I built this site to keep a public record of my WordPress Credits journey. Before choosing a design, I listed the main requirements of the program: a page about me, one for my onboarding, one for my contribution project, a blog for my reflections, and a way to contact me. That list became the foundation of the site’s navigation.
I started by building a first version locally with WordPress Studio, which allowed me to test pages and experiment with the design without publishing anything. The process was not always smooth. At first, my local database could not be written to because the project folder was inside OneDrive, which had marked it as read-only. Later, I noticed that my first layout looked unbalanced: the content was pushed to one side, the cards were so narrow that words broke in half, and the large image on the home page made it load slowly during my local tests. Fixing these problems taught me to measure, test, and verify results instead of assuming that everything works as expected.
I also learned the difference between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. WordPress.org provides the open-source WordPress software and supports its global community, while WordPress.com is a hosting platform that offers different plans and features. Because my current plan determines which customization options are available, I adapted my design using the site editor and Additional CSS rather than uploading a custom theme.
I used the AI coding assistant in WordPress Studio to help debug some issues and speed up parts of the layout process. However, I reviewed and tested every change myself to make sure it worked as intended.
If I could start over, I would publish a simple version earlier and improve it gradually instead of trying to polish everything before anyone could see it. This experience reminded me that building a website is an iterative process: you create, test, learn, and improve.
Next, I will begin my contribution project by translating Learn WordPress into Spanish (Costa Rica). I will document my progress, the challenges I encounter, and what I learn along the way.