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Hi folks, I'm so dang tired of the internet as it currently is. The idea of a small web, personal websites, returning to what the internet was intended to be sounds incredibly exciting to me and I'd like to invest in that... but I don't really know where to start? So much of what I read seems to have a ton of coding jargon. I clicked on Small Web 101 and it was a masterlist of somewhat confusing links.

The most coding I've done was on Khan Academy as a teenager or setting up an automatic macro to run the coliseum for me in Flight Rising. I pirate basically everything I watch but I've only torrented one or two things and don't really grasp how that works. I don't really know anything about my laptop but I have a vague idea that I should switch to Linux and I replaced the screen once.

What's step one for a wannabe Small Web enthusiast?

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[-] one_old_coder@piefed.social 5 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

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.

[-] Opisek@piefed.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 month ago

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.

[-] foxymochakitten@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 month ago

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?

[-] Opisek@piefed.blahaj.zone 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

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.

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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