In order to make sure I'm designing pages that look good on your browser, I've switched over to using CSS. The CSS framework that I run is called Skeleton and while it's a very concise implementation it does need a certain amount of code to run. This is important to me, because it means I can concentrate on ensuring pages are compliant with the most commonly used browsers and screen resolutions.

I also use a free service provided by Statcounter.com to gather some basic statistics about visitors to this website. The information that Statcounter provides to me consists of the date and time of your visit, your computer's IP address (none of which Im interested in, use, sell or store), as well as the type of browser you were using (e.g. Firefox 40), the operating system you're running (e.g. Windows 10), what screen resolution you use (e.g. 1024 by 768 pixels), the referring link - that is, how you got here, the URL of the page you're looking at and the title of that page. That's the stuff that I am interested in knowing, because it helps me to focus on the things that people want to read here. And interestingly enough (for me at least) the average resolution that the site is viewed at now is lower than it was ten years ago, because these days folks are more likely to read it on their phones or tablets. I didn't see that one coming.

Statcounter also creates a small cookie to determine whether or not you've been here before (i.e. whether you're a first-timer or a returning visitor). The cookie has no personally identifiable information, but it lets me know stuff like the fact that I've had over 4,000 unique visitors to the site in the last six months which I think is pretty nifty.

I also get to see a flag of the country that Statcounter thinks you're from (but unfortunately it's not always that accurate - for instance the Canary Isles appear to have relocated to the UK) and that's it. I will do nothing else with the information, and have no intention whatsoever of passing it on to anybody else. It just lets me see nice charts that show me how many people turn up every day and which pages they like visiting, so I can concentrate on making those pages even more interesting.

You can find out more information about how Statcounter works here (and of course you can sign up and use it on your own site, too!)