basic HTML codes. But when I got truly inspired by Cass's 20 sites, I quickly became involved in the "real" site making world. I still had a little "theif" left in me, so I sometiimes stole people's coding, because I wanted The Panda Page to be perfect. THe Panda Page also featured some really hideous lookups, and fortunally, I closed from all the terrible review scores. But I have learned a lot!
What is your favorite kind of graphic to make? This one's easy. A BUTTON! I love love love making them. Of course, I have to close down requests a lot more, because school is more important, right? I like making buttons because you don't have to be so detailed. If you were going to make a banner, you have to be more detailed. Also, making a button is easy and so fun to do. I usually make about 10 buttons in one sitting! I like using some opaque lines on my buttons, too.
If you opened another site, what would it be? I would open a review site. But that's only the NEXT thing I would open if I HAD to. I don't like reviewing, but sometimes, it can feel good when you give a messed up site some advice, and that site becomes a better and cleaner site. But I will never open a review site. Maybe I will, but the chances are never.
What do you like the most about creating a new site? Usually, when you start a new site, you have this "clean" feeling. Everything's brand new, buttons, layout, and the entire site. Also, it's fun to see how many visitors visit your site. You get to start over on your counter! :D
What advice would you give to a new sitemaker? Browse around other sites. That's exactly what I do for about 20 minutes each day. I get inspired by those lovely, high quality sites, and they make me want to be like them. Sure, you might feel some jealousy, but sometimes, you can benefit! I was inspired by a lot of sites: Diversity in Motion, Bop to the Top, Amber's CSS, The Goodie Box, Amber's Pixels, Kill the Lights, etc. Each time I visit their sites, I feel like I need to work on Buttoness more. So that's how I improve!
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: wocky
Favorite Color: Pink and purple
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: weekdays: 1 hr. 30 min. Weekends: 3hr.
Country you live in: United States
Favorite site you don't own&why: This is tough! I would have to say The Goodie Box for the high quality graphics and buttons she makes.
Date interview began: September 26th, 2009
Interviewee: Mikamy from
Plum Graphics and Premades
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? This is actually my first site, but it has become pretty much a completely different one since it was first made, even though I have kept the name. I deleted the updates and all of the content from it a couple of months ago, so I guess you could call the 'old' Plum Graphics and Premades my first site.
How long would you estimate it took until you made your first really good graphic/layout? Oh, well if you count making them for my guild, a LONG time. I actually have a link to the first petpage, I don't know if you can call it a layout though /~CutieAmyParis. That was about.. 3 or 4 years ago. I've come a LONG way. Since that I made some horrible guild layouts etc. until I made what is now 'Blue Glow' at my site for my guild webbie. It's the only thing I kept from the old Plum Graphics. That was about a year or two ago when I first made that.
What is your favorite kind of graphic/layout to make? Definitely petpages and banners. I have a lot of ideas for both that I want to get around to making.
If you opened another site, what would it be? It would probably be review site, I think.
Why? Well, firstly it probably wouldn't take as much work as a graphic site. Also, you wouldn't have to worry about people stealing your content. And really, the idea has always appealed to me. The only thing that is stopping me is the amount of reviews that people do on sites that need a lot of work, I imagine that it would be really annoying with the hate-mail and such that come with it.
What advice would you give to a new graphics maker? Not to rush into making a site, to do odd requests on boards first, because a site takes a lot of work.
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Xweetok
Favorite Color: Purple
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: 3-4 a day.
Country you live in: Australia
Favorite site you don't own&why: Kitty's Premades, because it was the first premade site I ever saw, for quite a while I thought it was like the only one out there.
Date interview began: September 28th, 2009
Interviewee: Nene from
Sugary Premades and
Crystal Clear
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? Hmm it was Sugary Premades, actually. x) There were many times when I wanted to start a site, but I just didn't get around to it. That's why with Sugary, I was determined to get it up and running efficiently. At first I wasn't sure what kind of site to make, but then I figured that the 2 things I do best are graphic and web designing... so why not combine them? xD That's how Sugary came to be, a site which contains my premade layouts. Making graphics and coding layouts are my PASSION. It's a strange hobby, now that I think about it. ;P
What is the most boring part of running a site? The most boring part would be the updates. I'd have to come up with some stuff to update about even when there isn't really much to say... just so I can let people know I haven't abandoned my site yet. For the most part, my sites don't require me to update everyday... but I sorta feel obliged to do that, just to let my dedication for the sites come across. (:
Where do you get inspriration for your layouts? To be honest, I often get inspiration from other people's layouts. I'd see a layout I like and then I'd ask myself, "Why do I like it? What makes this layout stand out from the rest?" Then I'd use those points to create my own layout. For example, I'd see a CSS layout with a unique block navigation. I'd then be inspired to incorporate that kind of navigation into my own layout. And nope, I don't copy the style of other people's layouts exactly, obviously. x) There ARE layouts that are completely made from scratch based on personal creativity, and for those layouts I just ask myself "If I were a site maker searching for a unique CSS layout, what kind of layout would I like?" (:
If you opened another site, what would it be? I'm actually thinking of opening a graphics request site. However, I'm not sure if I'll have the time to complete the requests... so I'll have to wait and see. Once I feel like I'm not buried under a pile of work, that is. xD But if I were to have another site, it'd definitely be a graphics site. ;D
What advice would you give to a new layout maker? It is important to keep a few things in mind. For example, you should make sure your layout works in major browsers such as Firefox, Explorer, and Opera (but this would apply to a more advanced layout maker). The color scheme of the layout is important too! Bright, clashing colors often don't work well. If you look up colourlovers on a search engine, you'll find a nice site with color scheme suggestions. The text of the layout is important as well! The color should not be too light and the font size must be big enough so that it's easy to read. For these things, you can observe a layout you like. Go browse through some premades and find one you really like. Then ask yourself, "What makes this layout so nice?" You can learn a lot from other people, provided you don't copy their style exactly. (:
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: kacheek
Favorite Color: lime green
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: around 6 hours (on school days)
Country you live in: Italy ;D
Favorite site you don't own&why: Superflycssed : because her CSS layouts are all unique and top quality... and she's got loads of them! xD I adore the site.
