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Let's start from the basics: can you introduce yourself?

Hello! I'm Frills. I'm a frontend developer and accessibility specialist. I live in Wales with my fiancé and my dog. I write blog posts that vary between 'should be a toot' and 'random thing you might like' to developer (mostly a11y) tips or how-tos.

At university, I studied Digital Media, which covered various digital topics like web design, game and 3D technology and ethics. I already had a foundation of knowledge from being self-taught, so university was a way for me to gather soft skills in teamwork, critical thinking and mentorship. In my second year, I signed up as a Peer Assisted Learning leader, to help the first years in their learning. This is where I found my joy in mentoring and teaching the uninitiated.

I'm just under a decade on from leaving university with a First degree, with 3 years of being on the Dean's list. I have had a few roles in different types of organisations, from a One Man Band to a higher education institution.

I spent a few years working in the public sector just around the time that the UK law was changing to include web accessibility in the Equality Act. There was a knowledge gap in my team, and we had plenty of CPD time whilst waiting for red tape approvals so that I could attend webinars and read resources to fill that gap.
My interest and knowledge in web accessibility has gone from strength to strength, I value semantic coding and not reinventing the wheel.

Away from a screen, I have a rotation of hobbies that I slip in and out of. Crafting is a big thread that has stayed with me throughout my life. I like to draw, paint, make with my hands. I sometimes get into reading for a few months, then don't pick up a fictional book for a whole year. I love spring, and the awakening of the summer months, walking in woods and paddling in the sea with my Labrador, Orla.

What's the story behind your blog?

For most of my life, I have had a website, whether that was on social media or WordPress or Blogger or something, but in 2023 I came across Localghost's website and was so inspired by the sprawling links upon links of people who made up the Indie Web, that I felt compelled to join in.

I'd tried many times before to have a Professional Website And Blog, but it always felt forced and insincere. I never wanted to make solely developer-based content, so when I found out that personal blogs were still alive, I was so inspired.

I blog under the pseudonymous name of Frills, and the origin is pretty nerdy: I was a World of Warcraft player for several years, and my main was a gnome mage named Frills.

It stuck and became my go-to username for gamer tags and online silly things and so.. this silly little website with its silly little blog became an extension of my silly little wow character.

Since its inception, the homepage has gone through a proper glow-up. Though where it is now feels right and I'll probably only make small tweaks over time. I collated a bunch of screenshots to archive how it got to where it is on my blog post A whole year on the Indie Web

What does your creative process look like when it comes to blogging?

I'm the least organised person when it comes to processes with my blog.

I'm more of a numbers and paint kinda gal than a wordsmith and I am very aware of this.

Most of the time I lean into this, uh.. personality, and write as though it's a diary, but other times I'll try and over-engineer the wording to make it sound flowery and fun. I am not consistent 😄

Depending on the topic, whether it's an opinion piece or how much I already know about it, I will do some light-medium research to fact-check or grab imagery or quotes from others or online sources.

I'm a bit rough and ready, to be honest, I'll have an idea, focus until it's written, and then publish it before I change my mind. I usually have to go back and do edits as I don't get people to proof it for me aha.

Do you have an ideal creative environment? Also do you believe the physical space influences your creativity?

My ideal creative environment with writing specifically is: Be alone.

I get distracted by my environment easily. If there is someone else around, my attention is halved, even if they aren't directly interacting with me.

I believe that being comfortable in a space, whatever that looks like for you, is the most important thing. For me, that is:

• Having a quiet space (or a way to make it quiet, i.e. headphones with noise cancelling)
• Being warm, not in a breeze unless I am roasting.
• Having nice socks on
• Having a drink to hand (usually a cup of tea)
• Making sure I don't need a wee

A question for the techie readers: can you run us through your tech stack?

My blog is hosted on Neocities. I love the community. I love that it makes your island of a website feel less isolated.

I use Eleventy static site generator to create webpages from markdown files. I love markdown! It helps you focus on the structure of your blog post.

I use CSS intentionally, I wanted to get back to basics after years of using compiled languages like Sass.

To handle duplicate code chunks like the main menu and the footer, I use Nunjucks templating. It provides a nice layer of logic and looping and includes and it's really nice to use 😊

Given your experience, if you were to start a blog today, would you do anything differently?

I'd want to sort tagging posts properly. Structure my folders to go year/month/post-name. I used a date system (like 201231-post-name) and I think it's a really ugly URL. I've started structuring my content like that now, but I have a whole load of legacy posts that are stuck in that formation.

I'd probably stick with Eleventy, and I would definitely still be called Frills 😊

From the design side, I would forgo trying to use CSS grid to structure the layout. I don't really like how I have implemented it, but it's so ingrained now, it'll be a bit piece of work to update it.

Financial question since the Web is obsessed with money: how much does it cost to run your blog? Is it just a cost, or does it generate some revenue? And what's your position on people monetising personal blogs?

I donate $5 a month to Neocities as a supporter, this gives me access to more file types and a custom domain. I am happy with this setup as I like to support Neocities and the community within it. My domain costs ummmm, I think it's a tenner a year. So $70 (£54.10) annually.

I don't generate any revenue with my blog. I may open a Ko-fi or tip jar or something where people can tip if they want, but I'd never charge people to read my brain farts.

I have no position on people monetising blogs. Like, you do you. Sure, I find recipe blogs super annoying because you have to trawl through personal backstories and ads to find the recipe, but people gotta pay their bills.

Time for some recommendations: any blog you think is worth checking out? And also, who do you think I should be interviewing next?

• Cassidy Williams - She's already been interviewed for P&B, but Cassidy was an early inspiration for me as a baby dev. I remember seeing her do a live coding session at a conference in London and I left absolutely buzzing.
• Una - Another early dev inspiration.
• Xandra - Founder of 32 Bit Cafe, a wonderful indie web community.
• Mike from No Happy Nonsense - his brain is incredible. You start reading a normal, regular article then it slowly descends into absurdity.
• Goth Hoblin - A very good friend, old colleague, and incredible TTRPG writer. Hire her to write you stuff!! Or just check out her games and resources.
• Owain - Ow is a fountain of enthusiasm and knowledge, we're old colleagues too. He's an Umbraco developer and AFOL. Talks about Umbraco, and work-life balance and has an awesome Wiki.

Final question: is there anything you want to share with us?

I'm working on releasing an Envelope Escape Room that I made for my mum but can be played by anyone who loves puzzles. Keep your eyes on my blog feed to find out how to get hold of it when it's released!
Otherwise, here is a list of lovely things I watch and listen to on the reg:

• Let's Learn Everything (Podcast)
• Lateral (Podcast)
• Jet Lag: The Game (Video series)

This was the 87th edition of People and Blogs. Hope you enjoyed this interview with Frills. Make sure to follow her blog (RSS) and get in touch with her if you have any questions.

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There are many paths to take in order to fix a mind that is not in its best shape and I’m gonna start with one I’m familiar with and that’s meditation. I’ve been interested in meditation for at least 20 years and I’ve practised it on and off for almost as long. But I always looked at it as something I wanted to do while now I see it as something I have to do. And so back on the cushion we go.

The good thing is that I have easy ways to track my progress and so I’ll try to share how the journey goes. Because—and this is related to something else I’m gonna write about—the journey is what matters.

Thank you for keeping RSS alive. You're awesome.

Email me :: Sign my guestbook :: Support for 1$/month :: See my generous supporters :: Subscribe to People and Blogs