a garden
of ideas.Writing
of ideas.Writing
The Digital Garden
By Maggie AppletonA collection of visual essays, notes, and patterns that grows over time.
Websites and portfolios
Distinctive pages, personal sites and practical help getting a website online.
A website can be an introduction, a useful tool or a place to collect work over time. Its first job is to make the next action obvious: try the project, read the explanation or find the person behind it. The visual treatment matters most when the page also loads quickly, reads well and works on a small screen.
Use this collection to study clear structure and individual voice. A digital garden, an interactive article and a 3D portfolio solve different problems, so borrow the decisions that fit your own work. The guides explain hosting, domains, mobile checks and the small amount of ongoing maintenance that turns a temporary preview into a reliable public page.
Selected work
Open a project to try it and find the original.
hello,
world.Writing
world.Writing
Three.js
JourneyProducts
JourneyProducts
How the Internet Works — the half-second after you press Enter
By Ryan SaelRide one click through a miniature world of DNS, handshakes, packets and Wi-Fi.
People behind the work
Make your next thing
All guidesBuild a creator portfolio around your work
Create a useful home for your projects with clear descriptions, original links, meaningful tags and specific sharing metadata. Show what you made and how people can try it.
Read the guideWhere to host your first project
Compare Sites, Replit, Vercel, GitHub Pages, Netlify, Cloudflare and Render by what your project needs, then publish a link you can maintain and update.
Read the guideKeep your project online after launch
Create a small maintenance routine for a creator project: owned accounts, verified updates, backups, spending checks and a clear response when something stops working.
Read the guideMake your project usable on a phone
Test the real task on a narrow screen with touch, readable text and a working keyboard. Handle desktop-only experiences honestly with a useful save-for-later route.
Read the guideThe minimum stack for your first launch
Choose the smallest set of services your project needs: hosting, a contact route and useful analytics. Add accounts, data, email and payments when the work needs them.
Read the guideGet your product live in ten steps
A practical ten-step launch checklist for creators: finish the useful path, publish it, verify email and analytics, and give your first visitors a working link.
Read the guideUseful references
Find another direction
Explore more work, ideas and people across the directory.