Date interview began: September 29th, 2009
Interviewee: Ali from
Overlooked,
The Archives, and
Royalty Graphics
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? My first site way Royalty Graphics. I still have it but I'm working on a new layout for it then I'm gonna work on getting new things once I get my programs on my new computer. It's a site for guild graphics like layouts and banners, I never found any when I needed them a few months ago so I decided to make my own :3. I looved making graphics though the requests could take awhile depending on the layout type, I enjoyed it! I taught myself all of the coding I know and so if someone wishes to to learn, go for it! Only you can stop yourself!
What is the hardest part of running a site? I would have to say the amount of time they take. Not all take alot of time but the ones I have do! I like getting things done as quick as possible for people becuase I remember when I was the one waiting and it took forever on some things. But due to problems in real life & neo sometimes it takes alot longer than expected and I hate closing requests. 1 revew takes me about 30 minutes and I don't feel like skimming over things becuase that is not what people want! I've dedicated alot of time to these sites I wont be giving up on them any time soon!
What do you think is the most important part of Overlooked? Definitely the fact that it gives advice to help people-and they use it to improve their site/sites. Thats the whole point of a review site, and if someone does not help someone in some way durring a review then they are not doing their "job".
If you opened another site, what would it be? Wellll, I'm in the process of making another so i'll just say about that one. It's a newbie help site that will be called 'The Giving Tree' I'm planning on giving out items like food, books, toys, ect. to people who need them, like the money tree. Also there will be a mini directory and another "mentor" program. This will all take awhile though.
What advice would you give to a new reviewer? The advice I would give is to never leave something out or cut back on what you say to save time. My reviews are detailed and take about a half hour on average but I get people saying that they are really nice how they go into everything without being a 'rambling reviewer' (Thanks Panda!) Also I would never be nice and lie about something just for the sake of being nice-that will not help someones site!
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Bruce
Favorite Color: purple and shiny silver
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: 2-3
Country you live in: United States
Favorite site you don't own&why: The Goodie Box, I really love that site! It has a ton of things, both pre-made and request and the graphics are great! I love making graphics and wish I could do it that well!
Date interview began: October 2nd, 2009
Interviewee: Snapple from
5th Avenue
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? Well, my first site has got to be Amea but it wasn't that successful at first but it was. But I had to close it down because the layout wasn't so good in Internet Explorer. I was kind of the co-owner of the former site Ace which turned out to be a success. I only did a few things there though.
What do you like most about running 5th Avenue? Making buttons. Now since I rarely make animations, it's way fun. Animating buttons is pretty boring and makes you lose interest in it. I also like writing blogs. They are fun because I tell my visitors what I've done and I could also read the old blogs to see what I've done in the past.
Do you ever see your self opening a non-graphics site? I had one once and it was called 'The Pageant'. It was a review site made by me and Remy but never got to it. I might make one again but not right now.
What do you like the most about opening a new site? The excitement that's going through your brain. When you just open the site, you would always think that it's going to be a success or you'll get tons of visitors. I'm not saying it's a bad thing but you know, you get so excited so much that you won't be able to leave the computer xD
What advice would you give to a new site maker? Okay this is pretty easy ^^ I'll make it into a story...When I first started 5th Avenue, it was horrible. I wasn't that popular, didn't get that much request, and I wanted to quit so bad. I kept seeing all these sites that gives low quality buttons but gets so many request while I don't get any. So I always thought to myself, 'Why bother?' or 'Why do they get so many request I don't get any?!' But it wasn't until I asked for opinions about my site and decided to change what had to be. Now, it's pretty great. My advice is to not give up and ask a friend or a professional site maker advice. But don't give up, everyone gets a chance ;D
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: I love Kacheeks and Aisha. They are so adorable ^^ I also like Draiks but I'm sure I won't get one xD
Favorite Color: Sky blue, purple, grey, and hot pink.
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: 5-6 hours on weekends. 3+ hours in weekdays.
