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Getting started with minimal tech experience?
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this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2026
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The Smol Web
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Community for the appreciation and sharing of links, resources, and culture of: the smol web / small web / ~(w)~ / the indie web / or even the non-www internet (gemini, gopher, etc).
Back of a napkin definition, subject to change: if it's internet accessible and is maintained by a person, especially for non-commercial aims, then I would consider it smol. There are, however, much stricter definitions.
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- https://smolweb.org/
- https://indieweb.org/
- https://smallweb.page/
- https://wikipedia.org/wiki/IndieWeb
- https://cheapskatesguide.org/articles/small-internet.html
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I still think that you should start with the Python programming language. It's the modern alternative to the "BASIC" of the 80s.
Install the latest stable version (3.16 according to https://www.python.org/downloads/), struggle a bit with the official tutorial (https://docs.python.org/3/tutorial/index.html) or get any introduction book from Anna's archives, and have fun.
I'm an old fart and I don't believe there is a need to write complicated stuff to have fun. Try that for a few hours, struggle a bit because it should be entertaining for your brain, and see if you have fun. If not, there are other languages out there, but Python is easy enough to grasp most concepts like variables, loops, playing with data, and writing simple scripts.
Ignorant question incoming... what is Python used for? I'm always down to pick up a new skill but I don't see the connect between Python and Small Web :')
The real small web is written in HTML without too much scripting (JS). Python can do everything but the whole point is to teach concepts like variables and functions. It's unrelated to what I would call the small web, but it's a good knowledge to have.
If you want to stick to the web, learn TypeScript instead.
As for Small Web 101, if you're talking about https://xn--gckvb8fzb.com/the-small-web-101/, it's a mess of useless links. I would go to https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn_web_development, and host simple pages on Neocities. It's the small stuff of the 90s.
Well, prior to learning TypeScript, they might wanna start with simple HTML and CSS. The w3schools website is great to get going in my opinion.
Thank you both!! I have a friend who knows a bit about HTML and CSS so she may be able to get me started there. Python sounds useful. What's the difference between Python, TypeScript, HTML and CSS?
HTML is the basic language that describes the layout of your webpage, the text, etc.
CSS is for the looks of everything.
JavaScript lets you have interactive things on the website.
TypeScript is JavaScript with extra features for the developers, but it compiles down to JavaScript still.
Python is a scripting language that you can use to create a webserver. You can also do that with JavaScript. There are also ways to make Python run in the browser but it's still in its infancy tbh.
Edit: Hence, I would suggest to first learn to make some static websites with HTML and CSS and later JavaScript. Those are basics that you will need to know, even if you use other frameworks, i.e., I would not recommend looking into React or Python (Flask) etc. until much later, because they all presume that you already know HTML+CSS+JS. Hit me up if you have any questions or need some assistance.
Its a programming languages, use it to automate stuff, to make apps, or to make websites.
Python is very easy and extremely popular