I used to watch a lot of Three Stooges with my dad when I was a kid. Personally, I preferred the Marx Brothers, but I didn’t control the television remote. There was this one Three Stooges skit (I don’t remember which) that had a line where one of the stooges (again, don’t remember which) says “Niagara Falls! Slowly I turned…step by step…inch by inch…” My dad would quote it without fail anytime he heard someone say the phrase “step by step”. Which I always thought was funny, because the skit was all about getting triggered by the phrase “Niagara Falls”. But he’d crack himself up with it. Now it’s the only line I remember, and it still makes me chuckle every time I hear or think “step by step”. And funnily enough, I never think of it when I hear the phrase “Niagara Falls”. Oh, how our parents form us.
Anyways, that’s how the progress on this homepage is going. Step by step. Inch by inch. And the step I’ve been taking today has been to look at some other homepages out there for examples of how these cornerstones are being used.
Do you have any idea how many awesome personal websites there are out there? Because I gave up on counting. My browser is filled to the limits of my CPU with open tabs of excellent sites that people put together.
In my search for inspiration on what kind of page/pages I’m going to build for my site, I’ve become overwhelmed with a plethora of examples. So many great examples!
About pages. Now pages. Uses pages. Blogrolls. Links. Every time I think I know what I want to do, I see another site that is doing something else cool and there are just so many excellent options.
But I have limiting factors. For one, I am not a web designer. For two…no, there is no two. That’s really my biggest obstacle. Well, that and time. Give me limitless knowledge and infinite time, and I’ll whip up a super shiny homepage. For now, though, I’ll need to accept my limitations.
That does not mean, however, that there is not a path forward. I just need to keep reminding myself to take this thing one step at a time. Step by step, inch by inch. So that’s what I’ll do.
The first step, then, is to make a plan for my plan. And that’s what today’s goal has been. I’m deciding on starting with an About page. This seems to make the most sense to me, so it’s what I’ll start with.
But I’m also going to keep these great example tabs open, and I’m going to keep adding to them as I go. I know each one will serve as further inspiration down the road, when I have the ability to add more.
With that decision made, I will spend tomorrow doing research and drafting up some ideas of how I want my page/pages to look. And of course I’ll continue to post the results of that process here.
Because that’s what happens when you build a plane while you’re flying it. It’s out there for everyone to see as it’s happening. Would I prefer a comfortably lit hangar to build in private? Absolutely! But I also know that I would abandon the build and just grab a good book instead. So here I’ll be, hammering away. Hopefully it can serve to help someone else down the road.