Country you live in: The US of America ;D Not born in US in America though ^^
Favorite site you don't won&why: I'll probably have to say either Futago or The Goodie Box. I can't decide. I also like FFDesigns, which is close D: They make high-quality graphics and they really inspire me ^^
Date interview began: October 4th, 2009
Interviewee: Abby from
Hello Fascination,
Kawaii Kaboom, and
I am Famous
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? Well my first site was called delish graphix. It was a kawaii site and I was such a NOOB! I didn't know how to make graphics at all! The layout was horrible and I couldn't make any type of CSS whatsoever. I had many sites after that but none of them were as well known as Semiotic Love. That was my best site ever. I closed it because I couldn't take care of it since I had school and such.
If you could only run one of yours sites, which would it be? Hello Fascination because I work hardest on that site. Though if I could only run Hello Fascination I would vary with the theme.
Which of your sites is the most challenging to run? Well I think that they are all challenging to run in their own way. You want all your sites to be well known. Having a graphics site is hard because everyone has different tastes, and so you aren't going to get everyone's interest. Kawaii Kaboom is hard because SOTM site's aren't as popular as other sites, but then again it also depends on what you are aiming for in you SOTM. I am famous is hard because I really don't want it to have affiliates. I want it just to be famous based on people putting my button on their site. So they are all challenging in their own way.
If you opened another site, what would it be? Well that's funny because I was thinking about opening a button request site. I am good at making buttons and they are so cute!
What advice would you give to a new sitemaker? Well one you have to be willing to put up with all the work that maintaining a site comes with. You shouldn't update once every two to three weeks without having a banner/blog saying otherwise. Update everyday or every other day. Make sure that your site is well organized and your content it not all over the place. Make sure you know what you are doing with your site. Don't make it a graphics site but then have a review section. If you are making a graphics site then get photoshop or photoflitre and learn some tutorials first before you open your site. That way the practice graphics aren't with your graphics you are going to put on your site. ALWAYS KEEP TRYING! If you apply for a review and they give you a low score does not mean that you should close your site. Keep trying! It's just their opinion. Don't give up!
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: kougra
Favorite Color: pink!
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: weekdays 2-3 weekends 6+ D:
Country you live in: Tokyo
Favorite site you don't own&why: undead & sugary premades
Date interview began: October 6th, 2009
Interviewee: Cass from
Soroptimist Directory,
Exclusive,
Ashyaruu's Button Tutorial,
Apartment 9
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? My first site was a pixel site about 4 years ago called Pavie's Pixels. (Well I changed the name a lot and stuff, but that was the name it ended with.) It eventually got hosted and moved offsite (and I changed the name to Silver Dreams), and I was having fun maintaining an off-neo pixel site. But then I got too busy and quit neopets and sitemaking for a few years. When I came back last year, I made my sort-of-first-site, Tips 4 Success, the site that was a gateway into making my second-most-successful site, Soroptimist Directory. Tips 4 Success was a guide for different Neopian things like games, avatars, and making nps, but I just wasn't happy with it after a while. It was, indeed, part of the 20 sites I owned months ago before I closed down about 15 of the 20. I was never happier with closing down a site lol.
What is the hardest kind of site to maintain? A review site, definitely. Especially when you have a huge waiting list and you really want to go in pursuit of the new avatar but instead of you have to finish reviews...definitely the most stressful, too.
If you could only run one site, what would it be? Definitely Soroptimist Directory! It's the one site I've spent the most time on and it's totally my pride & joy.
Are you thinking of opening another site? Nope. In between making my other sites pristine and school, I won't have time and frankly, I don't even have the inclination. I'm very happy with my 4 sites, and I'd like it to stay that way. It'd be hard to invent an idea I haven't tried already, anyway. To this date, I've owned most of the categories of sites at one point or another, save for "not-really-sites" like screenies, adoption agencies, music sites, & untaken names.
What advice would you give to a new sitemaker? The number one tip for a new sitemaker is BE ORIGINAL. What's the point in running a plain old directory (example) if there are a thousand others just like yours? You should be adding at least /something/ to make your site -yours.- This may sound obvious, but about 85-90% of the sites I see aren't original. O.o
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Shoyrus /all the way/
Favorite Color: PINK
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: schooldays, only 3. weekends maybe 5+
Country you live in: USA
Favorite site you don't own&why: Pixel sites - the good ones like Amber's Pixels - are /so/ cute and they make you happy just looking at all the cute stuff lol.
Date interview began: October 6th, 2009
Interviewee: Rachel from
Smashing Chaos
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? Hm, My first site must have been way back when I was 10 and it was called RaeRae's graphics (creative, huh?) The quality of the graphics wasn't too great because I had MS Paint, so they didn't look as great as, say they do now. That site lasted about 5 months, but never ended up being too popular! XD
Have you ever owned a non-graphics site? At one point, I don't remember when exactly, I owned a review site. I reviewed some popular sites at the time but they were vague and kind of general. That site was open for a month at most XD
If you opened another site, what would it be? Hm, hard question. If I were to open another site, it would probably be another review site. It's fun to look at other people's work and critique it! And you can see if they actually take your advice or just forget about it. And, it would definitely be a better review site than the previous one I had when I was younger!
What is the hardest kind of graphic to make? For me personally, shop layouts. That's why they aren't featured on my site. The coding is just a lot different than petpages and lookups, and, I've been coding lookups, petpages, and pet lookups for a long time (:
What advice would you give to a new graphics maker? Try to make good quality graphics because people like using graphics that are well made and cool looking. I recommend Photoshop because there are a lot of tools you can use to make your graphics cool. But some users can go crazy with something like Microsoft Paint if they really put their mind to it!
