Hey everyone! I just finished a front-end development course and I'm starting to build websites for friends to gain some experience. One of my friends, who is a photographer and writer, wants a site where she can regularly update it with new photos and writings. I've mostly built static sites that I can just update, but I'm not sure the best approach for this dynamic requirement. I want to help her avoid anything like Squarespace if possible. I'd also like to use this project for my portfolio, but I'm stuck on how to set it up to allow her to upload content herself. Any suggestions?
5 Answers
To let her handle updates, you'll need a dynamic website, which usually means some backend setup and a database. However, you don’t necessarily have to complicate things too much. What programming languages are you comfortable with? Since you've got HTML, CSS, and JavaScript down, you could learn something basic for backend, which could really help!
I've been working on similar projects and I’d recommend checking out platforms like Hot.page. It's a 'yes code' web suite so you can easily build and publish sites using just HTML, CSS, and JS. They have a free tier where you can attach a domain, and the paid plans are pretty reasonable!
You can also go for a modern approach using Firebase or Supabase for storing data. This way, you can handle CRUD operations directly from the front-end without needing a backend server. You might want to implement a simple interface for her to upload her data herself. Also, think about making sure the admin routes are somewhat secure, even if it's a bit hacky by just using unique URLs.
If it's just for your portfolio, you could build her a simple static site that’s lightweight and easy to manage. For her site, consider CMS platforms like WordPress or Ghost. You want something that enables her to log in and update content without touching code. WordPress is still one of the simplest options for this!
You might want to look into using WordPress for her site. It's user-friendly and allows non-tech people to upload their own photos and blog posts easily. Plus, it's a pretty good option if you're aiming for something that doesn’t require constant tech support from you.
I mainly know HTML, CSS, JS, and React. I usually host projects on Netlify, so it's pretty straightforward for me. I haven’t done any backend work yet, but I’m open to learning!