Developing Your First
Website: How To Take Your Idea To The Next Stage
Some Background Information
Everything you see on this site was developed by two people within a matter of 10 months. But that's not really going to impress you – there is, after all, a plethora of websites out there with better features and designs. The content of this site isn't that impressive either; it is accessible to everyone, and all we did was aggregate it in one place. Although the features are fun to play with and are very Web 2.0ish, the technology itself has been around for a long time. So why should you spend your time reading this if it’s not supposed to impress you?
The answer is simple; we are not trying to impress you at all. Our goal, in putting together this write-up, is to help you get a better understanding of what it takes to come up with an idea and make it a reality. The rules are the same under most circumstances and across all industries – this example just happens to deal with the web.
Experience
Although experience is crucial for developing and running any successful business, don’t become discouraged if you aren’t particularly knowledgeable about a certain subject. All it takes is an idea that you really believe in and a passion to see it come to life.
When we began developing Planjam in February 2006, I had absolutely no idea about what it takes to develop a website. I knew nothing about Javascript, never heard of AJAX, and I was clueless about even the most fundamental aspects of html (although I did know how to make text bold).
My partner graduated with a degree in Computer Science and was working with a company developing software for motion control systems. He had developed one other website in the past, but it was strictly for personal use.
With the experience of only a single website between us, we set out to develop
our concept. I'll begin with probably the most important aspect of any business,
the idea. It’s always fun to recount the events that led up to the conception
of an idea, especially when you consider all those little variables that went
into effect.