How MY Web Works

Mark McFate — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 17:45:11 -0600

I’ve been building websites and apps for a lot of years now, and over time I’ve used a plethora of different frameworks and tools to do so. I’ve also involved a number of registrars, DNS strategies, source code repositories, and web hosts… frankly too many to remember or even count.

In my old age I’d love to have a dynamic document, or two, where I can track things like this:

For Websites:

the site’s purpose
the site’s address and aliases
the domain registrar
the DNS host and site’s record structure

For Apps:

the application’s purpose
the application’s web address (if deployed to the web)
a link to the application’s user guide or instruction

For Both Sites and Apps:

the programming language(s) used
the location of the code repository
a link to development and deployment guidance

Mackenzie’s Project

I feel like I’m a little too close to this material and perhaps my memory is clouded by too much outdated documentation to accurately determine where things stand today. So, I’m asking my daughter, Mackenzie, to look at the artifacts I can provide and piece together this document for me.

Some Background Research

I’ll start by asking Mackenzie to find, share, and document some resources to help her understand how to identify and document the working parts of my sites and apps… discovering how the web works, and more.

Let’s begin with a short list of documents/pages to help in that regard:

Some “formal” educational materials: