Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

General Discussion

unmukt Kamboj
PLUS
unmukt Kamboj
Courses Plus Student 54 Points

About creating my Portfolio as a Freelancer

Hello Technos, I have a question about creating my portfolio..

I want to create my portfolio for freelancing, I just wanna know how to make it..

Which one Should I choose WordPress or Laravel or make it from Scratch..

Please Help me, thanx in advance..

4 Answers

Steve Brewer
Steve Brewer
15,030 Points

Either is fine, the most important thing is the portfolio items you display and that you present them well, and the site loads fast. WordPress is probably overkill unless you have a blog or something more complex than just images displaying your work.

The site itself could be an opportunity to show what you can do, but on the flip side you don't want it to distract people from your best work.

Mat Helme has nailed this with his portfolio http://www.mathelme.com/

Konrad Pilch
Konrad Pilch
2,435 Points

Hey Steve, would u want to join us on a slack group where we help each other, collaborate on projects etc..?

Anyone is welcome.

Heres the link

Konrad Pilch
Konrad Pilch
2,435 Points

Hey, I guess WP is fine, as well as laravel and other, it doesn't matter what you use, but what you present like Steve said.

This is my site that i created after i learned WP here at treehouse. I know, it has bootstrap feel :D but uh, im new.

Theres another site on my portfolio, all created in WP from skratch.

You can find similar sites to mine made in RoR for example.

I mean, not that they will care what technology you will use, unelss you want to apply for a specific job.

Stacy Agcaoili
Stacy Agcaoili
6,167 Points

Konrad Pilch I'm currently working on my updated portfolio site as I've been learning more about web design. I've done a couple Squarespace design projects, but I really want to start doing coding projects. I just don't know where to start. Any advice? I also joined your Slack group.

Konrad Pilch
Konrad Pilch
2,435 Points

HI,

What skills do you possess? I mean, PHP, Laravel, WP, JS? and what are your intentions for the future?

Stacy Agcaoili
Stacy Agcaoili
6,167 Points

Konrad Pilch Right now, I know intermediate HTML/CSS. I'm about 15 hours from complete the Front End Developer track. Right now, my intention is to do freelance web design.

Konrad Pilch
Konrad Pilch
2,435 Points

So basically your a full front-end. I don't know what you can do with JS, but if you can do things like carousel and such, you should be alright with it.

Web design. I guess you will need to be good at one of the adobe softwares like illustrator and or photoshop. Since you want to go into web-design, you need to be very creative. If you look at my site for example here what you can see is simple , clean design, anyone can do it really, really.

On the other hand, i have some cool ideas that i got from other sites, are require photoshop/illustrator skill, and more front-end like JS which I can't really make. It woudl be nice to make a portfolio to show off your skill, and it's very easy since people can see it stragiht away, compared if you are a good at back-end, thats harder to determinate because it's code.

So usually website process is made like this: YOu get the wireframing of it, the dieas whatever.. and then you actaully code the website. YOU do the front-end. Most of the times i guess, the website will be handed to a back-end developer that will make it into e.g. a CMS. Content Management System. Like WordPress.

Now, if you want to freelance, depending to who, you might actually learn back-end as well. If you want to specialise just into the Front-end, not knowing back-end then it will be harder to find the work, because most businesses wants to control their site, or write blog posts etc.. while with jsut front-end you might get a job that could be rare, and you would need to be really good at it.

If you can do a site that iv showed you, and more complex ones, like e-commerce, then your front-end should be , i believe, good. If i was you, I would learn at least WordPress theme development. Wthin few weeks you will be able to do the site iv just showed you. I did the HTML/CSS and JS part, and then i put it in WordPress. Few weeks, and ur done. At least it was 2 weeks for me. But i did it every day, and i did like 5 different sites that were completely shit, the design as well.

I mean, i would say going full-stack is the way to go, specialising in one, so i guess for you it's CSS and JS. Always specialise in one once you know what you want to do.

I know enough HTML/CSS and jQuery(almsot) that i could make almost any website look with the JS functionality. I know how to do basic jQuery which is almost enough for me. Now im doing more of PHP , abck-end . Im focusing on WP and Laravel.

Back-end is where the money really comes in. YOu know, you can code facebook view, but can you make it work? thats the big one. Customers will probably want their site to work, if they want to design a facebook like site.

But of course once you get at it good and people will trust you, i guess you could just do front-end if you are amazing, and then they woudl find a back-end devleoper. If you do both your gonna i giess, leanr more, and earn more.