====== Getting Started on the IndieWeb ======

You don't need a computer science degree. You need curiosity and willingness to try.

The core principle: **own your domain, own your content, own your identity.**

===== Step 0: Buy a Domain =====

The single best first move. [[https://porkbun.com/|PorkBun]] has first-year costs as low as a couple dollars. Choose something personal — your name, a phrase, whatever feels right. This is yours.

**Email bonus:** PorkBun offers effortless email forwarding. Set up ''name@yourdomain.xyz'' and forward to your existing inbox. More professional, no new email account.

IndieWeb wiki: [[https://indieweb.org/A_Domain_of_One%27s_Own|A Domain of One's Own]]

===== The Skill Levels =====

==== Level 0: No Code Required ====

^ Platform ^ Cost ^ Notes ^
| [[https://home.omg.lol/referred-by/brennan|omg.lol]] | $20/year | Profile, weblog, status, email forwarding, kind community — no code |
| [[https://pika.page/|Pika.page]] | Free (50 posts), $6/mo | Beautiful writing experience, guestbook, image uploads |
| [[https://bearblog.dev/|Bear Blog]] | Free | Text-only, ultra-minimal |
| [[https://www.dreamwidth.org/|DreamWidth]] | Free tier | Old-school community blogging, spiritual successor to LiveJournal, comments |

All give you RSS feeds and data export. You're not locked in.

You'll learn [[https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/|Markdown]] — plain text with simple formatting:

<code markdown>
# Heading

Paragraph with **bold** and *italic*.

- List item
- Another item
</code>

==== Level 1: A Little HTML ====

[[https://neocities.org/|NeoCities]] (free) — build from scratch, beginner-friendly tutorials, supportive community.

HTML is a skeleton: angle brackets telling the browser what's a heading, paragraph, or link. CSS is styling — colors, fonts, layout. That's it.

<code html>
<h1>This is a heading</h1>
<p>A paragraph with <strong>bold</strong> and <em>italic</em>.</p>
</code>

Learning resources:
  * [[https://htmlforpeople.com/|HTML for People]]
  * [[https://sadgrl.online/guides/|Sadgrl.online Guides]]
  * [[https://www.dragonflycave.com/html-guide/|Dragonfly Cave HTML Guide]]

==== Level 2: Static Site Generators ====

Tools like [[https://www.11ty.dev/|Eleventy]] take Markdown files and generate a full website. You write content, the tool handles page generation, navigation, and RSS feeds.

  * Start with a template (e.g. [[https://github.com/brennanbrown/11ty-Indie-Web-Blog-Starter|11ty IndieWeb Blog Starter]])
  * Customize as you learn
  * Fast, secure, cheap to host — no database, no server, just files

===== The Site as Hub =====

Your site is the hub. Everything else is a spoke.

  * Post to your site first ([[indieweb:principles|POSSE]])
  * Syndicate to Mastodon, status.lol, twtxt, etc.
  * If any platform disappears, your content doesn't go with it

Multiple homes are good: mirror to [[https://neocities.org/|NeoCities]], post to [[tilde:start|tilde.town]], sync to [[indieweb:status_lol_twtxt|twtxt]]. The site remains the canonical source.

===== Start Today =====

  - Buy a domain from [[https://porkbun.com/|PorkBun]]
  - Start with Pika.page or omg.lol — write your first post
  - Write an ''/about'' page — who you are, what you care about
  - Add [[indieweb:web1_aesthetics|slash pages]] as you grow
  - Find others via [[indieweb:directories|directories and webrings]]
  - Try [[indieweb:blogging|100 Days to Offload]]

**The technology serves the writing, not the other way around.**

===== Harm Reduction =====

This isn't all-or-nothing. Keep your social media. Start an IndieWeb site alongside it. POSSE means your site is canonical while you share everywhere your readers are.

===== See Also =====
  * [[indieweb:start|IndieWeb Index]]

  * [[indieweb:principles|IndieWeb Principles]]
  * [[indieweb:community|Community — Mastodon, Webmentions, RSS]]
  * [[indieweb:blogging|Blogging Platforms]]
  * [[indieweb:directories|Directories & Blogrolls]]
  * [[indieweb:hosting|Hosting & Domains]]
  * [[start|Return to wiki home]]