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Chomby
Favorite Color: Purple & Yellow
Hours on Neopets each day: 3-4
Favorite site you don't own&why: I'd have to say Undead. It is an awesome site with an insane amount of content and it's all awesome. Plus the owner, Annie, is super awesome and we are great neofriends!
Date interview began: October 7th, 2009
Interviewee: Maddie from
Curious
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? Oh wow! That was a while ago. I believe my first site was called Ashley Tisdale Graphics. I wasn't very creative with the name as you can tell(: It was a simple graphic site with icons, backgrounds, layouts, all that. Looking back, the site was really plain and not much to it. I never really updated and I just quit. I guess most people start off just a beginner and boy was I a beginner!(:
What is your favorite kind of graphic to make? I love making banners(: You can get very creative with them. I make a lot of banners for people daily. It may take some time to get it just right, but I like perfection(: I'm pretty colorful with my banners but that's what makes them stand out.
Have you ever owned a non-graphics site? Oh yes! I owned about three other directories. They were horrible! They listed about five sites each and their layouts were simply horrible! Then, I moved on to make a review site. Ugh! I can't give out reviews. Well, considering I was very young, I understand why the reviews were horrible. Maybe I'll make another review site in the future(:
What is the most annoying thing about runnning a site? Hmmm... oh doing updates! It's really annoying because sometimes you forget and your viewers think you just don't update. I update pretty much every time I get on neopets, but sometimes I just forget.
What advice would you give to a new sitemaker? I would say everyone starts out as a beginner, but the best way to learn is from experience, so you'll learn as you go just don't quit!(:
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Cybunny
Favorite Color: Pink
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: 2 / 3
Country you live in: United States
Favorite site you don't own&why: The Goodie Box because the graphics are just the definition of perfection(:
Date interview began: October 7th, 2009
Interviewee: Kailey from
1942
Interview's Status: 15% complete
What was your first site? My first site was this graphic site called "Kailey's Kreations". I used MS Paint for all of my poorly made graphics. I had that site SO long ago, I don't even remember the year. I remember that back in those days, all link back buttons were 100 by 100 pxs and everything was made in MS Paint. If you had Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro, you were a god. There were no review sites, or SOTMs, and it's so funny how all of these things spread. Kailey's Kreations was popular back then, until I shut it down to improve my graphics. I realize know that what I did was a smart move on my part.
Date interview began: October 18th, 2009
Interviewee: Annie from
Undead and
Beat
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? I owned a graphics site called 'downtown' when I was in the sixth grade (11 years old). Most of the content was horrible, made on paint, and was stupid. I made it because I was sick of all those fashion graphic sites and I wanted to make a different site but my graphics were ugly. When I got better at making stuff I shut 'downtown' down and made a new site.
What is the hardest kind of graphic to make? Well in my opinion all graphics are easy to make except I fail at neopet related graphics for some reason. I don't know why maybe because Neopet pets don't interest me as much as music and celeb related stuff.
What is the funnest kind of graphic to make? I would have to say the funnest graphic I've ever had to make was a petpage graphic and layout of Jack Barakat in booty shorts. It had like four different images of him in different colored shorts. I have to say it was amusing and fun to make. XP
If you opened another site what would it be? I would probably open a Site/Graphic of the month site like Kawaii Kaboom and Decode. I was going to make one but running two sites is sort of time consuming so I put that on hold. I may open a site like that this summer when I get more time.
What advice would you give to a new graphics maker? Well I would tell them these three thing:
a. Do not steal anybodies coding or graphics no matter how much you want them on your site.
b. You may be sort of svck-ish at making and coding graphics right now but you will get better.
c. Don't give up, you can do it! (I know it's super cliche but it is true)
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Jetsam
Favorite Color: Purple!
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: 5 (I know that's a little sad)
Country you live in: USA!
Favorite site you don't own&why: Hello Fascination. It has everything I like from bands to scene models
Date interview began: October 18th, 2009
Interviewee: Amy from
Sparks of Magic,
Four Clovers,
Bop to the Top,
Paper Doll,
Foomanshu, and
ConnXions
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? My first site was Amy's Animal Graphics. It was an icon site, with no layout. At that time, I think it was April 2009 or March 2009. At that time, I didn't know we should have a layout. I stole the icons from tinypic. I didn't know that any other people had sites, I thought it was just me and Rebecca. I had probably even more than 100 stolen icons, and now, I feel bad that I stole that much. I got reviewed somewhere, I think it was Siren's Song, and I got a score of about 20, 30-ish.
Which of your sites is/was the most difficult to maintain? Hmm, this is hard. probably ABB (Amy's Button Basket) because I had so many requests, I never closed them, and some people requested 10 buttons! The reason why I never closed them was that I thought that if I closed them, and then I reopened them, people wouldn't request from me. Also, I got terrible reviews. Usually a score of 50-70. But back then, I thought ABB was so awesome. I closed because then, I got GIF animator. I could animate, but I didn't want to keep ABB anymore. That's why I have SoM (sparks of Magic) now. It's also a better name!
