Learning to Code in One Month: Week 3
My Project
Over this month my goal has been to build an online website — from scratch. From scratch, I mean coding it from the some of the oldest programming languages around, HTML and CSS.
My website idea is to create an online store that can also function as a blog and maybe even a bit of a portfolio of topics I’m learning about.
I was inspired to build something like this from some of the fitness newsletters that I subscribe to. They regularly send me emails about health, fitness, creativity, finances, and mindset.
I find that extra bit of effort of reaching out to your subscriber list and offering them some value in the form of free information helps create a sense of trust and maybe even comrade. It’s very much a part of building not just a random business but rather a brand that people can relate to.
Some of my favorites include the newsletters from https://www.mannutra.com/ which speak on topics like regular health topics but also digs deeper into hormones and chemical consumption. Another favorite are the emails I receive from https://getkion.com/ or the founder Ben Greenfield.
Week 1 & 2 Recap
In my first week, most of my time was spent choosing a project to start and creating a plan to knock it out.
Week two was all about building a foundation of coding. Learning the basics as well as formulating an idea of what I wanted my website to look like.
Right now half-way through week three, I feel as though I’ve put together something to be proud of. I’ve more or less created my website. I have some editing to do, final markups to make, and a little bit more research to incorporate all the details I desire…but now I have something to show for it.
What I’ve Done in Week 3
Found a logo
One of the key elements to creating a brand is to have a logo associated with that brand. A logo that I can also apply to inventory in the future.
Built a Design
I’ve created a design and artistic layout for my website. I’ve never considered myself to be an artistic person, but I feel I’ve learned a lot about choosing contrasting colors, finding appealing texts, and using images to convey a message.
Copywriting
I’ve refined my ability to market and create copywriting that helps build a message associated with my site. Something that promotes a feeling and an objective with my store.
Tech Tools
I’ve become familiar with Visual Studio Code — a coding editor with an uncountable number of functions. This is where I’ve lived over the past couple of weeks. Writing code, adjusting code and researching new ways to implement code.
Teaching
Lastly, I’ve created my first practice runs at teaching some basic coding lessons for starters, hoping to incorporate details that I would have liked to known earlier on.
A sneak peek of what I’ve created so far…
Found Resources
On my website, I’ve used pictures from Unsplash.com, icons from Fontawesome.com, and fonts from fonts.google.com all of which are free resources.
What’s Planned for the Rest of the Week?
The rest of the week will be targeted at fixing some links between my pages, specifically from my about and contact pages to my store pages located at the bottom.
I then need to go about seeing how I would list inventory in the future, add a blog page, and then finally publish my website to the internet. I plan on publishing it through Bluehost.
Next Week Goals
- Have a fully functioning website.
2. Create some simple HTML and CSS tutorials using Loom and post them on my website.
3. Put together a written piece about building a website from HTML and CSS.
