Journey behind building my portfolio website

Tired of no-code platforms’ limitations, I decided to code my portfolio and blog sites.

Since many designers use no-code platforms like Squarespace, Webflow, and Framer to create their portfolio websites, I also wanted to use one of these tools to build my portfolio site.

Explored a lot of options but found none to be suitable for my needs and budget

I’ve been on quite a journey with different no-code website-building platforms. Here’s a rundown of my experiences:

Wix

Initially, I enjoyed Wix’s drag-and-drop interface, but after getting accustomed to Webflow and Framer, Wix’s UI felt a bit juvenile. It seemed more suited for beginners rather than designers. I even gave Wix Studio a shot recently, but it fell short in terms of flexibility and features.

Notion sites

While Notion is great for note-taking and organizing information, the sites made from Notion don’t quite feel like proper websites. Plus, the loading times were often frustratingly long. Also, to connect a custom domain or to many any sort of customizations, we need a Pro plan.

Super.so

This tool allows you to create websites from Notion pages. It was decent but lacked customization options. Moreover, you need a pro plan to connect a custom domain or make any significant customizations.

Bento, Linktree, Read.cv

These platforms are fantastic for “Link in Bio” purposes on social media but aren’t suitable for showcasing detailed projects.

Webflow and Framer

I juggled between these two for a while. Webflow feels more professional, whereas Framer is fun and user-friendly. However, Framer’s CMS lacks some of the features I need, like native image captions. Webflow‘s templates are limited, and I didn’t fully master it to create advanced animations. Framer makes animations easy, even for those with intermediate skills, but its performance can be an issue. Both platforms are quite expensive when it comes to their pro plans, and using their free plans with subdomains isn’t great for SEO. Adding a custom domain requires a paid plan, and both platforms’ pricing was beyond my budget.

Deciding to code my website

After weighing all these options and finding none to be perfect for my needs and budget, I decided to leverage my CS degree and build my website from scratch. Hosting it on GitHub and Vercel seemed like a practical solution. Vercel allows custom domains even on their free plan, so I’d only need to pay for the domain.

Learning and Building with Astro

This journey wasn’t easy. I explored various frameworks like Next.js, Gatsby, React, and Jekyll. I spent a lot of time exploring templates on GitHub until I discovered Astro. It’s tailored for content-rich sites, making it an ideal choice for my portfolio.

It took me about two and a half months to fully grasp Astro. I also learned how to use Tailwind CSS. I started with the Astro Nano template, made numerous modifications, and eventually completed my portfolio website. Now, my site renders markdown files as static web pages, which means I can write case studies Notion/Obsidian and copy paste the content into a new .md file and import the respective images and assets into the respective folders.

Building my portfolio from scratch has been challenging but incredibly rewarding. It’s a testament to the power of persistence and learning, and I’m thrilled with the result.

Moreover, inspired by this success, I decided to create a separate website for my blogs, also built with Astro. Now, I have a dedicated space to share my thoughts and insights, seamlessly integrated with my portfolio.

Checkout my portfolio website — fanindra.xyz

Stay tuned for more posts.