If you could only run one of your sites, which would it be? Toughest question so far. Hmm...Probably Sparks of Magic. More people like it than my other sites. Then, if I didn't have Sparks of Magic, I would choose Four Clovers. I love making buttons, (I've always loved doing it) and I am not going to have any sites without a button request site. It's just too awesome.
What do you like most about making a new site? I like waiting to get really good, then getting listed at Soroptimist. It's just fun seeing if I'm recommended or not. So, let's see, Sparks of Magic, Paper Doll, Bop to the Top, and Foomanshu are recommended. Unfortunatly, my second favorite site of mine, is not recommended.
What advice would you give to a new buttonmaker? Advice you say? Well, I would say, don't request a button from other button request sites. Why? When somebody clicks on a button request site's button, they expect to get a button someting like that.
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Elephante
Favorite Color: Green
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: Usually 3 hours on Friday and Saturday, on teh other days, 1 hour.
Country you live in: USA
Favorite site you don't own&why: Soroptimist Directory because it has almost all the links to every site.
Date interview began: October 18th, 2009
Interviewee: Chip from
Kingdom Reviews,
Kingdom Pixels,
Bee's,
Panda,
Poppins, and
Starcastic
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? My first site was actually on my side, Goldypuppydog, and it was a Directory. (keep in mind I was a newb, so I really had no idea how to do this) but anyways, it was called the Neopian Guide, and you can find it here, /~landborngreenash. It held SOOOOO many pages, but there are so many broken links now, it's hard to manage. Feel free to look though. This was the time I was learning HTML, and how to make graphics, so it was all pretty bad. XD
Which would you say is your most successful site? Kingdom Reviews. Definitely. I received so many page views, and reviewed so many people in less than a month. It was so amazing!
If you were to close one of your sites, which would it be&why? If I HAD to close a site, it would be Kingdom Pixels, because I don't have that much content, and pixels take A LOAD of time.
What got you interested in running sites? Other sites that were already up got me interested. I started neopets when I was really young, and the cool pages and pictures got me really interested in making them, so I just kept studying and studying the Neopets HTML help guide, and got pretty good at that sort of stuff.
What advice would you give to a new sitemaker? Start off slow, if you make a request site try making some premades first so you don't get overloaded with work. But make sure you have your site fully set up, so it looks professional and neat. One thing you MUST MUST MUST do is to think over your whole site. What am I going to do? Are there any things I can do to make my site unique? Will I have time for this site? Find ideas first. :D
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Xweetok
Favorite color: Pink
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets? 1-2 Hrs
Country you live in: United States
Favorite site you don't own&why: Soroptimist Directory. It's just soooo neat, and I find all my fav sites there. And the Soroptimist layouts are always pretty neat. It's very intuitive. XD
Date interview began: October 21st, 2009
Interviewee: w3m from
Al-Dalil
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? My first site was a directory called "Gold_nasar's petpage Directory". At that time I was
a beginner at making sites. It was bad I tell you. bad. First, I had different sized buttons, and a layout so boring. After I listed some sites, I decided to get reviewed. I got a 30-40 ish. So I worked on the advice. I got better and better after that. Until one day I decided to change the name to Al-Dalil. ^^. After that I got even better ^^.
Have you owned any other sites? No. And I don't think I will. I like having one site because I can concentrate on it. :)
Do you use your own directory? To be honest, not always. I might not find the things that I want, so I search other directories ^^.
What plans do you have for Al-Dalil? I'm thinking of making new layouts and banners. I might also make a special day for Al-Dalil where I list listers, affies and more!
What advice would you give to a new directory owner? Never give up even when you think there's no hope for your directory to survive. You have to keep trying and trying to be an awesome directory owner. :)
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Eyrie
Favorite Color: red and yellow.
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: on weekends 2-3 hours. On weekdays 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Country you live in: Saudi Arabia
Favorite site you don't own&why: I would say Soroptimist Directory. I just love the layout. It has over 1000+ sites listed. The originality. And the person who made it (Cass) just rocks!
Date interview began: October 23rd, 2009
Interviewee: Julia from
Duck Noted
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? Gee, that isn't so far back. My first site was a guide called Newbie vs. Noob. I started it because I wanted people to see the difference so users wouldn't be reporting people so much on the boards. But frankly, now it is closed.
What was the hardest part about running a guide? Running guide isn't that hard. You write it once and you are done. But the hardest part is keeping it updated and looking at all the neomails telling you that there are grammar and spelling mistakes and the suggestions. It's hard to keep up with it.
What plans do you have for Duck Noted? Well, mainly get more noticed. I have a felling this will be a good site.
If you opened another site, what would it be? Hmmmm, it'll probably be a pixel page.
What advice would you give to a new directory owner? Check back often to see if anybody wants to be listed. If you don't, your site will plummet to the bottom.
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Bruce
Favorite Color:Black
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: Weekdays: 1-2 Weekends: 2-5
Country you live in: U.S.A.
Favorite site you don't own&why: Amber's Pixels because they're are so adorable and inspiring.
Date interview began: October 23rd, 2009
Interviewee: Leena from
Converse Allstarz,
ConnXions, and
The Three
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? Well, lets see... *sighs* Here comes a fairly long story.
