Welcome to Moonkitty.NET, a fansite dedicated to Naoko Takeuchi's hit manga, anime, musical and live action tv series, Sailor Moon!
The site's really heating up with it's regular content updates and weekly Sailor Moon Roundup so make sure to subscribe to our site feed to stay up to date!
Moonkitty.NET has had a short but interesting history. When it first opened it went by the name; "Artemis: The Myth, The Legend, The HERO" and wasn't a shrine to all nine Moonkitties like Moonkitty.NET currently is but was instead, simply a shrine page to my favorite Moonkitty, Artemis.
While running with this title and themed dedication, "Artemis: The Myth, The Legend, The HERO" went through several major layouts and designs but with everyone (except the first) I planned on dividing the site up into three sections. The first; "Myth" was to be an information section dedicated entirely to the mythology aspect of Artemis. i.e. His name and history behind it. Through all it's different layouts, it never really happened. A few weeks before "Artemis: MLH" was turned into Moonkitty.NET, this section actually had something in it, however, it was simply 4 beseen message boards with interactive storys.
"The Legend" section was the biggest of the three, with java games, message boards, a chat room (never used), etc. It was basically where people could revel in the legend of Artemis. Wierd concept i know, but at the time it made sense.
"The HERO" was the most popular of the three featured hundreds of pics featuring JUST Artemis, or JUST Artemis with others. It also had the profile and an article on Relationships (which is still with the site today in the majority of the info sections). It also had sound files and movies.
Artemis: The Myth, The Legend, The HERO Version 1
While I appear to have lost the layouts of versions 2, 3 and 4 of "Artemis: The Myth, The Legend, The HERO", version 1 is still online at the Angelfire server! If you want to be nastalgic, check it out HERE or for a screencap click on the thumbnail above!
As you can see, the design is very basic by today's standards but not bad for my very first website, huh? I literally taught myself how to code html by hand about a week beforehand and here's the result! I was so inspired by so many sites that were online at the time; namely TuxedoMask.com and Moonprincess.com both of which are still online to this day!
Moonkitty.NET Version 1
On Fri, 11 Feb 2000 I purchased the domain name, Moonkitty.NET and with it came a whole new look I had been wanting to try out. Captivated by the design of Artemis' human form and wanting to try something with a "classy" look I made it all black and white (mainly because the manga pics are black and white) and navigation was made possible through popup menus for each link. Unfortunately it wasn't very well thought out as each section needed a different size window. I was overjoyed with this layout back then, but now I think I could have done WAY better.
Moonkitty.NET Version 2
This is definitly my favorite, it's simple yet, there's something about it that just works for me. Amazingly it was only up for around a month, as almost immediately after posting it, I was inspired to expand Moonkitty.NET to include all the Moonkitties. Once more I stuck with the Black and White theme, mainly because I had had lot's of possitive feedback about the previous layout and how original it was. But the main reason, once again was this picture. It just screamed "LAYOUT!!!". While up it was called: "Version: Wedding" after the pic which is from a fantasy sequence from the "Codename SailorV" manga.
Moonkitty.NET Version 3
I actually came up with this layout while back home on holidays. I was scanning in my new Sailor Stars manga and once I saw the scan of Artemis and Luna I almost instantly manipulated it but didn't put it together until the next day when I got back to Uni. I loved the idea of clicking on your fave Moonkitty to go to his/ her sub page, and went through numerous sketches to find the right idea that would work. I solved the problem of there never being a pic of Sailor Mau by simply using the one shot reference she was metioned in as her pic.
Moonkitty.NET Version 3.1 Unknown - 23rd Oct 2000
Basically a variant of Version 3, I basically thought I could use better pics and wanted to get up a section for the Moonkitty Movie I never made and also for the Moonkitty Music section which I thought would bring new life to the site. I also used different font and effects which definitly gave the site a more three dimensional look.
Moonkitty.NET Version 4 23rd Oct 2000 - 11th Feb 2002
Ironically enough i started working on this new layout the night before Crosswinds.net deleted my account. What was further ironic is the fact that a week after, they started placing banners on everyone's pages, which would have made me leave anyway! The reason (like their finger on the delete button wasn't itchy with thier need to make bigger profits!) they claim for deleting my account was because of the file on Luna's transformation which I uploaded. Because of the size, they thought it was a whole episode, therefore breaking copywrite laws....pft, idiots. Annnyway, that's why there's all those pics of Luna's transformation throughout this new layout. Sort of my way of sticking it to Crosswinds.NET. Something that's interesting is that out of all the past layouts, it's this one that comes closest to the original site's first layout! i.e. side menus with text.
There were alot of new features added with this version. This section is one of them! Others are sections for the Moonkitties masters (if any) and other kitty sitings around Sailormoon such as Catsie from the "R" season and that cat Daimon from "S". Oh, and if you didn't notice....this one has color! This is proof that Moonkitty.NET's audience has broadened with all the signatures and emails explaining why there is in fact color in the world. Are you happy now?!?!? Hehehe... Note: The site was transfered to my own server on the 20th of Apr 2001.
Moonkitty.NET Version 5 11th Feb 2002 - 16th Aug 2002
I really tried to push the boundaries of web design with this layout. At this point in time in the Sailormoon Online Community, even the "cutting edge" designs had become cliched as half the webmasters were making them. The image maps that I used for a layout in versions 1 - 3.5 were all the rage for most and everyone that wasn't using such a design was using the old "corner layout" (such as in Artemis :MLH) or a combination of the two. There were a few exceptions of course but the fundamental way of presenting content was still the same no matter what page you visited. i.e. Character Profiles, Image Galleries, etc.
