The number of dumbasses reaching out to me trying to sell me website development services is absolutely mind-blowing.
First of all, CaliMo is a hobby. I'm tinkering. I'm experimenting with different technologies, learning new things, and having fun building something for the community. I'm not trying to launch the next Facebook, and I'm certainly not looking to hire somebody to build a website I'm perfectly capable of working on myself.
Second, the damn website already works. And I've put relatively little effort into it. Imagine what I could do if I actually decided to get serious about it.
For anyone curious, here's what's going on behind the scenes at CaliMo.us.
This isn't some drag-and-drop website thrown together on Wix or Squarespace. It's a self-hosted web application running on a Linux-based environment with several different services working together.
Here's the software setup:
- Linux: The operating system environment that runs the website's services.
- phpBB: The forum platform that handles accounts, discussions, permissions, private messaging, and community features.
- PHP: The server-side language that powers the forum.
- MariaDB: The database that stores accounts, posts, settings, and other site information.
- Docker: Runs supporting services in isolated containers.
- Cloudflare: Manages the domain's DNS, HTTPS, and an additional layer of traffic protection.
- Cloudflare Tunnel: Connects the website to the internet without directly opening up the origin server to incoming public connections.
- Custom styling: I've modified the site's design, branding, and layout rather than settling for the default forum appearance.
When you visit CaliMo.us, your connection goes through Cloudflare and is routed through an encrypted tunnel to the website. The application processes your request, gets whatever information it needs from the database, and sends the page back to your browser.
I control the whole setup. I can change the design, adjust how features work, experiment with configurations, and keep improving things whenever I feel like it.
Is it perfect? Of course not. There are plenty of things I could improve. But that's the entire point. I'm learning as I go because I actually enjoy this stuff.
So, to the endless parade of unsolicited website developers offering to rebuild CaliMo for some ridiculous fee: What exactly do you think I need you for?
I didn't build this because I needed a website.
I built it because I wanted to see if I could.
And so far, I'm having a hell of a lot of fun doing it.
https://calimo.us
