Ryan Jack Allred
Art ☆ photography ☆ Tech ☆ Adventure
I've lost count of how many personal websites I've had over the years. If you've ever built a website, you likely know there are many ways to go about it. Since the early 2000s, the most common approach has been to use a content management system (CMS) like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Wix, or Squarespace. These systems allow users to create a website without writing much HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or PHP (the coding languages many websites are built with). While choosing a CMS is a good option for most people, I've personally grown bored with them. I miss the days starting with a blank canvas and seeing what I could come up with. Writing the code, figuring out the bugs, and learning as I go is all part of the fun. There is a certain sense of satisfaction in creating a website this way—no themes, no templates, no bloated CMS doing the work for you. Just you and your creativity.
Which brings us to the current iteration of my website.
This website is built without a CMS, instead using those old-school coding languages. I did this partly to spark my creativity and partly to practice the skills required to build a site this way. The old adage “use it or lose it” is particularly relevant (at least for me) when trying to retain coding knowledge. I'm not a natural coder, but I am tenatious and willing keep trying—even if it takes me longer at times. I often have to use utilize tutorials and code snippets, and that's ok. It's all part of the process of learning and creating.
I'm a finicky artist, so this "work in progress" will never be perfect and will assuredly change over time. This isn't even close to complete. I'll be adding new content, new sections, and some surprises along the way, so keep checking back!
If you'd like to read more about why I believe it's worth coding websites without a CMS, check out my blog post on the subject.
My introduction to the Joshua Tree area art scene.