Surfing the 'Net was getting too predictable. I had to do something radically different. Unfortunately there are some things that had to remain similar to what is currently being done to make navigation easier for the user.
The main new feature that I am very proud of is the breakthrough way I had invented to portray the character profiles in a popup mini-site with the character's information and multimedia all on the same page thanks to the use of IFRAMES and CROMELESS WINDOWS! I had also, for the first time, started to experiment in the use of animated GIFs in a layout. The result was a high-tech "stats monitor" imbedded on each of the character's pages. The animations are what I'm most proud of.
Speaking of "high-tech", that was an theme idea I had been throwing around with since I bought the domain name; Moonkitty.NET. The ".NET" title does tend to lend itself towards the computerised feel and Luna and Artemis are very computer savy so making the whole layout appear to be sort of in a computer seemed very natural. I even deliberately used the same colors as Artemis' computer monitor in the SailormoonR Movie.
Sections added in this layout: A completed Pink Kitty profile finally!, DVD, CD and Manga Reviews and Store and a Sailormoon Poster Store!
Moonkitty.NET Version 5.1 16th Aug 2002 - 12th June 2003
Basically the only reason for this new, slightly different layout was the need for more space for content. I wanted more space for my writing! Plus I had just incorporated the Free Hosting and wanted a larger area to tell people about it. Basically everything is the same as the last layout. Still love those profiles.
Moonkitty.NET Version 5.2 12th June 2003 - 3rd February 2004
The news of the live action Sailormoon show triggered my inspiration for this layout. I basically wanted to expand Moonkitty.NET beyond the average Moonkitty shrine (which had been happening for a while anyway) into a great source of Sailormoon information. I also wanted more content on the main page making it even easier for visitors to find what they're after and at the same time advertise new features to them (such as the Moonkitty Magazine which will be launched shortly!).
Theme-wise I didn't really want to differ it too much from previous layouts as I still wanted it reccognisable as Moonkitty.NET and I still didn't want to redesign the profiles which I'm still very fond of. Though I did have to adjust the way the Moonkitty profiles area accessed, something I had to do anyway as the latest versions of WindowsXP didn't make the popup profiles appear the way they should have (i.e. XP made them pop up and fill the entire screen).
Note: Learnt a lot about html tables during the making of this layout.
Moonkitty.NET Version 6 3rd February 2004 - 5th April 2005
I can't believe it! My little Artemis shrine has finally reached the 5 year mark (well it will in March anyway).
In celebration of this landmark I decided to really shake up Moonkitty.NET but designing a completely new layout, rethinking my method of posting news (editing html and uploading it) as well as simplifying the site for when I move to Japan for a year to teach English.
The first step was implementing Blogger so I can post news updates immediately simply by filling in a form. Another advantatge of Blogger was that I could set up accounts for other users to post news as well! So along came the first two Moonkitty.NET staff members; Alycia (a fellow Australian) and Sailor Mau (Long time Moonkitty fan) to act as field reporters to help keep the site active when I don't have access and really boost it's activity in general.
The second step was to come up with an original layout, something challenging that I hadn't done before. I went through MANY ideas, one of which was to make a design around the Tuxedo Mirage ending theme from SailormoonS with the animated projector, however when checking out the other ending theme graphics from the other Sailormoon movies and series I came across the S Movie ending with Artemis, Luna (very Moonkitty), Usagi and Mamoru (Serena and Darien) watching the sun set. What was really nice was that as the credits progressed, the background changed from sunset, to night. That's when it occurred to me: How cool would it be if the site's layout changed as time in the real world passed? Of course I had no idea how to do this so I had to Google like crazy and find tutorials and forum entries that wold show me how. Not only did I have to change EVERY image according to time of day, but also the font colours, background colours AND background images! From concept to finished layout it took me about 6 hours all up. Something that I think adds that extra something is having the part of the scene with the Moonkitties animated (as it was in the credits). Throw Moonlight Destiny on in the background.... BLISS. ;)
The third step (which I'm still in the middle of as I write this) is getting all the content converted to fit the new layout. The reviews are back (which were missing in the last version due to shere laziness) as is the Gemini Interview (which I actually LOST for a while).
It was very tempting to design a layout featuring Luna and Artemis from the live action Pretty Guardian Sailormoon show, but after watching a few eps of the anime, I realised that this is where the magic started and I wanted to continue that in Moonkitty.NET's layouts.
Moonkitty.NET Version 10 5th April 2005 - Present
Wow. It actually took me almost a year after uploading this layout for myself to write about it! It's early Feb 2006 and Moonkitty.NET's almost 7 years old!
This new layout idea came about when I thought I'd think up a different aim for the entire site. I thought I'd scrap all the content and make it an announcement board. That idea didn't seem to do well with visitors so I've since added everything from the old sites and am in the middle of making individual mini sites for the Moonkitties, the first of which has been completed; "Pink Kitty".
Something else that's new with this layout is the episode guide for the live action tv show and the anime. Though it's obviously in it's begining stages, I'm very excited about it!
I guess one of the major new features is the site feed and feed based newsletter which really helped make the site more "modern" and also easier to checkout for visitors who are in a hurry.
That's about it really. I really love this layout and will stick with it for another year. It's just very easy to use and navigate as well as update around the php files. Hope you like it too and thanks for visiting!
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