First I owned a simple graphic site, called Diamonds for Daisies (hense how my pet, diamondsfordaisies got named. xD) Very few people know this, in fact.
I made simple, graphics. My layout was a simple CSS one, that had a collage of Taylor Swift as the banner. I even did requests (haha, I got a few in fact.)! Guild layouts were my specialty. But they were HORRID. I closed Diamonds For Daisies down one day, because I got too busy with life outside neopets. Then I got introduced to the 'real site world' and realized that Diamonds For Daisies would have never have made it anyway! xD That's the number one reason why I can't make graphics, they always turn out HORRIBLE!
What was your first successful site? My first successful site was Converse AllStarz NeoDirectory (It still lives here, http://www.neopets.com/~ diamondsfordaisies.) It started out fairly simple. Just a directory where I listed sites that made graphics, but into sub-categories rather than just 'graphics'. My layout was a pre-made one, with a simple collage banner by me (haha, a horrible banner by me, I might add.) and I only had about 2 links listed for the first 3 months. For the first 3 months I pretty much forgot about it. I was too busy with school, and my life, to own a site.
Then, I finally started working on it again the next summer, and Volia! It was like the grand-re-opening of Converse! It was soo much better! And I figured out how to balance my life outside neopets with my life inside neopets.
If you opened another site, what would it be? Well, I already own 3 sites. xD I just opened another (a review site.) But if I really either HAD to, or had a strong urge to, then I would probably open either a sotm site or a tutorial site for first time site makers. (I've always wanted to make one of those, I just haven't found the time.)
Which of your sites is the hardest to maintain? I have to say that The Three is the hardest to maintain. Don't get me wrong, I love co-owning The Three, but it is indeed hard to keep up with the flow of requests!!
Converse comes in second, because I get new listees everyday, and sometimes I can just hardly find time to get online_
ConnXions, I have to say, is the easiest. It is the easiest because not so many people are submitting things into it!
That's why I want to make a tutorial one day, because I know that it won't need that much updating, but I've always wanted to make one! Haha, but I need someone to make it with! You know?
What advice would you give to a new sitemaker? Oooohhh... Hard one!
I would have to say, TAKE YOUR TIME. Don't rush to get it done and out there. It's better if it takes a few weeks and is wonderful, then if its done in a day or so and well... isn't. I have seen some sites out there that finish too fast, and in their rush, don't end up to their full potential. Sure, a layout, name, and all that matters too... but that's all part of taking your time.
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Either Ixi or Lenny
Favorite Color: Deep Dark Purple
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: Weekdays: 3-4 hours. Weekends: 5-7 hours
Country you live in: USA
Favorite site you don't own&why: Ooohhh, hard one. I'd have to say Soroptimist, because it has so many links! (I want Converse to get that many links one day!!)
Date interview began: October 23rd, 2009
Interviewee: Chloe from
Extravagance and
Paradise
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? My first site was Precious Reviews. Since then I have updated and changed it greatly. When I first started it, I was a very unexperienced reviewer, but now I have had plently of time to practice to give fair reviews, and I'm loving every second of it. =D
How do you handle reviewing sites you really don't like? Well, when I'm reviewing a site I really don't like I simply give them more advice on how to improve their site, rather than telling them how much I don't like their site. I have come across some sites like this, but I focus on giving advice, more than being a critic.
If you opened another site, what would it be? Well, I'm kind of in the process of doing that already. I'm re-opening, Paradise, my directory. So if I had another site I would choose directory. One, because directories are fairly easy to run. Two because I have know clue how to make graphics so I can't open a graphics site! =D
What got you interested in running sites? Well, Neopets got a little boring because all I was doing was playing games and chatting on the boards. So I started looking at other peoples sites and they inspired me to make one of my own! Since I can't make graphics, I started thinking about review and directory. Eventually I chose review because I love to give advice. =D Then, on May 8, 2009, Extravagance was born. Later, I decided to make a directory too; On June 11, 2009, Paradise was born. =D
What advice would you give to a new reviewer? Hummmmm, well, I would tell them to practice a bit before they open their site. I would also tell them to not worry about people sending hatemail the first few months of reviewing. My advice would be; Give fair, good, quality reviews that reflect the reviewie's personality.
Fast Five
Neopet: Kougra
Favorite color: Neon Blue
Hours on Neo: Weekdays 2-3, Weekends 4-5
Country: United States
Favorite site: Get School'd, because Kitty is just so good at reviewing and she is so organized and neat!
Date interview began: October 23rd, 2009
Interviewee: Ji from
Haengbok,
In this Moment,
Sarang, and
Jwaesong
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? The first site I ever had was an adoption agency with no name. It was just an adoption agency I had when I was 9. It was pretty disorganized, no link back buttons, a premade layout, and not many pets. I found it extremely boring to run so I closed it down. OH DEAR. Then I had another site 2 yeras ago when I was 10. It was a customs/graphics site with barely any affies, listed in no directories, and it was also a complete mess xD I'd take the longest time to complete requests, and soon had too many to finish. The graphics weren't even in great quality. I remember when I used to only use MS Paint. For this site, I used Photoshop CS2, but I barely knew how to use it. This site closed down soon afterwards as well. I forgot the name, but I'd rather not try to remember it. It would just bring back too many awful memories x3
Which is the hardest of your sites to run? Haengbok. I used to stay up until 1 working on the site, because there were so many things to finish. The layout had to be decent, then I would have to work on the content. Since it was a little bit of everything site, there has to be a lot of content, therefore I had to put A LOT of work into just the content. Every now and then, something would fall out of place, sometimes things wouldn't work out right, or I'd completely delete the coding. It can sometimes give me so much work I don't have time to take care of my other sites.
