Restoring the Golden Age of the Internet Aesthetic
This repository is a curated index of community projects, userscripts, and themes dedicated to restoring the beloved user interfaces, layouts, and functionalities of classic internet platforms from the late 1990s through the mid-2010s (the Web 1.0 and early Web 2.0 eras).
- Awesome Old Internet
Projects designed to revert modern websites back to their beloved, classic interfaces.
- YouTube Hitchhiker Restoration: Userscript restoring the pre-2017 Hitchhiker layout for YouTube.
- StarTube: Browser add-on for selecting YouTube layouts from 2008 to present.
- GPlex (Old Google Frontend): Userscript restoring early 2010s Google search layouts.
- Google Gbar Restoration: Userscript re-implementing the classic Google shortcut bar.
- OldTwitter: Browser add-on reverting Twitter (X) to its pre-2023 design.
- OldTweetDeck: Add-on/app restoring the original TweetDeck interface.
- OldTwitter 2013 Fork Addon: Userstyle for the 2013 Twitter aesthetic.
- "X" to Twitter Reverter: Userstyle reverting X branding to classic Twitter.
- DTM-XX Theme: Discord theme restoring pre-2021 looks.
- Escargot MSN Messenger: Server emulator for MSN Messenger.
- OpenSteamClient: Client mod restoring older Steam client versions.
- AIM Phoenix: Revival of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) servers and clients.
- Classic Reddit Rewrite: Userstyle restoring pre-2017 Reddit iconography.
- Reddit Classic: Userstyle replicating the 2006-era Reddit look.
Projects focused on reviving the look and feel of classic operating systems and browser versions.
- Supermium: Chrome fork for older Windows, with Aero and XP themes.
- Superbird: Chromium fork with classic UI/UX elements.
- Geckium: UserChrome theme mimicking old Google Chrome UI in Firefox.
- Echelon: UserChrome theme restoring old Firefox/Mozilla suite aesthetics.
- Photon/Australis UI Restorer: UserChrome styles to remove Proton UI and restore Photon/Australis.
- Netscape 4.7 Theme: UserChrome theme replicating Netscape Navigator.
Essential tools, archives, and resources for truly immersing yourself in the awesome old internet.
- The Wayback Machine: Archive of the internet since 1996.
- GeoCities Archive: Archive of millions of GeoCities pages.
- Cameron's World: Art project using GeoCities elements.
- The CERN Project: The first website, preserved in its original form.
- Oldweb.today: Emulator for browsing archived content in old browsers.
- Lynx Browser: Terminal-based, text-only web browser.
- Web-Safe Color Palette: 216 colors for old 8-bit monitors.
- Animated GIF Archives: Massive collection of vintage GIFs.
- MIDI File Archives: MIDI files for background music.
- W3C HTML 3.2 Spec: HTML standards for Web 1.0.
- 98.css: CSS library for Windows 98/Web 1.0 aesthetics.
- Win95.css: CSS toolkit for Windows 95 look.
- Flashpoint Archive: Game preservation project for Flash, Shockwave, and Java games.
- Ruffle: Open-source Flash emulator.
- Newgrounds Classic Skin: Userstyle for classic Newgrounds look.
- Neocities: Modern platform for building and hosting classic-style personal homepages.
- Nekoweb: Another one like Neocities
- Yesterweb Webring: Community of sites dedicated to the old web spirit.
- Sadgrl Webring: Another active webring for personal, old-style sites.
- Webring Directory 1: Directory of active old sites.
- Webring Directory 2: Directory of old sites.
- Blinkies.Cafe: Huge archive of classic blinkies and web graphics.
- GifCities: Searchable archive of GeoCities GIFs.
- 88x31 Button Archive: Collection of classic 88x31 web buttons.
Do you know of a project that restores the classic look of AIM, early Tumblr, or a specific old browser feature?
We welcome contributions to this list!
- Fork the repository.
- Add your suggested resource to the appropriate section, following the existing list format.
- Submit a Pull Request with a clear description of the project.
Restoring the Golden Age of the Internet, one pixel at a time!