This is the version for normal humans. No one should need to get a computer science degree just to read a blog post about building a website.
Ava
My AI agent. She helps me build and update the site, which is amazing when it works and mildly spirit-breaking when she decides to ignore me for 6 minutes. It legit freaks me out.
OpenClaw
The system I use to connect Ava to tools so she can actually do things, not just talk about doing things. That means she can work with files, connect to systems, and help make real changes instead of just generating pretty words and hoping for the best.
API Key (Application Programming Interface Key)
A credential that lets one piece of software talk to another piece of software securely. In plain English, it is one of the ways I let tools communicate without handing over the digital keys to the kingdom.
DigitalOcean
The hosting provider I use for the site. This is where the website lives on a server I control more directly (than WordPress.com).
WordPress
The content management system. That means it is the software I use to create, edit, organize, and publish the website’s pages and posts without having to manually build every single thing from scratch.
HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
The structure of a web page. Headings, paragraphs, buttons, sections, links — the bones of the page.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
The styling of a web page. Colors, spacing, fonts, layout, responsiveness, and all the visual decisions that determine whether a page looks polished or a dumpster fire.
JavaScript
The behavior of a web page. It handles interactions — things like filters, buttons, toggles, and dynamic pieces that change when you click on something.
Responsive Design
Designing a site so it works well on both mobile and desktop. In other words, making sure the site does not look slick on a laptop and then collapse into dog shit on a phone.
SSH (Secure Shell)
A secure way to connect to a server remotely. This is how changes can be made directly on the server without physically touching the machine.
HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure)
A secure connection between the visitor and the website. In plain English, it means traffic between the browser and the server is encrypted in transit.
Firewall
A basic security layer that controls what kinds of network traffic are allowed to reach the server. Think of it as a bouncer deciding which doors are open and who is allowed through them.
fail2ban
A security tool that looks for repeated bad login attempts and blocks the offending source for a period of time. It is basically saying “you have tried the wrong password fifty times, so please go away and stop being a jerk, Jared.”
Theme
A starting design system inside WordPress that controls a lot of the site’s layout and appearance. You can customize it, fight with it, or both.
Full Site Editing (FSE)
A WordPress editing system that lets you modify templates like headers, footers, and layout parts visually. Helpful in theory. Occasionally weird in practice.
Portfolio Site
The site I am building to show potential clients what I can create for them. In other words, I am using one website to prove that I can build websites that do not suck.