About Petra Rocks My World!
This is the sixth generation of Petra Rocks My World! This site began as a lone page that was part of my personal website "GrossWorld" in 1998. It quickly grew in popularity and became a seperate website with a domain. You can see one of the old pages here.
I operate this site as a labor of love. I pay for all costs associated with the site. I have worked hard to make this website attractive, modern, up-to-date, full of content, and free of advertisements.
At Petra Rocks My World, I put a high value on great content. I've got lots of articles, interviews, concert reviews, photos, concert dates, and more.
Of all the content here, the very best is the news. I've broken almost every major Petra news story over the past several years. The most recent example is Petra's decision to retire. Not only did I have the story first, I have been the only one to cover it in any depth, with quotes from the band members, band manager, and industry peers.
Obviously, Petra's retirement in 2005 means there won't be many more stories to break in the future. But I'm proud of the work I've done here over the years on stories ranging from Petra going to India to Kevin Brandow leaving the band, and many more. Also, I've been the first media person review each of Petra's last three albums.
Petra Rocks My World also provides the lyrics to all of Petra's songs. I was the first to do this, and it took months of work. A couple other websites have Petra lyrics now, too, but most of them "borrowed" those lyrics from me. In the years since I first put the lyrics online, many mistakes in the lyrics have been caught and corrected. So rest assured that the lyrics at PRMW are more accurate than what you'll find anywhere else on the web.
More than anything else, though, I have always wanted this website to help Petra's ministry. Petra is a Christian rock band. They use music to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ to hurting people, as well as to edify the Church. Even though the band is retiring, their recorded music can continue to accomplish this purpose.
About this site's design
Each time I redesign the site, I try to improve the code. At one point I began using frames, but eventually I discared frames since they cause problems for many users. This latest version of the site features not only a fresh look, but a fresh skeleton that I am really excited about.
Petra Rocks My World is now written in validated standards-compliant XHTML 1.0. I have also seperated content from design. I use HTML for content markup and CSS for positioning and text styling.
This has resulted in much cleaner, smaller HTML code. It also makes it easier to update the site. Since all my design and style code is contained in a seperate CSS file, I can change the look of the entire site by adjusting only one file.
One other note: Over the years I have reduced the amount of Javascript on the site considerably. This makes the site much more accesible to people using older computers or browsers.
Petra Rocks My World has changed a lot over the years. And while I have worked hard to make it function on older browsers, the site will look the best if viewed in the newest standards-compliant browsers at 800x600 resolution. Upgrading to these browsers is free and worth the download.
If you are interested in seeing the HTML or CSS files for my site, please take a look. I learned how to design websites by copying other people's coding techniques and adapting them to my own use. Please feel free to do the same with my stuff.
However, no one is allowed to use or reproduce the content of Petra Rocks My World without receiving written permission from me, Josh Renaud!
I am proud of the way Petra Rocks My World looks. I redesign it regularly to keep it fresh. Other Petra fan sites have tried to imitate my look (using all black backgrounds or even using starfields!). But I think Petra Rocks My World still looks better than them all. I hope you agree.