Only 90s Web Developers Remember This (2014

3 hours ago

The 1x1.gif or spacer.gif was a one-pixel transparent GIF used to position elements and create layouts in 1990s web development, allowing vertical centering and control.
The <marquee> and <blink> tags were innovative animation tools, and combining them was seen as a feat of computer animation at the time.
The entity (non-breaking space) was stacked for spacing and layout effects, often used to avoid CSS and create visual structures.
Early CSS was primarily used to remove underlines from links, leading to usability issues, but also enabled cursor effects and basic interactivity.
DHTML (Dynamic HTML) combined CSS and JavaScript to create animations like falling snowflakes, accordion menus, and custom marquees, transitioning web development into a profession.
Pixel fonts and isometric pixel illustrations were popular due to low-resolution CRT screens, with developers mimicking illustrators in splash screens.
Buttons, especially 88x31 pixel ones, were used to display affiliations with browsers like Internet Explorer 4.0, editors, web servers, and web rings.
Internet Explorer 4.0 was considered perfection, featuring Active Desktop and Channels, and developers often enforced browser preferences on visitors.
1990s web development involved hands-on, hacky techniques like tables, inline styles, and server-side includes (SSI), contrasting with modern abstractions like jQuery and non-relational databases.

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