I want to build a website and not sure where to start.
Hi everyone.
I'm a big fan of this community. I regularly read posts and I am amazed at the success of some members.
Coming up to my question, I am looking to build a website that has a Directory feel to it, something like https://nomadlist.com/
My plan is to have the option to add locations and provide details for those locations. Not in any way similar to what the guys at nomadlist do. Something completely different, but the UX concept is similar.
I would also want to mention that I am not a developer. But I do want to build it myself. I want to start from scratch with everything. I want to make it my own project.
So my question is, where should I start learning? Should I look at Wordpress, Python, Webflow, other, etc?
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Have you looked at www.circle.so
I've had a great experience using WordPress to build an online community. Plugins like BuddyPress (open source) and BuddyBoss (paid) make it easy to get all of your core functionality up and running and there tends to be a plugin out there for just about any feature you'll need early on.
I would check this list out for building a directory: https://kinsta.com/blog/wordpress-directory-plugins/
There are limitations for highly customized communities but it's generally better to put your idea out there first and worry about the smaller details when you have users to give feedback and iterate based on that.
I use BuddyBoss which handles user profiles, messaging, posts, forums, media/documents and a bunch of other stuff out of the box and has worked well with plugins for more custom features.
I'm currently working on a similar project, Hive Index. I wrote about my full tech stack in this IndieHackers post.
There's many ways to skin a cat, and this is only one of them. But it works for me, and might for you. If you choose to pick up any of these components, feel free to reach out to me and I'd be happy to give some pointers.
I would suggest Wordpress. It's a pretty nice skill to have, as the largest portion of the websites are made with it. Do take in mind, that when you start with WP, it looks easy. But to take it to the level of a professional website, that might take you a while.
I bought two cheap domains, just to play with. I tried different page builders like elementor and a couple of others. See how they feel. After a while when I knew a bit how it worked, I bought a theme. That was a breakthrough, makes your life a lot easier. But I wouldn't want to miss the playing around with the free plugins and themes because I learned a lot from it.
Letting your Community decide on features and infrastructure makes them feel a part of community more and will most likely stay longer the more you allow them to participate in that.
I have a small business and built my website this year. The previous one was created by a company but I was never happy with it.
During our first lockdown I used Wordpress and Elementor. So far the results have been fantastic to the point that i've upgraded to the Pro Elementor.
I highly recommend Webflow. It's definitely more complex than a Squarespace or Wix, but gives you a lot of control while still letting you purchase themes and such. You will probably need to learn a little basic CSS and HTML if you want to customize the themes.
The built in CMS capabilities that Webflow gives you makes it easy to power simple things as well (like the directory feature).
If you need even more flexibility, running WordPress yourself is always a choice, but then you trade away convivence.
If you are not a developer, I don't recommend coding it out. Probably more work than its worth.
have you looked at makerpad? they have some really great nocode tutorials on how to build something like this.