BOOMERNET may be one of the the oldest sites on the internet but we have only just begun …
HISTORY
BOOMERNET has changed often since 1995, but there have been only five major design or layout schemes in use over the years. See below for a fairly typical progression of website styles as internet usage has evolved.
VERSION 1: From 1995 to 2000, this was a hobby site run by Terry Cochran and used mainly to keep track of items of interest on the web. Before Google or Yahoo, this was a place to find relevant links for Baby Boomers — thus, the sub-title which we still use, “The Baby Boomers’ Surfing Center.” Hand-coded in early versions of HTML, these initial efforts were noted in the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, and many other mainstream publications.
VERSION 2: When A2 Multimedia LLC was formed in 2000, initial attempts to monetize the site were expanded and it became known as “a service of A2 Multimedia LLC.” From 2000 through 2005, the site was still hand-coded in HTML but many different features were tested over time. Some which remain of interest today include special sections on genealogy and on remembering Vietnam.
VERSION 3: In 2005 we celebrated our 10th anniversary online by radically changing the look and feel of the site. Moving to open-source software, we adopted the PostNuke content management system as the underlying architecture. Written in PHP and delivering content via MySQL database tables, this allowed us to greatly expand the kinds of offerings on the site, along with making them both more secure and speedier to deliver. In addition, through use of HTML 4.0 and Cascading Style Sheets, we were able to add many modern features to the site, as expected in the rapidly-changing world of the internet.
VERSION 4: The next iteration of BOOMERNET, in keeping with updated W3C specifications, used newer methods and stylings throughout. While making the move to the ModX content management framework — still written in PHP and using MySQL database tables — we also upgraded our coding to XHTML 1.1 and advanced to table-less layouts which were purely CSS-driven. Even as we looked back at classic items of interest to Boomers, we still wanted to keep moving forward and making use of all of the best tools available.
VERSION 5: This 25th anniversary iteration of BOOMERNET has moved to the WordPress platform and makes much greater use of imagery and embedded music playlists. In addition, the site now has a responsive design framework, which allows it to be rendered properly on computer screens of all different sizes, on tablets, and on smartphones. Wherever you’re going on your travels through life, you can take us along!
