So I've officially been working on my website for over a year now (since nov 2024). I've learned a lot of things about html, css during this time. Looking forward to seeing how my site develops as my skill & knowledge increases. I feel comfy at nekoweb. Enjoy browsing nekoweb/neocities/bearblog/etc to see all the cool things people are creating.
I should've just made my website sooner, it's an enjoyable hobby. Tumblr is what my sparked my interest in web-dev during middle school, loved tweaking custom themes for blogs. So during 12th grade (2017-18), i took a web dev class. We used adobe dreamweaver to add button links on top of photoshoped designs. while it worked, it was restrictive. We weren't taught much about coding, so I didnt feel confident to make a site without dreamweaver. I dont use adobe products outside of class use. I tested weebly slightly in 2022. but i didnt like it much, & it isnt always cheap to use site builders like that.
Fast forward to 2024, wasongo made his site on nekoweb. Out of curiosity, i started exploring the indieweb on nekoweb/neocities. i stumbled on petrapixel's layout generator which opened up opportunity for me to start my site. I'm very thankful for coders making templates for public use (donate to them if you can). I use publii too now for my other sites, wich is a ssg. May commission someone to create some custom publii themes for me to edit. Also, were-wolf girlfriend's gallery template has been a life saver. it's so much easier than making individual pages for every artwork & creating thumbnail buttons on a navpage. that got overwhelming real fast. So now a whole year of art can go together in a single page. I've been thinking of moving my blog off bearblog & intergrating it directly in my site again. May do something similar to miso town's html journals. With Retext, i can write in markdown and convert to html. pretty easy. Atleast i'm learning some html/css even with templates, unlike the dreamweaver method. Learning stuff while working on a project is how i work anyways, i do it with art all the time.
Anyways, making a website has been rewarding. it's fun, lets me get creative, and learn things. It's my own little personal digital haven on the web. So if you've been interested in making your own site, do it. There are so many ways to go about it. Use templates such as those by petrapixel or saddgrl. commission someone to make one for you. Try wordpress.org. Learn how to use a ssg like 11vty, astro, publii, etc. Use online site builders like cardd, strawpage, canva, hotglue.me, etc. Or learn to code, and do it yourself. Do whatever method that works for you, there's no "correct" way to go about it. Just make your site, you wont regret it.