Cristela CP blog

I have added a guestbook to my website if anyone cares to let me know they were here, hehe.

After a number of years, I finally revisited my old personal website from the late 1990s, which I had archived. It was quite the virtual flashback. I had created it just by playing around the web, long before I certified in web design. I gave it up because it became a lot to maintain at the time. The differences in web interfaces are pretty interesting. Back then, the tools used to increase traffic between personal websites included web rings, cliques, banner exchanges, gifts, and awards. All these things were crafted to lead the viewer/user to each other's websites, some via common interest. I even had my own award that I issued to those who applied for it and qualified, hehe. My requirements were that a website had to be family-safe, use proper netiquette (provide credit links for material they did not create), be easy to navigate, and link back to my website. Perhaps some of these tools are still used. I tried visiting some of the websites I had linked to, and a lot of th...

After some thought, I have added a nav bar of text links at the top right of each page. This should ease navigation, especially for dated, JavaScript-challenged browsers that may not be dropdown menu-friendly, hehe. Happy browsing...

Most people who know me know that I sometimes carry my digicam 'cause I like to take pics when I'm out. I often get verbal requests for copies of my pics. If you are such a person, please e-mail me 'cause I am quite forgetful these days! Feel free to include your name, the venue, and the date of the event on the off chance I don't know what you're talking about, hehe. I will try to give you my card beforehand if I think of it. Please note that I am not always a frequent MySpacer, so the best way to reach me is via e-mail. Thanks.

Like a lot of people, I have multiple e-mail addresses. There are different reasons for this, which have evolved, as my uses for them have. I will list my current rationale, lol. Please note I am not spelling out my e-mail addresses to avoid being spammed. 1. The e-mail address associated with this website is for web design purposes. 2. The e-mail address associated with my YTB website is for YTB business purposes. Both domains in these e-mail addresses point to this website. These e-mail addresses give me an idea of how someone may have heard of me or whatever. 3. My primary e-mail address is for personal and general use. If you're not sure which e-mail address to e-mail me at, please use this one. There is no need to e-mail me at more than 1 e-mail address. Rest assured that I will receive your message from any of the above accounts and get back to you. I have narrowed down my e-mail addresses to mainly these 3 (not counting my work one, which I will not include here)...

I have added a PayPal button for the convenience of my web design clients. It is located on my rates and services page. It is set up for payments directly to my PayPal account. An amount in USD must be manually entered. I thought this best for incremental payments if services are ordered at different times for which I can issue separate electronic invoices. Thank you for your business!

When I originally built this website, I hand-coded everything. At the time, it was easier to create a dropdown menu of my pages, while I was still storyboarding and making multiple edits. Later, I made minor enhancements and checked my work in Dreamweaver MX. However, I decided to stay with the menu instead of a nav bar. I am not opposed to using one, as I have created them for other websites. I am just happy for now with the simplicity of my website. Perhaps I will change to custom mouseover buttons in the future...

I recently replaced my logo/header. I felt like a change from a horizontal logo to a vertical logo. The new logo utilizes a pic of myself that my husband took earlier this year. I used my black sweater in the pic to transition to the black backdrop for my name in blood-red, Magic School (Harry Potter type) font. The previous posterized, black-and-white image of myself was somewhat dated and made my website look a bit goth. I have to admit though that I was a bit vampire-inspired because of the horror films/shows I watched while designing my website, hehehe. The new logo is fixed and anchored from the top left of each page. I purposely made it longer than normal to accommodate larger, widescreen consoles. This way, the logo doesn't appear as a truncated rectangle at the bottom and should run the entire length of the monitor.

My use of the name 'Dream' was inspired by a club in Washington, DC, whose name was later changed to 'Love'. I use this word to mean anything that I come up with and also to connotate hopes and aspirations in life. 'Dream' is in the 1st domain name of my website - www.crisdream.com. 'Dream' is in the title and URL of my Blogger photoblog - dream in digital . This was originally my very 1st blog years ago. However, I have since changed the content. 'Dream' is also in the URL of my YTB website. 'Dream' is in a Walt Disney quote on my index page. This word will always hold special meaning for me. However, for practical purposes, I took out a 2nd domain name for my website - www.cristelacp.com. It matches my primary e-mail address and is more me.

I am happy to say that today when I Googled myself, Cris Pettinato, a listing of my website came up, as well as my YTB sponsor's, Spencer Jackson, where I am mentioned on his network page. And the content snapshots are current! It's nice to see the spiderbots fast at work! I didn't even have to pay Google and Yahoo! to be listed on their search engines. Yay.

I have recently made changes to my website, including a revised index page, 2 new YTB pages, revised friends' pics pages, and this new blog. The revised index page announces my new position of independent marketing representative for YTB International. The 1st YTB page has a quick synopsis of the 2 opportunities offered by the YTB companies. The 2nd YTB page lists factors to consider in the form of a summarized breakdown. Both pages, and also the index page, contain links to my official YTB website, where the company presentation can be viewed. I rearranged my friends' pics in semi-reverse chronological order. I also added a few new pics. I have taken down the initial personal post from this new blog and might repost it in my MySpace miscellaneous/general blog. I decided to keep this blog more website-related and such. Welcome, and thanks for dropping by my new blog!