Which is the easiest to run? The easiest to run would either be In This Moment or Sarang. Directories can sometimes be very slow, so I rarely have to add sites or update, and once you get over the layout, there isn't much else to do. In This Moment is only a button request site, and I like making buttons. When I do something I like, time flies by quickly and since I enjoy it, it is easy to run. When I change the layout, it's really hard work though because I always have to redo the layout, coding, banner, color schemes, and the button bases, animations and fonts. But I enjoy running both even though they can be frustrating to run at times.
If you could only run one of your sites, which would it eb? Definitely In This Moment. I love making buttons and banners, and it gives me something to do. I love the name, and I enjoy running it. It's not that hard to run either. What I like about it is there isn't stressing about getting content up, because it is a customs site, and the layout doesn't have to be extremely fancy. I might run only Jwaesong because I love reviewing, but the site is so slow so it gives me pretty much nothing to do all day on neo. Since I get a fair number of requests for In This Moment, it gives me something to work on when there isn't anything else to do.
What advice would you give to a new sitemaker? I'd say, don't make a site unless you know you have the time to run it, and you'll actually enjoy running it. I figured out that sites I didn't really like owning didn't get as much quality effort than the sites I did like. Of course they are closed now, and you know the reason why x3 I can't really give more advice then the things that everyone else has already said. For graphics makers, I'd look at my graphics and compare them to others, and if it isn't that great, I'd do everything to improve. Feel free to ask any questions. Talking is free, and it's the way most people learn what they know! It helps a lot, and advice is always great, and I'm always trying to improve my sites. I think the most important thing though is to have fun.
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Shoyrus all the way x)
Favorite Color: Black, white or red. I can't decide between the three.
Hours per day I'm usually on Neopets: Oh dear xD I'm probably on for about 6 hours a day now. It's getting pretty bad. I used to barely come on at all, but now I'm on for 6-8. Yup, it's that terrible D:
Country you live in: I used to live in South Korea, but I moved. I wish I hadn't, but I don't really have a choice when my parents want to move. Right now I live in the US.
Favorite site you don't own & why: Kill the Lights. Sra owns an awesome site. I'm jealous x) Her layouts are amazing, and I always use them.
Date interview began: October 31st, 2009
Interviewee: Yumi from
Sushi Bar
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? Okay, well my first site was called minty fresh pixels I made it when I was about... 9, I think. And well, it didn't go to well. I had a counter on it and I only got 100 views over a period of 5 months. But it was a great learning experience. I learned how to code and that was the beginning of my pixel making hobby. :3
Have you ever owned a non-pixel site? Yes, I have! It was called Colour Shock Reveiws! Colour Shock Reviews was strangely pretty popular! It was also really fun to see people change their site to what I advised them too! :3
Would you ever think about opening another non-pixel site? Hmm... I might if I ever get inspired enough. I was thinking of making a top-5 directory. But I'm still not sure I can commit to it yet. ^^
How do you get ideas for your pixels? Normally, When I feel like pixeling I search online for Japanese food and a whole list pops up! I usually pick one that sounds the most fun to make! ^^
What advice would you give to a new pixeller? Oh wow, I give a lot of advice. First I ask them to make a pixel.Then I take their pixel and zoom in on it in Paint. Then I tell them tips in making them better such as never make the outline black (unless the pixel is grey), Go smaller then bigger, make sure the colors match what your pixeling, ect. xD
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Its a tie between cybunnies & usuls! :3
Favorite Color: Pink & blue
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: umm... Weekdays; 3 hours Weekends; 4-5 hours
Country you live in: USA Babeeyy! ^^
Favorite site you don't own&why: Soroptimist Directory; because the owner is really nice and she has tons of great links! :D
Date interview began: October 31st, 2009
Interviewee: Panda from
Wizardry,
Belltower, and
Windy
Interview's Status: 100% complete
What was your first site? My first site was iReview or Underground. iReview was a review site which was fairly well known. =P It wasn't popular but it wasn't small either. Underground was a premade icons site which should have been left to float around on the Web. It was awful. I didn't update it, had an awful layout, and just wasn't a good site.
What was your first successful/high-quality site? Probably my review site, Waterfall. Waterfall was the revamped edition of iReview, and it was a fairly well-known site.
What is the most boring part about running your sites? Probably having to wait to get requests/people asking for reviews. I don't like big lulls in between active periods.
What do you like most about running a ranking site? Definitely hearing what other people think of the sites I have ranked. I like hearing that other people like the same site as I do.
What advice would you give to a new sitemaker? Just keep trying. Who knows, you might start off with a review site and hate it, but then open a graphics site and love it. Whether you know it or not, there is a type of site out there for everybody. Don't give up. :3
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Kacheek or Lupe
Favorite Color: Blue
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: To many. xD
Country you live in: THE WORLD /mysterious voice
Favorite site you don't own&why: Paprika or TGB. I'd love to make buttons as good as them!
