Building a WebSite with AI

I am a fan of WordPress but I am also a fan of using the newest tools, my lab for example does run Beta versions just so I can get access to the latest features. So what's a guy to do when I hear that AI can build a website in 10 minutes that rivals what a Web Developer can do in months. Well if you're like me you have to test that hypothesis.

I already had a live site and to be honest didn't want to recreate everything and also liked the layout. I decided to use Cursor for this one, the main reason is that I had a ton of tokens I hadn't used and was running low on Codex. So I simply asked Cursor to build a site based off of my current one, I used this prompt and it started working its magic.

I would like you to interview me for rebuilding a website building for a site, it is going to be a blog site mainly, I want visitors to use code blocks that I have defined, and download software I have created. Allow for linking to external sources such as GitHub and I want to be able to update it similar to how WordPress works. I want a modern feel and content based on my own website www.technolitero.com↗

I know this wasn't the cleanest of prompts but it kicked out a halfway decent site. It was fully functional in 10 minutes but lacking in many areas. I told it what I wanted when I didn't really know how to explain what that meant. Some pages were hard coded, the editor wasn't great but I liked the layout and how it functioned otherwise. I asked for a pretty site, it put lipstick on a pig. I could of just left it and dealt with it, it worked mostly but I like production systems so I had to refine it.

You have to think of yourself as a junior Engineer, your job is not necessarily to create but to run through what is delivered and see what works well and what doesn't, you are in effect QA but less experienced with code. I did several iterations until it was pretty good. I can edit the pages, they save in a standard format. The features and code blocks I needed were placed in the correct locations and was almost as good as WordPress without the need for WordPress. I still have some refining to do but all in all I think it came out pretty good. My best advice is to be happy when you feel its complete and keep refining until you're happy with the results.

There are two things I have seen as an Architect, deployment scalability and security are rarely thought about by developers. It doesn't matter how many times you tell them they wait until the end.... in my case so did I. Luckily we have AI now and its doing all the work. When you get past the functionality piece ther are two things I like to do. The first is to tell AI that you want it scan the code for any security vulnerabilities and the second is to refactor the code. This helps clean it up and remove things that'll bite you in the future. AI is also good for suggesting things that you don't see, I'm not an experienced developer and while I know more on the security side that is not my daily job. AI can help with this. The last thing you want is someone putting NSFW content on your site. In my case I run it behind Cloudflare so I can run it any where not just in the cloud. Cloudflare is great for this and allows caching and some access rule options as well.

The site is done, local testing is complete and now you have to decide how you want to deploy it. I decided on Docker Compose, this allows me to spin it up anywhere but does add a little complexity. AI to the rescue, I had it create my YAML and package the container. How you plan on it working is vital to a few things, first how easy is it to update and maintain, secondly what is your comfort level with the technology running the site. AI is good at a lot of things but right now, this is your responsibility. Troubleshooting is harder in a container, deployment is easier you just have to know the differences and align around it.

Now that it was deployed I ran through live testing, Docker had permissions that needed aligned but all in all it was pretty seamless. Everything worked as it did locally and based on feedback I gave AI the site workflow improved.

The site you are on was created by AI, refined by AI, and the deployment was configured by AI. So where does that leave people like me. You have to be the person building the product as more of a Product Manager. AI doesn't have context unless you give it that context. You have to be able to tell it where the gaps are, that is your job. AI can do much of the heavy lifting but it is not all knowing. Testing is also critical, AI will do what you tell it to but it doesn't understand basic human workflows completely so if you don't want a bad product don't just take its first iteration. All in all my 10 minutes gave me a site, 8 hours gave me a production site that would've taking me much longer doing it myself if even possible. I know have a site that I can change any way I want, that works as a CMS and allows me to add options that WordPress would have a hard time with such as layout. AI is a tool, use it as such, be the master craftsman that knows what you want and do your best to explain what that is.