How this website was created

I've produced this website using a range of technologies, including PHP, Javascript and Jquery.

I initially considered using WordPress or Mediawiki, but although I'm familiar with both of these systems, I was wary of the security issues, and I wanted something that was easy to create and which would require very little maintenance. I also wanted the ability to experiment with my own code, without the constraints imposed by a CMS. The simplest solution was to develop a templating system based on PHP and to flesh it out using some custom Javascript and a little JQuery.

I'm using use Bootstrap to handle the layout, as it's perfect for responsive sites. After much consideration, I decided to use Bootstrap 4 for the main template and to provide a fall back to Bootstrap 3 for Internet Explorer nine or earlier. The templates are generated using PHP, so it's easy to select the appropriate version of Bootstrap automatically. I've split the menu and heading sections onto their own pages, so I'm able to use the same HTML for both versions of Bootstrap, adding the appropriate tweaks to ensure compatibility. I've also added some additional Javascript to open the menus when the users hover over the page, and I've turned the menus off when the browser window gets really small.

My development environment is a Windows 7 box, XAMPP for an Apache-based server and IIS for a Windows server. I'm making extensive use of free and open-source technologies, which are ideal for personal web development. I create my web pages using Microsoft Expression Web, Atom, Notepad++, and I produce my images using PaintShop Pro and Paint.Net, as I don't currently have a license to use Adobe Creative suite. I create my origami diagrams using a free-ware drawing package called Inkscape, and although it doesn't have the breadth of functionality that Adobe Illustrator or CorelDraw offer, it's surprisingly powerful for a free utility. I process my video using the FFMPG utility.