What I Use
This is everything I use to upkeep this website. From coding, FTP, hosting, and more!
If you have any questions regarding anything, please do not hesitate to reach out. I'm a firm supporter of sharing knowledge and a believer in "there's no such thing as dumb questions".
I also want to preface that by no means do I have a perfect operation over here. Things will always be ebbing and flowing, and I am just a hobbyist, not an expert.
My PC also runs on Linux, I use Linux Mint Cinnamon at the moment, so everything here is Linux friendly and mostly likely FOSS, though you may have to look into other options for Windows/MacOS.
I don't wanna go in too much on how things work here, I'll probably write about the whole self hosting process at a later point more in depth.
Self Hosting
I currently self host my website! I previously used Neocities as an introduction into webdev, and I hear Nekoweb is also servicable for hosting your own static website. I also used Altervista for a short bit to dip my toes in PHP and to see if I even wanted to have my own dynamic site, and suffice to say I fell in love with the workflow very quickly. Below is everything I use(d) to set up my current web operation.
VPS (Virtual Private Server) - RackNerd.com. Has some good budget-friendly options and coupon codes if you're willing to look, while also being super user friendly.
Domain - Namecheap.com. As the name states, domains for cheap, also has coupon codes if you're willing to look.
Panel - Cloudpanel.io. I use this for my site panel. User-friendly interface and good documentation.
SSH Connection - I just use my terminal, though I hear Putty is good for Windows.
FTP - Filezilla. I love Filezilla personally, though I know others like CyberDuck exist, while some use WinSCP on Windows.
Coding
For coding my website, I currently use VSCodium, which is a open source version of VS Code (don't get it twisted, I do NOT use AI at all in the creation of my site. The AI tools are completely optional and easy to disable). Even if you just use a static site host like Neocities, I highly recommend using a local code editor instead of their editor, you'll go crazy, trust. I know a lot of people use Phoenix Code, but I've tried it and it was extremely frustrating lol, I could never gvet the live display to work, but maybe I'm just dumb. You can try it if you'd like, I know many swear by it, though for myself coding became a lot easier when I made the switch to VSCodium/VS Code.
I also used Codepen.io for a short bit when building my Neocities website, and I do enjoy that editor if you prefer to work in browser.
Misc
Just because I like to dump about things I use, I'm gonna include this section for miscelanious stuff I use to make browsing the web a lot better for me, with an emphasis on tools that do not force AI on you lol.
Browser - I use Firefox. It isn't perfect by any means, but the customization available makes it pretty easy to avoid AI.
Search Engine - I use NoAI DuckDuckGo. I dunno about other browsers, but through Firefox, it's really easy to add your own custom search engine through the settings. Just search for 'Search Engine' in settings, scroll down to 'Search Shortcuts', click 'Add', paste your preferred search engine URL for search inquiries, then save. From there, you can set NoAI DuckDuckGo (or whatever you want) as your preferred search engine! Yay!
