What are your favorite things about one-page shrines?

[dubiousdisc]

August is here and everyone's working on their one-pagers, so let's spark some related discussion!

What are your favorite things about one-page shrines?

Go go go!

[Lethe]

If you don't mind me starting with a lengthy post...

I like how many different setups and subjects there are; the format allows you to be creative in a different way compared to multi-page shrines, and minor or unconventional subjects (From the Sky) get shrines too .

The biggest apeal to me is definitely design-wise, as in how people choose to present and structure the shrine, not just when it comes to graphics and coding, but also content (we each have our strengths and weaknesses) - using the format to its fullest and taking advantage of what it offers that multi-page shrines can't pull off as effectively.

I AM², The Girl's Distracted and the shrines dubiousdisc mentioned in this post (except for my Prisoner's Dilemma - thanks for mentioning it! <3) are great examples of using the format graphic-wise.

Structure-wise, I think a one page shrine is a good way to talk about one subject where a lot of points you're trying to make are connected. I think my Liar Game Shrine works with the format chosen because it's essentially a long love letter to the protagonist's growth, which is in pretty much every section of the shrine. I wouldn't want to split them up into separate pages. "Themes", "evaluation", "adaptations" and even "the Site" pretty much talk about the same thing, but with slightly different focus and from different angles.

Similar to what I've just mentioned, I also think some topics (depending on how you go about writing them, of course!) are better conveyed when they're on the same page, rather than on different pages due to the minor mental and temporal disconnect that happens when you open or close a page or press the back button. The "events worth mentioning" on Cheerful Sensibility leave a bigger impact on me for the evaluation of the character as a whole - if they were on separate pages, I might lean towards thinking about them more isolatedly (as parts) rather than as a combination that make up a person. (And there's some growth to be seen as you read on in that section too.) With one page shrines, it's probably also easier to ensure that someone reads your shrine in the order you've set up lmao.

Content-wise, it's very interesting to see what people choose to highlight and what to omit - I think we might feel less negative about leaving out certain sections (that we'd otherwise regard as a must-include in a multi-page shrine) on one pagers. One page shrines are a good format to single out a particular aspect of a subject to talk about, and are also nice to introduce others to a topic without overwhelming them with information. I've praised Redemption in Shrine Spotlights (just linking so I won't repeat what I've already said), and Aquarelle is a great example of this - especially its second half: Contrasting two characters with similar elemental powers or defending a character from specific fan arguments would, in a multi-page shrine, perhaps be considered as trivia (or be part of an analysis section), but by including it in a one pager in favour of other subjects, it makes a great balance between introduction and insight and gives the shrine a personal touch, since it shows what they deem important enough to point out in narrow space. The same is visible on Galactic Fairy.

• Edit: Oh yeah, Cremare impresses me with how it seems to focus heavily on the underlying concepts of the character rather than making straight personality/relationship sections.

I think these two posts by Aku on the subject of approaching one page shrines are highly worth reading too!

[Robin]

Pros for one-page sites:
- Don't have to make a ton of separate pages--just an index.html page or a header.php, footer.php, and index.php
- You can structure the content more like a flowing short story with headings rather than a series of connected yet still separate articles
- It's easier to tell if you're repeating yourself on a one-pager, because the content is all smushed together ^_^
- It's a great format for minor subjects that don't really seem to require a multi-page site
- Site info sections (like link buttons, links out, etc.) can be all corralled in one spot rather than spread across multiple tiny pages
- Users don't have to CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICKCLICKCLICKSLDKFJLSDJF to get around the site--just one smooth easy scroll is all that's needed

[Kotono]

I've found one-page shrines to be a good format for a wider range of topics than traditional shrines. They're a good platform for subjects too small to warrant multiple pages.

[Emrys]

My favourite thing about one page shrines is that I feel they're more personal than a full shrine, you know? I feel like one page shrines are more for rambling about why something is great rather than a full shrine where it's more about giving you the most information possible about said subject.

Then again, I think I just have an entirely different philosophy when it comes to shrines period so maybe that's just me I read shrines because I want to know why that specific webmaster likes that subject - not the general information about the subject. If I wanted that, I could find that on Google or Wikipedia. That, to me, is dull reading. I want to hear about why you think something is awesome and your reasons why. In my opinion, that is a shrine worth coming back to again and again! The facts about said subject is just the bonus info.

Hearing what make you excited about the subject is what gets me involved in a shrine and what pushes me to keep reading. Hell, if it gets me excited enough, I have even been persuaded before to pick up the series just so I can know more about it and quietly geek along with you.

So one page shrines are perfect for that! There isn't this need to be strict about your content, you can just.... go. There is a freedom in your content that isn't there with full shrines. I try to reflect this philosophy in my own shrines because that's what is going to set everyone's shrines apart from ones of the same subject.

And, on a side note, for lazy people like me, one page shrines are great because they can be made in a couple days and you don't have to worry too much about whether or not the site feels full enough, haha

[Crystal]

I just like the format of them. They're fun and easy to work with. Even with my larger shrines I'll write all the content up on one page before I break it up into multiple pages.

[Destinie]

I love the variety of subjects! One-page shrines seem to help people get certain ideas off the ground without fear of not having enough content. Yay, uniqueness!

I also like how they make for a quick and fun read. :)