The barrier to entry on both sides is extraordinarily low.
That said, the accessibility is mediocre for getting started with web dev and is polluted with javascript framework crap, especially since that’s all that really changes day to day, and week to week… so people can’t shut up about it and keep scaring off newer people.
A lot of that Javascript crap is not what you need for displaying text on a webpage anyway(Seriously. If you boil it down, they just want text to display on a screen and to display consistently and accessibly for other people. This is something people have accomplished as far back as BASIC and sharing floppy disks/tapes). The Neocities HTML tutorial/course is probably the best thing there for it, which is a bit sad because it’s not even easy to find, and is polluted by W3Schools(which is sorta ok) and geekforgeeks crap.
Webdeveloper pollution of incredibly basic tasks, basically provided enough refuse for corporate vultures like Medium to feast on idiots getting into it
Somewhere in the last few weeks I read a blog post, which I can’t find now, which said, “There is nothing wrong with Times New Roman on a white background.” Or words to that effect. And then they linked to an example webpage which was probably as old as time, showing a photograph of a bricks and mortar business and below it in Times New Roman the name of the business, description, hours, address and phone number on a white background. One page and it gets the job done for that mom and pop business. So simple and bulletproof.
The point is, it’s okay to start dead simple, and add ruffles and flourishes later as you learn more. There is no wrong way as long as the page renders in most browsers.
Not feeling the “clout-chasing, vapidness, commercial interests” was something I experienced as well. It’s something I want to experience more of through other methods instead of just browsing :)
I really appreciate how you emphasized that there’s no “deadline” or “end” when it comes to developing your own website. Whenever I start a personal project, I tend to feel guilty for abandoning it if I lose inspiration and almost never resume it. It’s mainly because a project usually only has ONE expected finished look and it’s difficult to get back into it if I’m bored or have new ideas. If I DO want to make something new, I pretty much have to start over from scratch.
With a personal website, I thought it was pretty cool that if someone were to come up with any ideas, it was as “simple” as just adding it to their existing project (as supposed to having to resort to starting over.) Again, the idea of there being no deadline either is something I need start perceiving as a benefit as opposed to something to intimidated about (which sounds strange, I know, but I usually perform better with deadlines haha)
Do you want your links at the top or side of your page? Do you want just one box with content or many small boxes?
I feel like asking myself more “specific” questions like these ones would benefit me more as opposed to just me asking myself “what do I want for my website?” I also like the idea of making my own rules and will try a crack at it :) I think it’s just a matter of me focusing more breaking things down into more manageable pieces/rules while growing to appreciate how beneficial it is to have “no rules” in the first place.
I was so intimidated by HTML but that class I took helped me with that.
Being intimidated with the coding aspect of making your own website is something I relate to as well. As much as I love learning new things and stepping out of my comfort zone, I tend to gravitate toward hobbies that I’m at least SLIGHTLY familiar with/interested in (e.g. baking as someone who already cooks and loves sweets). With coding, I don’t have that same privilege, so it has been a challenge to get into at first and even a challenge now to start coding.
On the bright side, it is comforting to know how supportive the community is and how open everyone is to sharing tips, resources, etc. Thanks for the advice!
As I’m making my website, I’m also planning what I want to share, which includes my other creative hobbies.
I talked to my friend about this as well and it’s actually one of the biggest factors pushing me to start creating my own website! The most I’ve ever done to share my work is by sending pictures to my friends and family haha. To be able to not only share it with more people but to also customize HOW it’s shared has always appealed to me. It’s also one of the reasons why I don’t post my work on social media. It’s just not the same and it feels almost “competitive” to me for some reason. I don’t feel that sense of urgency/competition when it comes to posting on a personal website.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with templates, and it’s not less creative, just different types of creativity (imo).
I agree that there’s nothing wrong with using templates as well, but I think a reason why I’m weary to use them is because I don’t want to get too dependent :( At the same time, I feel like just diving right into developing my own website without a set of “training wheels” feels intimidating as well. I think it’s the transition between using templates and writing my own code that I’m overwhelmed about, but I know it’ll take time, work, and a bit of optimism :)
I had the experience of losing things I wanted to look at again from ten years ago because of a server failure. This made me realize that a lot of my thoughts on a manga I really liked were being scattered across Discord servers and on Twitter/X posts. This really rubbed me wrong so I decided to take the web into my own hands, as in I went out of my way to learn how to host a website and upload content. Having a place for my thoughts, as well as creating a completely bespoke site like those I remembered from my childhood, was motivation enough to put up with the learning curve.
I don’t think of that I’m doing for myself as “webdev” even though I’ve written makefiles, shell scripts, and m4 macros to automate the annoying parts of maintaining a website with hundreds of pages and posts.
I do webdev at my day job, and I do it for the only reason anybody spends most of their waking hours working to further enrich the already wealthy: I have expensive tastes like food, water, shelter, and healthcare – and I’m passionate about getting paid.