Rick Whitlow was chosen as a webmasters pick for his creative work, designs, content, and for making his site a good source for finding haunt attractions. We will get to know about him behind his work, learn some tips, and much more to haunt.

SH: Hey Rick! Your website has been selected as the Webmasters Pick. We will ask you a few questions to get to know a little more about the webmaster behind all that work. My first question is when you first created Hauntsearch, did you have any idea it would make a big success?

RICK: To be honest, no I didn't. I don't really see the site as a big success. At least not yet. I haven't gotten to where I would like to be as far as my site is concerned.

SH: I know previously before HS you had another site called Morbid Manor, but you decided to close it. What gave you the idea to birth HS? And how long did it take you to have the site ready to be up on the web for everyone to view it?

RICK: HauntSearch was a section that I had started on my old site, and when I decided to close that new site down, I needed something new. A fresh start, per say. I had looked at sites like HauntWorld and the now defunct hauntedhouse.com and thought to myself "I could do something like this.", so I got to work creating a full site from that section. As far as how long it took me to create and get up on the web, I'm not sure. But I've been active within the haunted attraction industry for about a year now.

SH: When you are working on the site what is the toughest task you have to work with? The Graphics, layouts, the articles, etc.

RICK: Well, the articles are in HauntSearch Magazine online, which is a separate site unto itself. I've kept the same layout the whole time, although the graphics have changed many times. So I would say the graphics. That is always a hard task. It took me many variations of the logo to come to the current one I use on my site etc.

SH: What programs do you use to work on HS?

RICK: I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you...... Actually, I use mostly paint shop pro 7 ad animation shop for my graphics and occasionally I use photoshop. For HTML I use coffeecup HTML editor, although for the most part I write the HTML myself.

SH: Exactly how long have you been working on web sites, and what have you learned from your web building experiences on the do's and don'ts?

RICK: Exactly? I'm not sure. Roughly around 3 years. Some of the best things I've learned are that just because you CAN do something, doesn't mean you should...like if you have a fire effect, don't go overboard and use it on everything. Some things can be "killed" in this way. Also, color schemes are very important. People like sites that are easy on the eyes, appealing, and have a good color scheme to it. You wouldn't mix orange and blue on a web page would you? So color is another very important key, in my opinion.

SH: Could you give us some tips on how to write up good articles? What are your methods of preparing before it goes on the site?

RICK: Once again, the articles are a different site, but I really don't have any "methods". I just take a completed article and format it with pictures for the online magazine.

SH: What would you recommend to someone new with web building, on how they can make their web site get noticed basically help increase their site traffic?

RICK: I would recommend that you learn HTML first off, then start learning how to make your own graphics. Clipart and free graphics will only get you so far. Start checking out other sites that are the same genre as your site, get a feel for what others are doing and how you can improve. Submit to search engines and trade banners with other webmasters, Also, start spreading the word about your site. Chat rooms and message boards are good methods of advertising your site. Just be sure not to over-advertise. You don't want people to consider your posts and messages "spam", be sure not to over-advertise on one forum or chat room.

SH: Now, I am going to ask some questions about you, so we could get to know more about you. Honestly, please describe your true personality?

RICK: Hmm...that's a hard one....I try to be as friendly as possible, but in the same right, I can be mean. The best way to put it would be, I'll be your best friend, but if you stab me in the back, I can be your worst enemy. But I'm more nice than mean ;o)

SH: What are some of your likes and dislikes?

RICK: I like to design web sites and graphics, I like music, TV, movies. My biggest love is probably haunted attractions. It's something that has been in my blood for 13 years now. As far as dislikes, I can't really think of anything off the top of my head although I know there are many of them running in my brain lol.

SH: In your opinion where are the best Horror attractions that are out there? And why?

RICK: Well, I don't really want to say one's better than the other, but some of the better attractions I have been to are The Scream Machine in MI, and of course, and haunter is going to tell you that Disney's Haunted Mansion is one of the best, if not THE best, just because of the level of detail and effects inside.

SH: What is your most memorable moment?

RICK: Probably when I went to a haunter's gathering this past February and when I introduced myself to some of the more well known names, at least in this state, and I told them what my website was called and they would say "Oh yeah..I've been to your site before, nice site!"..It was pretty neat to hear that from them.

SH: What are your favorites? Music, actors, novels, movies, etc.

RICK: I have lots of favorites as far as music goes. Right now, I'm listening to KoRn's last album, "Untouchables", which is pretty cool. I don't really have a favorite actor. I haven't read a novel in ages lol and some of my favorite movies are the "American Pie" series, and I just watched "Old School" which was hilarious.

SH: Have any bad habits? I had to toss that one in.

RICK: Yes. lol I smoke and I drink. But hey, some of my BEST ideas as far as web design have come when I was drunk lol.

SH: Well, that's all for now. We would like to thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. Is there anything you would like to say to your friends, and visitors?

RICK: If you like haunted attractions, or Halloween in general, you can check my site out at http://hauntsearch.net and I also have an online magazine dedicated to haunted attractions at http://hsmag.net Thank you for this opportunity.

SH: We look forward on visiting you again real soon keep up the haunting work.