"Looking exceedingly sinister against this light blue background"
The Site
Here is where I get all technical on you. Not literally ON you, of course, it's a figure of speech, I didn't invent it, I'm just a victim of social programming...sheesh...

This site is designed from the ground up to be compliant with XHTML 1.0 Strict and the W3C's CSS standards. In layman's terms, that means I'm a man too geeky for words, that gets off on compliance to incomprehensible specifications that are often appear to be completely divorced from reality. But I'm not talking to laymen here. The site also makes heavy use SSI, and uses PHP for the dynamic content (news system, PotW, et cetera).

Hosts

The site is served up by Global Internet Solutions, and though I had no part in the service provider selection, Kashue is worthy of praise for picking a fine host. Their services are top-notch and feature-full(not to be confused with the real word, "featureful"), with many useful utilities to boot. They appear to be reasonably priced as well, although I'm not familiar with the financial arrangements either.

So there you have it, a no-strings attached endorsement by a dis-interested party. Although, I'd swear that the babe on the front page is a pornstar that...uhm, hmm, nevermind.

Reference Material

Sites I visted often enough to warrent a bookmark.

Google
This one seems like a no-brainer, but it's surprising how quickly one can forget that the problems encountered are probably not new, and a workaround or solution has already been discovered.
MarkUp Validation Service
Not only does this tool check your code for compliance with the various webstandards, it also serves as a very useful debugger.
W3Schools' CSS Tutorial
A very solid reference, although somewhat limited in the examples department. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to learn CSS or those in need of a quick refresher.
HTML 4.01 Reference
Another helpful reference, for those moments of brainfreeze.
PHP Manual
An incredible helpful resource on the use of PHP, and one of the things that makes the language so easy to work with.
MySQL Documentation
Not quite as useful as the PHP docs, but still a very helpful resource on MySQL and SQL in general
Development Tools

Site was coded using the latest version of HTML-Kit, a very, VERY useful text-based HTML editor. Lots of useful plugins, widely supported, and all this for the low, low price of $0.00! The site management features aren't quite as good as DreamWeaver's toolset, but they are usable, and who knows, there may be a plugin for that, too.

Other tools used include IrFanView, Windows Explorer, WinZip, and a keyboard. E-mail and IM for group communications.

What Was Done, How It Was Done, and Ways to Improve it.

This site was of particular interest to me because it was my first opportunity to develop a site using XHTML 1.0 Strict compliant code from the very beginning. Partially due to compatibility issues, partly because it's so easy to work with, I used CSS for the layout instead of tables...even knowing what I did about CSS, its power and flexibility has continued to astonish me throughout the site's development.

"Cool URIs" and forward slash directry structure were two other issues of concern to me, in interests of navigability. Both articles are highly recommended reading for anyone involved in webdesign, but the philosophy can be expressed fairly well in this dictum: Keep any uniquely identifying information out of the file name. This leads to lot more double-clicking in the design process, but ultimately it makes the site much easier to manage and expand.

Organization was critical due to the team-oriented style of development. A broadcast e-mail address was set up through the server, and most of the site-related business was conducted through it. This works well, although it is helpful to deal with one issue per e-mail, with a descriptive subject line--information is hard to track down after the 5th iteration of "Re: site stuff".