I had wanted to learn how to build websites for a while. I tried online courses but found them challenging to make progress with. I needed my own project, something meaningful to work on. During the courses, I was just following a recipe without truly understanding what I was doing. A project that I cared about would allow me to solve problems and learn in a far more organic way. That’s when I came up with Beachfarer. And so, my journey began.
Why Web Development?
Throughout my life I have always thought that web design would be a good skill to have. It was in 2020, when I started work for a startup company building a complex SAAS application that gave me the push I needed to try it myself. Although I always had a firm grasp of software development, my career has been more focused on the product management and business analytics side of software development. I had a lot to learn to build my own websites.
What is Beachfarer.com
Beachfarer is a directory website which has information on over 150,000 beaches across the world. There is a lot I want to do with the site, so I am continually adding to it and learning along the way.
Why Beaches?
If you know me, you will realise I am not a traditional beach goer. I dislike laying still and sunbathing has no appeal. I do, however, love to hike and enjoy the natural beauty all around us. There is a particular natural beauty of the coast that I have always enjoyed. Shortly before the covid lockdowns, I learnt how to scuba dive. It was at the same time I also learnt that I that I was susceptible to sea sickness under the right conditions. In an attempt to avoid future loss of bodily fluids (and because shore dives are just less hassle) I wanted to find suitable locations for shore dives in and around Sydney. This proved to be harder than expected and there were few good resources to help. This is where I started to think I could create something to help others like me.
What stack I use
I use WordPress for all my websites and currently host my websites on my own server using Gridpane. At first, I avoided WordPress, thinking it was only for simple blogs, but I realised my preconceptions were wrong. I use brickbuilder for a lot of the heavy lifting on my site, but I do end up having to do a lot of coding to get the site to work in the way I need. This includes heavy use of PHP, SQL and JavaScript.
