I have always fancied the challenge of creating my own website and, as the Avomance YouTube Channel has grown, I thought maybe it’s about time.
I get requests for merch, want somewhere to share my thoughts and recommendations and also wanted to give something back to those who support me through Patreon or YouTube memberships.
It’s a chance for me to share ideas I am working on, where you can comment freely and get to help me form new videos.
It is also a chance for you to get to know the real me as I share other gaming and life experiences not mentioned in my Channel.
So, in this first Blog post I’m going to explain the process I went through making this site. Its a “diary” of my trips and stumbles as I learned about the hows and whys of making a website.
My first choice...
How to make the images and structure that I barely have in my block filled mind appear on someones iPad or PC?
There are many options.
The first is to learn a complex language like HTML, Javascript or Python and create it from scratch. Given I can barely cope with English in most of my Minecraft video content I felt that was unlikely to bring me success in less than a decade.
A second choice is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) style editor that basically guides me through the process, seeing what you are publishing as you go.
Being a visual person, this is ABSOLUTELY the right path for me.
I researched the best web hosting platforms and discovered there was lots of variation in speed, performance and cost. I came across a great provider called SiteGround that had good support, excellent security, didn’t cost the earth, worked well for my needs and had great reviews!
I already knew that I wanted a site that allowed me full website creativity, which drove me to use WordPress. Yes, perhaps, on its own, it is a little less user friendly than some other platforms – a bit like Bedrock really! However, within that, you can use different editors to make website design a lot simpler. For me it was a choice between Beaver Builder and Elementor. I eventually chose Elementor which turned it into a far easier game!
Drag, drop, type, drag some more, get frustrated, realise you did it wrong, do it right… rinse and repeat!
The rest is history, or at least it will be next year… right now its, erm, right now!
How the site develops I really don’t know totally yet! I plan for there to be a good selection of video suggestions, a members area that is accessible by Redstone and Diamond patrons that will have exclusive content, some recommendations for great equipment and software that I use and also – dare I say it – a shop for you to get Avo Merch!
Let me know what you think! It would be great to hear from you!