Date interview began: October 31st, 2009
Interviewee: Kaleigh from
Etoile
Interview's Status: 25% complete
What was your first site? Well, my first site was Tastymint Links. I made it around the end of June in 2009, and it was pretty much a replica of a bunch of other directories. I closed it because I felt it was too unprofessional (if you call sites on Neopets professional) and I didn't have much fun creating it because it didn't have a specific theme.
What do you like most about running a site? I love that I am able to meet so many new people just by neomailing them and asking them about their sites. I have a lot of friends that I neomail all the time because of Etoile and Tastymint. I also love advertising, and I really don't know why. I just find it fun. (:
Date interview began: November 7th, 2009
Interviewee: Tiffany from
Tiffy's Pixels
Interview's Status: 90% complete
What was your first site? My first site was Tiffany's CSS/Graphics. I created it about 5 months ago and I didnt like it much so I closed the site....
What's your favorite part about running a site? I'm not sure... I guess I like the part where you have people using your pixels.
Where do you get inspiration for your pixels? I got my inspiration for my pixels from all those pixel sites out there I guess...
If you opened another sites, what would it be? It would probably be a review site. I like to give out constructive criticism or whatever its called, it makes me feel better when I tell people my true feelings about things. ^_^
What advice would you give to a new pixeller? Never give up. If you make a pixel and it doesn't turn out right, try again. It takes time to make a new pixel.
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Chombies + Cybunnies + Poogles
Favorite Color: Blue, Pink, and Green
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: Weekdays: 2 hours Weekends: 4 hours
Country you live in: USA!!!
Favorite site you don't own&why: Um.... NO TOMORROW! :P Because the site is so neat, pretty, and organized.
Date interview began: November 7th, 2009
Interviewee: Sheldon from
Innocent Words Reviews
Interview's Status: 90% complete
What was your first site? My first site was Innocent Words, but I closed it down a long time ago. It was meant to be a music code site, but I felt I couldn't make a real good site, so I gave up. :(
What do you like most about running a site? I like how I get to help people make their sites better. I also like that whenever I'm reviewing, I can just be myself. When owning a site, I feel that I need to work really hard on it, in order for people to like it, so I'm always on Neopets trying to make my reviews as helpful as possible. I also love to advertise and requesting for buttons is a lot of fun, too...well..for me it is.
If you opened another site, what would it be? Probably a directory site. I can't do anything creative (*sob, sob*), like a graphics site or anything like that. The only sites I'd be able to be successful at is reviews, directories, music codes, and SOTMs. Besides, directories look really fun to do!
What plans do you have for your review site? I've been aiming towards getting IWR more famous. I think IWR will be a really good site once more people know about it. I also want to get a really good custom layout that will fit IWR's theme. *crosses fingers*
What advice would you give to a new reviewer? Don't be afraid to say the truth. After all, you're trying to give people helpful tips. Speak the truth!! :)
Fast Five
Favorite Neopet: Shoyru.
Favorite Color: Purple and light blue.
Hours per day you're usually on Neopets: Weekdays 2-3 hours, Weekends 3-5 hours.
Country you live in: I used to live in Texas, USA, but I had to move (My dad is in the Air Force...) to South Korea in early August 09', so thats where I am right now!
Favorite site you don't own&why: Thats a hard one. There are so many good sites out there!! Hmmm, I'd have to pick Converse AllStarz because Leena seems like a really nice girl as of what I read in her blog and I read her blog everyday. Leena has a really nice site there and she puts a lot of work into it!!
Date interview began: November 16th, 2009
Interviewee: Nessie from
The Three
Interview's Status: 25% complete
What was your first site?
Well my first proper site was called Locked Locket and it was graphics site...and let me say it wasnt very good graphics I was hosting on that page. I desided to make it after making a pile of banners and blends and when I think of it now...very bad guild layouts with my RL friend Lucie*. I started out with a Petpage by Simone and after a week I requested that my best friend on neopets Gem@Bedroom Mirror make me a proper layout...I was so amature that the theme was....high school musical...
What made you want to be a reviewer? Well once i ended the graphics site I sorta just wandered round neo for a bit. (about 7 months) but then my friend Chloe@Extravagance made a review site and it sorta made me think about it...it had always been in the back of my mind. So when my friends Leena and Nicole made The Three and offered me the place of a reviewer I said yes immediatly.
Ah, I see you've found my newest site, Take Me Too. What is it, you ask? Take Me Too is an interview site ran by Fig (you might know me from Paprika or Tango). I remember a few months ago I came across a site that interviewed all kinds of Neopians. Alas, I cannot remember the site's name or link, but I do give them credit for the idea. Now you're probably thinking, oh, she just made a carbon copy of the other site, but that would be wrong. I only interview site owners, mainly about their sites. Intrigued? If you are, feel free to continue reading. If not, well, stay anyway! XD
I thought you'd ask ;). First, I go out and find a siteowner that I want to interview (or you can submit one) and ask them if I can. If they say yes, I will ask them approximately 5 questions about their sites, and a few questions about them. For every person I interview, I'll make a button for them, kind of like a review site might show a button for the site they reviewed.
