Indie Dev Log #01 — Project Kickoff

Introduction

I had wanted to build a personal website for a long time—somewhere I could share development experience and organize the useful links I collect. After researching a few approaches, I decided to stop planning and start building.

Requirements

Core features

Article publishing — Markdown support and links to articles on external platforms
Resource directory — Categories for frequently used tools and websites
Resource submissions — A way for visitors to suggest new resources
Responsive design — A good experience on phones and desktops

Technology choices

After comparing several options, I chose:

Framework: Next.js 14 with the App Router
Styling: Tailwind CSS
Content: Markdown and JSON
Database: Supabase for submission forms
Hosting: Vercel

Design thinking

I looked at several well-designed personal websites:

Lee Robinson (leerob.io) — a clear, restrained visual style
SeedPlaybook — an effective card-based resource directory

The first direction used cards and a blue-led palette to create a professional, technical feel. The design has continued to evolve as the purpose of the site has become clearer.

Development plan

Phase one: foundation

[x] Initialize the Next.js project
[x] Configure Tailwind CSS
[x] Build the basic component library

Phase two: core features

[ ] Design the homepage
[ ] Build the article system
[ ] Build the resource library

Phase three: refinement

[ ] Improve performance
[ ] Complete SEO configuration
[ ] Deploy the website

Questions I ran into

Design system — How should visual quality and functionality be balanced?
Content management — When should content be statically generated or loaded dynamically?
Discovery — How can people find the right resource quickly?

Plan for next week

Complete the homepage hero
Implement the resource cards
Build the basic navigation structure

This is the first entry in my indie-development log. I hope to keep documenting the decisions, problems, and lessons behind the project.