Almost everything you see on this site is copyright Mark Moxon, from the writing and photos to the XHTML and Perl scripts. Unauthorised duplication is against the law – not to mention downright irritating after all the hours of effort I've put into creating this site – but if you'd like obtain permission to reproduce something from my website, please see Using My Content on Your Site. The only parts of this site I didn't create myself are:
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In implementing the dynamic HTML, I've used the fantastic jQuery framework.
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The map interface is powered by Google Maps.
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The instant tooltips on my Google Maps use Mike Williams' ELabel extension.
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The mobile menu is implemented using the jQuery mmenu plugin.
Everything else you see is my own, original work... or, to put it another way, you should blame me. Apart from Google Maps, which I use for the maps in my walking sites, I haven't used any third-party frameworks, and there's no advertising. I like to keep things clean and fast...
How I Created My Site
Over the years, I've used the following products to create and maintain this site for your enjoyment and delectation:
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HTML: The first version of this site was written by hand in Zap, and the second version was created with HoTMetaL Pro. Versions three and four saw me returning to hand-coding, this time with the excellent BBEdit, and for versions five and six – this version – I again hand-coded everything, but this time in TextWrangler. This site has been validated to the HTML5 and CSS3 standards by W3C's validation service, and has Level AA Conformance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. For more information on the latter, see the accessibility statement.
The site has been tested on various versions of Mac OS and Windows, and on various browsers. All functionality has been designed to degrade gracefully and in an accessible manner on browsers that do not support DHTML.
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Python, Perl, PHP and JavaScript: I wrote the Search and Random Tale scripts using that wonderfully obtuse language Perl, and I wrote the Photo Library, Image and Map pages in the somewhat friendlier language PHP. I wrote the now-retired Guestbook in my new favourite language, Python, and dynamic HTML throughout the site is implemented in event-driven JavaScript, using the jQuery framework to ensure maximum browser compatibility.
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Tales: From 1995 to mid-2002 I wrote all my articles on location using an Acorn Pocket Book II; I would then port them to EasiWriter and later Word, before giving up on this route and switching to the HTML editors above. From mid-2002 to 2013 I switched to a Palm m125 and a Palm Keyboard, writing everything manually in XHTML before porting to a Mac for integration into my website. Eventually, in 2013, I switched to a Macbook Air laptop that does everything the modern travel writer needs in a lightweight package. See my article on travelling with a palmtop for more details.
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Photos: Most of my early photos were taken on my trusty Minolta X-300 SLR and were scanned with a Canon N670U scanner. After my Minolta died halfway through my trip to Morocco I bought a Pentax MZ6, which I used to photograph West Africa, and for my Land's End to John o'Groats walk I finally went digital with a Fujifilm FinePix F401. For my tubewalk I graduated to an Olympus SP-550 UZ, which suited me very nicely, and from 2013 I switched to a GPS-enabled Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ40EB-S, which has been my workhorse ever since.
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Site Design: I designed the site and created all the graphics myself initially using ArtWorks, and then using the wonderful Corel Xara. The buttons that appeared on earlier versions of this site started life in Xara WebStyle, but they also ended up in Corel Xara for greater control. I finally dropped all graphical buttons in version 4 of the site.
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Hardware: The first version of this site was created on a StrongARM-powered Acorn Risc PC, the second on a Pentium PC running Windows NT, the third on a combination of a PC and an Apple PowerBook G3, the fourth purely on an Apple PowerBook G3, the fifth on a 20" Apple iMac G5, and the sixth (this one) on a 24" Apple iMac Intel Core 2 Duo and then a 27" Apple iMac Retina 5K. I like variety.
Site History
Here's a very brief (and rather incomplete) history of this website.
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: Site launched.
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: Photos added to trail stories.
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: Searchable photo library added covering over 900 photos.
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: Site recoded to be Level AA accessible, eBook of my walk published.
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: Dates added to all photographs.
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: RSS feed launched.
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: Route added in Google Maps and Google Earth.
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: First 20 days added to Google Maps route.
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: Next 40 days added to Google Maps route.
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: Final 30 days added to Google Maps route.
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: Home page slideshow added; 900 large images added; FAQ published.
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: First printed book launched.
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: Images added to routes.
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: Desktop wallpaper and screen saver added.
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: Accessibility improved and accessibility statement added.
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: Fast multi-site search added.
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: How to Prove You've Done It added.
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: Useful Links added.
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: New design launched.
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: Size of images increased, photo library redesigned.
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: Google Earth export, full screen, labels and Earth button added to route maps.
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: Ordnance Survey maps added.
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: eBooks updated with latest content and released in EPUB (iPad/iPhone) and MOBI (Kindle) formats.
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: Search extended to cover Guestbook posts; maps updated to use version 3 of the Google Maps API, adding features such as Street View and better map controls; GPS download added to maps.
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: Next/previous links added to large images, to enable you to step through sets of images more easily.
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: Improved page loading time significantly by implementing Google's web performance best practices.
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: Converted site from XHTML 1.0 and CSS2 to HTML5 and CSS3.
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: Added responsive design for small-form devices, such as phones.
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: Added support for Retina images.
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: Revamped site to be fully responsive with a much-improved mobile experience.
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: Updated OS maps to the latest API, enabling 1:25,000 maps in the process.
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: Ran a spellcheck over the entire site and regenerated the eBooks.