Want to code a website from scratch? For that, you might feel intimidated by the thought of mastering tedious coding languages to design a site that functions as well as it looks.
Luckily, WordPress offers a lot of flexibility to anyone who wants to build a website that looks great, has powerful features, and doesn’t require complex coding knowledge.
So if you want to code a website from scratch but aren’t a master at coding, this post is for you. Because after reading this tutorial you’ll know how design a website like a pro in less than a day.
And not only will this guide teach you the easiest way to design a website, but it’ll also save you hours of time, energy, and headaches.
But if you’re still unsure about whether it’s better to code a website from scratch or build one with WordPress, here are some points that’ll help you make your decision.
Should You Really Code a Website?
Coding a full website can be a difficult task for beginners. Here are a few problems that new coders face when trying to create a website:
- Learning New Languages Is Time-Consuming : There are several programming languages that you might need to learn to build your website. HTML and CSS are two basics that you absolutely can’t ignore. And if you want advanced options, you can add more languages to your list, like jQuery, JavaScript, and PHP. This means that you need to master several languages to bring out your final product. Unless you have a lot of coding knowledge under your belt, your website could take months to build rather than days.
- Finding the Right Resources Is Tricky: What’s more challenging is that the internet is loaded with information. This increases the chances of you becoming more confused as you try to learn new coding languages. This leads some new coders to enroll in guided courses, which can be expensive.
- Planning for Unexpected Problems Is Impossible: Even if you overcome all those challenges and finally create a beautiful website, more challenges might show up with time. For example, if you want to add a sidebar to your site or change your site’s background for certain pages, you may end up wasting days of your time learning the solution.
With so many obstacles to overcome, only you can decide if you want to code a site from scratch or not. If you’re like many website builders, you may consider other options.
What’s an easy alternative?
The best answer is to code a website with a WordPress website builder.
What Is a Website Builder?
In WordPress, a website builder is a visual editor that lets you create a website using its drag and drop interface. So unlike pure coding, you have all the elements added to the visual builder. Then you simply drag and drop the elements you want to use to create your site. The best thing is that you have a real-time preview of your design while you’re working on it.
WordPress has several great options for you to pick a good website builder. Here are some good page builders that you can check out. For this tutorial, we’ll use Beaver Builder to create your website.
Coding a Website with WordPress + Beaver Builder
Step 1. Installing and Activating Beaver Builder
To code a website with Beaver Builder, you’ll first have to install WordPress. Then from your WordPress dashboard, install and activate the Beaver Builder plugin. Once that’s done you can start using it to design your website.
Here’s how that works:
Go back to Pages » Add New in your WordPress dashboard. You’ll now see the Gutenberg editor gives you the option to launch the Beaver Builder plugin.
Click on Launch Builder Beaver.
This will launch the Beaver Builder visual editor where you can work on your design. To your right, you’ll see the options to add rows, modules, and templates. It also has a tab called Saved where you can see all of your previously saved templates.
Step 2: Selecting a Template for Your Website
The next step is to create a template for your design. You can select a template by clicking on the Templates tab on your right.
Here you’ll see various pre-built templates being displayed. You’ll also have a blank template option that you can use to create a more custom look.
By selecting one of these pre-built templates you can get started right away. It only takes a few tweaks to customize different elements like the text, logo, tagline, and so on.
Step 3: Adding Rows and Modules to Your Layout
This step is essential if you want to build your design from scratch. Or, you can add rows and columns to a pre-built template, too.
To add rows to your design just select the Rows tab and select the number of rows you want to add. Now drag your rows and drop them to your left. You can click on each of these tabs to customize their appearance.
Using these customization options you can easily move your columns, duplicate them, adjust the row width, or work on each column individually. To edit your columns, click on the column where you want to make the changes. Then click on the Edit Column icon to get started. Now you’ll see the Column Settings option.
Here you can add text, links, background-colors, add borders, animation, and many other elements to your columns. Now that the rows are added, it’s time to add different elements like buttons, image galleries, maps, testimonials, contact forms etc, each of which is called a module.
Adding modules is as simple as adding your rows. Just go to the Modules tab, drag the module you want from your right, and drop it on your left.
You can also customize each of these modules. For example, if you want to work on your heading, all you need to do is click on your heading module. You’ll see a popup appear on your screen with 3 different tabs.
- General
- Style
- Advanced
In the General tab, you can edit your text, add a heading tag, add links, add a “nofollow” tag, or let your links open in a new window if you want.
The Style tab lets you work on the color, font, style & spacing, and more.
Finally, there’s the Advanced tab. Under this tab, you can add spacing, customize visibility, add animations, insert HTML elements, and export or import your layout as well.
Just don’t forget to click on the Save button if you don’t want to lose your settings.
You can repeat the process with all the modules added to your website so that you can customize every aspect of your website. You can also add sidebars, pricing tables, and other elements to your page with Beaver Builder.
Then all that’s left is publishing your site.
Step 4: Publishing Your Website
Once everything has been properly added and customized, it’s time for you to Publish your site. For that, you’ll see the Publish button on the top right corner of your screen.
And that’s it! You’ve now built a custom site with Beaver Builder that didn’t require expensive coding courses or long sleepless nights sifting through coder forums.
We’ve gone over the basics of what you can do with Beaver Builder, but you may be interested in diving deeper. If so, you’ll find this article helpful in creating a custom layout with Beaver Builder.
Now you see how easy it is to create a custom website with a website builder. The best thing is that it doesn’t involve writing or learning any code.
Using a site builder allows you to get the same result in a fraction of the time.
Not convinced by Beaver Builder? Don’t worry. We have more website builder suggestions for you that can simplify the process of designing your website.
But if you are still determined to code your site from scratch but don’t know how to get started, we have the solution for that as well. Try out Codecademy. It’s the best starting place for anyone who has the time and wants to learn coding with a guided step-by-step course.
Once you’re done learning how to code, and you’re ready to build your first website, you’ll need to pick a domain name and choose a good web hosting where you can host your site. Then you’ll find these resources handy:
- How To Create a Test Site
- How to Harden Your Site to Keep Hackers Out
- Online Marketing Tools To Boost Your Business
These posts have all the information you need when you’re just getting started with a website.
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