On Making It From Scratch
I recently updated this wiki page to help you navigate the space of creating a web project from scratch. And by scratch I mean with HTML/CSS/JS. Check it out and pick up some of the listed tutorials. You are probably wondering, why make it from scratch when I have CMS platforms like WordPress and Squarespace?
Well. Part of the answer: you get a better, more fundamental understanding of the structure of a web project if you code it. And, if you do it right, it’s free.
A lot of times you want to set up a WordPress site because that’s what you’ve been conditioned to do. It’s valid (and could be free if you don’t want anything fancy), but a full-blown CMS isn’t always necessary and could introduce bad web project habits. For example, spending time on finding a button in a plug-in (getting trapped by an interface that has one use case only) rather than investigating what actually caused the disappearance of some text (learning CSS, the language in charge of styling websites universally).
Another part of the answer: you will have more control and creative freedom in the long run, and you build up your literacy around web and data (in a broad sense).
When you make something yourself and put it on the web, you are using HTML/CSS/JS again and again. These barebone languages and their standards are evolving constantly (people go to conventions for this sort of thing, like in any other industry). New frameworks and libraries spawn every single day. How can you make choices amongst the abundance? Experience. The more you build, the faster you build, and the more comfortable you will become while taking up something “new”, instead of just copying and pasting and tweaking. Exploration begets exploration.
How are you making your pie?
Of course, like making anything from scratch, it’s going to take a bit longer at first. Have you made a pumpkin pie from scratch? You roast the pumpkin, scoop out the seeds, puree the flesh. Meanwhile, you make the dough with flour, very cold butter, and 1/4 cup of iced water with a pastry cutter. The pie can take a few hours to make (not to mention if you want to follow the rules real well and chill the dough overnight.)
There are other ways to make the pie, of course. You can always buy a can of pumpkin puree, and pour it into a pre-made pie crust. Or, even faster, you buy one in a box from the store.
It’s the same idea when it comes to making something from scratch for the internet. You can experiment when you know how the ingredients work together from ground up. For example, seasoning in the crust brings out more pumpkin flavor. At the same level of granularity, a scrolling interaction that links your text and graphic might keep your readers more engaged.
Removing yourself from the making processes means that you lose the fine control over the final outcome. So next time some seemingly sophisticated WP theme costs you $50 and ends up give you operational headaches by having a super complex interface — think about making your own pie.
