|
The Odyssey Scoop
odysseyscoop.com
Launched December 22, 2000
- 2000-2004 -
|
The Odyssey Scoop: a
continuing journey
 Throughout
my childhood, I grew up with a thriving Christian radio drama. Started in
1987, Adventures in Odyssey was a program to challenge modern
entertainment and to replace television's moral decline. Geared at
children, AIO did just that... for me.
Late 2000 was approaching and the Isom
household had finally given in and introduced the Internet into the home.
I began experimenting with HTML and eventually The Odyssey Scoop
came along. The site was a process, not a sudden appearance. It took four
years to make the Scoop what it was, and is today. Instead of
explaining the creation of the site, I think I'll let the website explain
for itself.
The following information was released on
the website at the AIO FAQ
section before the website closed down:
 How
long have you had this website? -Submitted by Carissa Scroggins
 Now
here's a question I really enjoy answering because it doesn't involve any
research! In regards to The Odyssey Scoop's existence, the website began
on December 22, 2000. For days, maybe even weeks, I was conjuring up ideas
and a desire to start some sort of website on the net. I didn't yet have a
topic for the website. Would it be a website about me? A website about me
with random stuff? This was around the beginning of December if I remember
right. Finally, I decided upon a website topic I could work on: The
Kisses (If you don't remember what the Kisses are, it is a small
production company my sister, cousin, and I created about "The Love
and...CHRONICLES," a series of dramas featuring Jon Dinkleberry and
Marsha Jonworthy - more
info and listening links). So I began work on that. With my lame Yahoo!
Geocities Pagebuilder on screen, I experimented around with text and
cheesy images. At the time, I thought I was a good web designer, however I
strongly disagree now. That site was only about half finished when I
became bored with it, and around the fifteenth or sixteenth of December I
realized my true calling: Adventures in Odyssey. The ideal topic
was entering my ears every day and I didn't even realize it. So on the
twenty-second specifically, I got to work.
I pulled out my trusty Yahoo!
Geocities Pagebuilder, something I would never recommend now, and did
the same thing I had done earlier that month. I began experimenting with
text and cheesy images. I even made my own logo. Looking back, it had to
be the worst Scoop logo I have ever created, but still it was a logo I
could call mine, and I was very proud of it. There was already one lesson
learned: don't use Microsoft Paint to create stunning logos. I've
provided the logo below so you can see it:
Trial One
(click thumbnail to view larger image)
In the process of creating a
logo I had to think of a name. I finally came up with "The Odyssey
Scoop" as the title, thinking it was original as can be, but I found
out months later that it was already taken by a children's publication by
Focus on the Family, Clubhouse. Uh oh. Fortunately or
unfortunately, I left the name how it was and created the site based on
the name. I became tired of Geocities and moved up to a program called Trellix
Web. Once again, I was limited with the program's capabilities and
decided to move on to bigger and better things after about three months of
using it: Microsoft Frontpage. The site I created there was based
on a black background and the logo was definitely a step up from the
previous. You may or may not be familiar with the logo below.
Trial Two
(click thumbnail to view larger image)
 So
there I was; the initial
design all in place. Now the previous content on the website had to be
re-formatted to fit the new design. I put up a basic ad I had created in a
great program called Ulead PhotoImpact 6.0 and everyone was
starting to talk about the release date of the site. On November 10, 2001,
I "opened up the doors" and kids came rushing into my proverbial
Whit's End. I was surprised by a large number of e-mails thanking me and
encouraging me for redesigning. I was ecstatic. I was pretty content from
that point onward. I updated with new information weekly and had a
generally good fan interaction level. However, webmasters tend to become
restless when they see kinks in their designs, and that is exactly what
happened to me. In April and early May 2002, I began re-creating the site
on a white background, the design you see now. It didn't take too long to
do because the release date was May 11, 2002. The doors of my proverbial
Whit's End opened back up once again and the visitors came rushing in. The
comments on the white design were even more phenomenal than before.
Trial Three: Final Decision
With the release of the
current design, I don't think I can ever be more content. It's been over a
year now and I haven't grown "restless" or anything. I have
become tired of certain things, but those minor details can easily be
solved with a redesign of sections. Every now and then a section undergoes
a new design, and it's up to the webmaster to decide what stays and what
goes. What will he come up with next?
There. I've been meaning to
explain the history of this place for a while now. Hopefully you'll keep
walking in through the door to get the proverbial "scoop." Now I
just gotta figure out how to make it edible! The Odyssey Scoop "Top
Cone" has some work to do...
Unfortunately, due to my
attendance at Pensacola Christian College in Florida, upkeep of the
website had to be put on hold.
Visit The
Odyssey Scoop.
<< Back
to Projects
|
