MeTeech #003 - Options
Welcome back to the MeTeech diaries. Last week we looked at the story of MeTeech. - My reasons for creating the platform. This week we’re looking at my first thoughts on how I should go about doing that in the following post:
“Before you read this, there is some key information about Zensei in my previous post.
To make Zensei’s platform a reality, I need to build a website from the ground up. It’s going to need some complex features and, I must admit, I have very little experience with this. Although I realise I’m venturing into the unknown, I am very excited to finally create something real.
Here are my options:
Hire
I could use a service such as Fiverr or Upwork to hire a web-developer online. This would garner a semi-professional service at a variable cost but would allow me to access skills globally.
I could contact people already in my networks who have the relevant expertise. This would allow me to be able to communicate with them more effectively and potentially give me access to a discounted rate.
I could contact relevant departments at the university and potentially involve student volunteers. This would be the cheapest option but I may pay the price in lack of quality. Still, considering the experience it will give the students, this seems like a win-win situation at the least cost.
Design it Myself
To be honest, I will most probably start developing the website myself. But, I believe that there will definitely come a time where collaboration is required further down the line.
Buying a domain name will be cheap and easy, starting at around 10 pounds a year. (Google Domains). Trouble is, the more desirable names for Zensei (such as zensei.com) are taken. A simple ‘.com name’ like that would be perfect. But… It looks like I will have to go back to the drawing board in terms of a brand name. However, this early on, that shouldn’t be too massive a problem.
I am aware of many different web-hosting platforms that will facilitate the building of a website such as WordPress, Squarespace or Wix.com. However, from what I understand, the capabilities of platforms like this are limited to simple web pages such as contact, about, blog, portfolio and products pages.
Further detail in coding will be required to bring the functionality of Zensei’s platform to fruition. I will seek further advice from someone more knowledgeable on the topic.
While I’m here though… A personal website could be very useful to put myself out there. So I bought the domain ‘dilanalexander.com’ for 10 pounds a year, and with that, I shall get some experience setting up my own personal website.
From here, I’m going to get in touch with a few computer science contacts and figure things out with Zensei’s platform. That being said, I understand that this may take a while until I am happy with the finished product, but to be honest, I am just as excited about the journey.”
A few thoughts:
Currently, I have decided to design this myself. I have decided to use Wordpress.org CMS. This was suggested to me by a friend with experience in web design. I have bought the domain name ‘meteech.com’ and I am currently looking for a suitable hosting provider. It’s going slower than I had imagined but I hope to have a finished product by the end of this year. I’ve gotta keep my head down to achieve that though, so fingers crossed I will be able to accomplish that!
That domain ‘dilanalexander.com’ is the very website you are reading from today. I am currently using Squarespace.com to host this website and I have to say, it was a very worthwhile leap of faith. I have enjoyed writing articles about interesting topics and I’m not going to lie: it’s very exciting to have your very own patch of real estate on the internet.
Taking this jump has also given me experience in the different website options out there. Squarespace cost me £115 for the first year and it is definitely very easy for anyone to use. However, as I came to see, it does have its limitations. To name a few: (1) it isn’t capable of the functionality required of the website-to-be meteech.com and (2) there are limitations of things like email lists that require you to upgrade your membership to Squarespace.
The method I have chosen for meteech.com will cost around the same amount if not a little more. However, the functionality of the website will be far exceeding the capabilities of Squarespace.
And the new brand name? Well, you’ll have to come back to read next week’s article. It’s a very bizarre twist…
