Introduction
Creating a website from scratch can seem very intimidating if you have never done it before, or you have just been playing around with learning bits and pieces of code. You may have a great idea for a website but don’t know where to start and it can seem a daunting task which may be putting you off from actually creating the website. I am in this position a lot – lots of great ideas, but no will to buckle down and begin.
Therefore I have decided to create a set of articles where I walk through how to create a website from beginning to end. These will be by no means a professional standard of how to create one, rather an ‘as-you-go’ set of articles which will show developing a site from concept to execution. These will not be polished, perfect articles that only show the tasks when they are working – if I encounter problems, or if something doesn’t work, I will write about it. This is because making errors and finding ways to correct them is as good a learning experience as getting something to work first time (and sometimes even better!). Hopefully it will also show you that you’re not the only one that gets things wrong – everyone does.
I already have my idea for a website and will be using that throughout these articles. Hopefully you’ll be able to come up with your own idea and can use these as a kind of support to help you through getting them off the ground and into the aether for all to see.
One important thing to keep in mind – the website I will be working through in these articles should not be used in a live environment. There will be a lot more to work on to make it a fully functional website and I will be talking – and showing – the potential issues and how to solve them.
How to Develop the Idea
This is probably the most important part of creating a website because, let’s face it – if you don’t have an idea then you have nothing to create. This can also be extremely challenging and you may be thinking “Do I have enough knowledge to do this?”, “What if it has already been done?”, “What do I do if I find out it isn’t workable halfway through?”, “What colour scheme should I use?”, and many other questions. There are some points to keep in mind when coming up with your idea:
- Don’t worry about ‘what if’ questions.
This phase is about getting ideas for your website. Don’t worry about whether it’s possible or not. You just want to find an idea to start with, so keeping these kinds of questions out of your mind will help you develop it quicker.
- Use what you know
This isn’t about code or design. To make your ideas form easier begin thinking about what interests you; do you have any talents? Skills? Hobbies? Beginning with these will make your ideas develop more naturally.
- No limits
Again, this is the idea phase and so you must not place limits on them. Similar to the first point, you want to be as free as possible. Come up with any idea – big or small. Come up with a single idea or multiple ideas and write them down.
Keeping the points above in mind can keep you open-minded: ideas will flow quicker and you will likely come up with something interesting and original that you didn’t even consider when you first started.
People come up with ideas in different ways. You may already know how you best come up with – and develop – ideas, but here are some ways that you can use in getting that all important idea:
- Writing lists
Probably the easiest (although sometimes the most restrictive) way is to use a pen and notepad. Just write things down line by line. These can be full sentences or just single words which can be developed further once you come across something you like the idea of.
- Creating mind-maps
Mind-maps are a very creative way to come up with ideas. You can get very artsy and ideas will likely develop much faster than with simple lists.
- Using software
There are numerous websites and programs that can assist you with your ideas, but can be quite restrictive as they tend to be more geared towards organising an idea you already have. One I use now and then is called Trello. This is a project development website where you have ‘cards’ which can be used to organise your work – and has a free plan.
- Talking through ideas
This can be done on your own (no, it doesn’t mean you’re crazy!), with another person – which can be good as a sounding board and they can also offer suggestions, or use the ‘duck method‘. While this was originally used for debugging code (so something to keep in mind for when you start coding!), it can be useful for getting ideas organised in your own mind as well as help solve problems.
In the next article I will talk about the specific idea that I am going to use as an example throughout these articles.
