The Skirret is an implement which acts on a centre pin,
whence a line is drawn to mark out
the ground plan of the intended structure.
The Skirret domain has its origins in websites created in 2000 for two Masonic lodges in Yokohama, Japan:
These sites grew rapidly. To the public areas were added articles of historical interest, photographs and links. The private areas grew with the addition of member directories, lodge minutes, and photo albums of lodge events.
By 2004 the two sites consisted of over 2,000 files each and maintenance of the hand-coded pages was becoming a major problem. A switch from HTML 4.01 to XHTML 1.1 and CSS required several weeks of work. Use of a content management system was considered, but lack of server-side PHP and MySQL support on the web host precluded adoption.
In 2004, a test site was created for the three Scottish Masonic bodies in Kobe, Japan:
In 2006 the skirret.com domain was registered to provide a permanent home for the Kobe websites, backup and expansion space for the Yokohama sites, and an archive for a rapidly growing collection of Masonic papers and other materials.
As the Skirret domain's new home (DreamHost) provided full PHP, MySQL and other support, consideration was again given to content management systems that would facilitate maintenance of the websites and archives. Test installations were made of Mambo, XOOPS, Joomla, Drupal, TextPattern, MODx and ExpressionEngine. The last was chosen for its flexibility and adaptability.
This website is fully compliant with the Wordwide Web Consortium's XHTML and CSS standards. Microsoft's Internet Explorer isn't. Use of Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, Camino, iCab, Omniweb or almost any other browser is strongly recommended.
The task of migrating static HTML files, images, and other documents to the EE system is labour-intensive and will probably take several months. Until the migration is complete, the static files will remain available in a separate section.
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