To me, the single most important principle a website needs to comply with is courtesy delivery. When a page is flashing ads about discounted crap I neither want or need, or starts asking me questions, then I couldn’t care less about how pretty it looks. What I do appreciate is a page that’s as inviting as it is functional. The flow is mightier than the show. Or something like that. I guess what I’m trying to convey is that design is only one feature. The code behind any page—although invisible in nature—is ultimately the main gate that will either please or repel you.

So when I decided to write this site myself, I knew two things. First, that it would be a heck of a challenge considering my lack of experience. And second, that it would have to adhere to the courtesy delivery principle. Over the last few weeks, I’ve tried to implement as many reader-friendly, no-bullshit items as I could think of.

Must-have items to implement

• A landing page that doesn’t scroll forever (it shouldn’t be lengthier than four or five notches on the mouse wheel or a few finger swipes)
• Really fast-loading pages (I wanted them to be near instantaneous)
• No subscription prompts and no questions asked to visitors
• No convoluted menu bars and obtrusive panels
• A pop-up/cookie-free policy
• A useable, concise footer

I’m also learning to write more efficiently in the meantime by using annotations and margin comments where I deem them necessary.

Next time, I believe I’ll be ready to wrap up my codebase and begin the actual site production.