For this project, I created two websites using different tools: GitHub Pages and WordPress. Both sites include the same content, but building them was very different. WordPress was definitely easier to use for beginners. It’s user-friendly and doesn’t require knowing much about coding. On the other hand, GitHub gave me more creative control and helped me understand how a website actually works behind the scenes.
When I was working in GitHub, the biggest challenge was figuring out where everything needed to go. For instance, what belongs in the CSS versus what should be in the HTML file. It took a lot of trial and error to get things to line up correctly. In WordPress, the challenge was kind of the opposite. It was easy to build quickly with the templates, but harder to make it feel completely personal.
WordPress had a lot of advantages for me. I liked that it had a spell checker since I tend to make small typing mistakes, and publishing updates were simple. In GitHub, you have to make sure everything is saved and committed before you can even see your changes. Still, GitHub gave me more freedom to be creative with design, layout, and coding.
The layout process was also different between the two. WordPress made organizing the page easier because everything is already formatted. Just adding headers, text, and widgets were a couple clicks away. In GitHub, I had to build every section myself using HTML and CSS. It took longer, but I felt like I was actually learning how the pieces of a website fit together.
Throughout this project, I learned a lot about HTML and CSS. I learned how styling and structure work together. I also realized that making a good-looking website takes a lot more time and patience than I expected! In the future, I’d like to learn how to add small animations like making my text move or jump.
You can visit my alternate website here: My WordPress Site.