Day 7: The IndieWeb

Today there is no CSS and no code. After one week of code, we stop and look at the reason for the course: we want our own creative spaces on the web! The course started with the small web, and today we look at the IndieWeb, which is a larger set of ideas about the same subject. From today to the end of the course, all the work is on your own website. This is one of my favorite days of the course!

What we discuss

• A website does not have to be the usual type of website. It can have conventional parts, but it can also have very personal parts that fit in no clear category.
• Thinking of the digital garden. A garden is a website that is alive and that becomes larger while you look after it.
• Control of your own content. You write for one person and not for a large audience. Content on a company’s platform is on rented land, and a personal website with faults is better than that.

The afternoon

There are two tasks in the afternoon.

1. Your “plots” and your manifesto. First, decide what your space is for. Then make a list of the possible plots, which are the sections of your garden. Some examples are an art journal, a list of links, a collection of the things that you learn, playlists, and projects. Then write a short personal manifesto about the purpose of the space. We put the manifestos in the dev notes, and I want to read them.
2. Other gardens. Read a minimum of one essay about personal websites. Then look at the personal websites of other people. Select one website, examine it carefully, and write notes about it.

The library

The course library is at /web2026/library. It has readings, blogs, and other material. Some of this material is not in the class, but I used it to prepare the slides, or it is of general interest. Have a read if you want!