Ian,

I'd like to suggest an alternative approach to some of your projects.

The problem with web design is that it is inherently transient because of shifting technology. I used to make my living building Flash-based websites and animation projects. web standards change and it's not really a suitable medium for long-term archival use.

Any technology-based medium is transient - how many VHS videos do you have in your cupboard (or more importantly VHS players to play them)?

So for longevity consider using PDF. If nothing else you will have access to a printed version. If you have an older demographic printable formats are also friendly for technology-agnostic people.

If you put your core stuff on PDF, it will always give you access to a printable version and always keep your core material in a platform-independent form. I have some graphics in software-specific format thgat I no longer have access to. That time eventually comes to all forms of software that use a proprietary format and it will happen with Xara.

Consider mixing a topical website - more bloggish - with a longer-term, more stable printable format viewable online and printable - PDF.

Generally speaking large information projects store their data in databases that is about their content not presentation, so they are able to keep current across technology changes. I used to have a client that had a couple of shops and I developed a flash-based website for them. They simply switched to HTML and their product database didn't change.

So essentially my message is that html (however generated) and proprietary storage formats are too transient for long-term survival. Be careful. I'll not mention the importance of backups, either.

The physical photographs and hand-produced notes and diagrams of today and yesterday will outlast their digital equivalents in most cases.

Paul