Building My Developer Portfolio: Why I Chose Custom CMS Over WordPress
How I built a custom portfolio with Next.js and a self-made text editor to stand out in the competitive web development market. Learn my technical choices and personal branding strategy.
The Visibility Problem in a Crowded Market
As a Full Stack Developer with in-demand skills, I faced a frustrating reality that technical expertise alone wasn't enough to stand out from other one. I believe that I needed to differentiate myself with other developer.
Then I realized personal branding was essential in this condition. I decided to build something to demonstrate my capabilities directly: a custom portfolio website.
Why Custom Portfolio Beat Social-Only Branding
While platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram are valuable for networking, they have limitations — user doesn't feel the outcome of my capabilities.
Building my own portfolio offered complete control like a live demonstration of my skills. This wasn't about replacing social media, but I tried to take a small step for my personal branding itself.
Dilemma: WordPress vs Custom Builder
Most portfolio websites use existing platforms like WordPress. While using WordPress has some limitations:
- Generic solutions that don't showcase unique capabilities
- Performance overhead from unused features
- Limited learning opportunity for me as a developer
I challenged myself to build my own custom content management system. This decision transformed the project from a simple portfolio into a demonstration of full-stack capability.
Technical Architecture: Next.js as the Foundation
My tech stack decisions were driven by efficiency and demonstration value:
Frontend & Backend: Next.js
- Unified full-stack solution
- Built-in API routes for custom endpoints
- Excellent SEO capabilities out-of-the-box
- Seamless Vercel integration for CI/CD
Database: PostgreSQL
- Robust performance for content management
- Scalable architecture for future features
- Strong type safety with proper schemas
Deployment: Vercel
- Automatic staging and production environments
- Instant deployments from Git commits
- Optimized performance for Next.js applications
Building My Custome Text Editor
Instead of using rich-text editor like Wordpress Classic Editor, I built a hybrid solution:
- Markdown support for clean content structure
- Live Preview for real time editing experience.
- Simple formatting tools for easy accessibility
This approach demonstrated my ability to create tailored solutions rather than simply implementating existing one.
Result and Lesson Learned
After one month of development, I had more than just a portfolio:
Technical Achievements:
- ✅ Custom CMS with admin dashboard
- ✅ Self-built text editor with live preview
- ✅ Optimized performance and SEO
- ✅ Automated deployment pipeline
Personal Branding Impact:
- Demonstrated problem-solving through technical decisions
- Showcased full-stack capabilities beyond what a resume could
- Created conversation starters for client discussions
- Built a foundation for continuous improvement
Continuous Improvement
I acknowledge that the UI/UX need refinement. The beauty of building your platform is the freedom to iterate based on user feedback.
This project proves that sometimes the best way to demonstrate our skill is to build the platform itself instead of just using existing tools
Jonathan
Content creator and developer.
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