Why I decided to start writing this blog
When I was just starting to learn JavaScript (I already knew HTML and CSS from earlier), I spent a lot of time reading around. It’s so easy to get lost in the maze of blogposts all of them interlinked in a non-stop ‘click here’ web. Have you ever played that Wikipedia game where you have to find the fastest route from one page to another? It’s amazing how much information it’s out there. I once read that (and that was at least 10 years ago) that the person today reads more information on Times per weekend than the person in 17th century per one year. It’s amazing that we can still think for ourselves.
So it’s no wonder that I have to be thankful for this blog post (that I also ended up in via another medium.com post) for starting my own blog. The title alone gave me the permission I needed but didn’t realize I did: “Why you should NOT code your own blog when starting out blogging”.
I have to admit, before this blog post that was exactly what I was thinking. I will learn the basics and I will code the blog about my learning journey myself. But there was the main fault in this thinking. I would miss out on the big chunk of my journey if I start in the middle. Sure, I could have gone back and thought what it felt like starting out but it wouldn’t be the same as doing it while it is so fresh.
I do feel a little shame that this website is not my own code and I use WordPress, Neve theme, and Elementor for it, but you know what. I’d rather record and share it now than postpone it until probably never because it might be too late to start then.
Why I chose WordPress?
I knew WordPress from my previous Web Design experience where I did a few projects for other people while freelancing and I liked the ease of working with it (whenever I was stuck with something I always found answers with a quick search on google). When you add Elementor to it, it’s just a piece of cake. I still think that my next step after tackling Javascript should be to learn PHP because a lot of the time I just want to understand what’s going on under the hood of WordPress.
But it is a journey.
I encourage anyone to start with an already working platform instead of being perfectionistic and looking for that right moment when we feel ready to code our own fully working website. I probably could do a lot of that now myself but I prefer to use tools that are ready now and in the meantime concentrate on learning more advanced skills. Also, I have a few ideas down the line where I will actually code my own blogs but for different things.
You might think that my advice is counterintuitive to the fact that the world feels overcrowded with information, and yet I believe that each of our voices is important and has a right to be heard. Why not use all these readily available tools and opportunities to share with like-minded people and maybe even help someone on the way just like Tuomo’s post helped me.
Share your voice.