UWSAG talks to Artimidor Federkiel
of the Santharian Dream Website

Owner: Santharian Dream
Winner: UWSAG Top Ten! for September, 2003

1. What got you started in website design?
   
   "The idea of bringing people from all over the world together to start working on a fantasy project of the larger scale, which has never been realized before in so much detail. You would never be able to accomplish all these feats you can now experience on the Santharian Dream if you'd work alone or only with the help of some friends you know personally and who share your interests. The internet medium fascinated me in this respect, and so I started off back in 1998/99 with some lousy HTML skills to see how far I could get, and if there'd be some guys who'd like to join me in such an unusual endeavor."
   
   
2. What do you hope to accomplish with your website?
   
   "See above. It was the idea right from the start to establish a platform for writers, artists and world developers, regardless of their nationality, skin color, belief, etc., who work together on something they have always dreamed about to realize themselves. Initially it was planned that people would help building more background for the novel I started to write back then, but the orientation of the site has changed dramatically in the course of time, and I'm happy that a dedicated team has formed. I can't say what it is what will stand on the end of the development process, as developing and making things even more perfect is the heart of Santharia."
   
   
3. What advice would you give to new webmasters?
   
   "Depends on the project. But always try to stay unique in whatever you. Make sure that your work is viewable on different browsers and different screen resolutions. Make things easy to navigate, while still having as much content as you can handle to satisfy your visitors. Graphic intense or not ? take advantage of graphic programs like Photoshop for professional site design, and if Flash is appropriate, use it efficiently. Don't overdo things, though. There are some script treasuries out there like www.dynamicdrive.com ? check those out, I'm sure you'll find something useful for your taste as well:)"
   
   
4. What was the biggest problem you faced with your website?
   
   "To maintain such a gigantic project, keep developers motivated, remove inconsistencies and define clear goals, which are feasible to be realized. And while facing all these problems still have enough time and for innovations and collecting ideas on what could still be done better."
   
   
5. If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?
   
   "Well, a project develops, that's the fun part of it. So one always learns in the course of time, and this is something you can't plan right from the start. It is essential to go through this process, as most often you can only make things better if you've done them not so well before. So there are only a few things I regret concerning webdesign issues. If I'd start over again I would use for example stylesheets right from the start and no dark page backgrounds, as this hinders you from using shadow effects, which often add a lot to make a website professional."
   
   
6. What plans do you have for the future?
   
   "Make a nice start perfect, or at least try to. Well, that's it basically. At a project like the Santharian Dream with 2000+ pages there are always things to do, believe me. On the one hand work needs to be done concerning the improvement of existing material (content and design) and on the other hand we plan of course to go where no man has ever gone before... (*familiar music fading in here*) uhm... in webdesign and fantasy project terms that is;) This means for example more occasional flash stuff where it is appropriate (interactive map displaying tribes, resources, historical developments etc.), completion of the singleplayer RPG we're currently developing, add more extras like original Santharian screensavers and audio recorded music for downloading, work on more interaction with the visitors and so on. And keep it all completely free of course. - But these are only a few ideas I personally would like to see realized. Most important at the Santharian Dream are the participants of the project. The direction we decide to go together will determine further plans for the future. And as far as I know Santharia, we'll continue to try to realize the impossible, as usual..."
   
   
7. What else do you like to do?
   
   "Watching DVDs and football matches, playing single player role playing games on the PC, enjoying Monty Python nonsense, daydreaming, writing poetry and getting philosophical for no apparent reason."