November 11, 2017
Let's Build: A Consultancy Website - Part 38
Deployment and Launch - Ending
The final part of the Let's Build: A Consultancy Website is finally here! We've come very far and 38 videos later I get to call the site complete. You can view the final website at endlyssdesigns.com.
Deployment
Using version control with forever be a wise decision when working with any type of codebase. For websites, modern web hosts who are "developer-friendly", allow you to integrate deployment using a git repo of some kind to your host. This often results in eliminating the need for ever needing to FTP into your site (hopefully). Your workflow becomes smoother and easier.
I use a service called Cloudways which essentially is a layer on top of other host providers that gives me an interface to use of which I can configure to my liking. My servers are through Digital Ocean but Cloudways makes it easy to create, edit, and delete sites with the click of a few buttons. I also don't need to worry about managing any software on my server as it's all handled for me. I'd really recommend it if you're looking for a big time-saving hosting provider that still uses the best of the best in terms of speed and performance in a web server.
The End is Here
Successes
We built a new website for Alyssa which is the new space for her new direction in doing business ahead. She now has a home for explaining what it is she does, what services she offers, and inside look at the day and the life of her workday, and of course, a few ways to get in touch with her to do business.
From a technical perspective, I learned a new CMS called Kirby which was painfully easy to use. The CMS itself is file-based so I don't have to worry too much about security issues with other CMSs' that rely on databases to house data. I would definitely recommend Kirby for smaller sites and blogs. It's very straightforward to build with and the documentation is fantastic.
Challenges
Broadcasting my design and development process was a new experience for me. It's taken a lot of time and effort to the author not only design and code but also 38 videos for YouTube. Even after screencasting the work I needed to edit, upload, share and create assets for each and every video. I loved the process but don't let anyone ever tell you authoring videos on YouTube is easy.
What's next?
More videos of course. I'm interested in new projects, frameworks, and languages. I plan to start digging into Ruby on Rails as I've been building a new application on the side with the framework and really like it. In my own process of learning, I found much of the tutorials and/or videos available were incredibly out of date. Maybe I can help keep things current? We shall see.
Thanks
Thank you for making it this far. The journey was long and some of it likely dull but my end goal was to show the ins and outs of a design and development process that wasn't sugar-coated for YouTube. There is no fast forward button in life and in fact, I'd rather there be a rewind button personally. The design takes a lot of time. Development is just the same. Hopefully what I shared helps you on your own journey. I'd love to hear about it if so. Cheers!
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