Jenessa White

Posted on Jul 7, 2018

The 1AM Personal Site

#career #showdev #webdev #beginners

Over the last week, I have been up much later than I normally am (I'm getting old I'm usually in bed by 11pm lol) And for whatever reason, I have been looking at my personal site a whole lot lately. It just did not portray a good set of web development/design skills. I HATED IT!
So on Wednesday night I fired up a new React site and started coding. Then early this morning I deployed it and have a brand new personal website!
There's still a lot missing, and things I want to change, but I am much more satisfied with the way it looks now!

I found that not spending too much time on the development and not overthinking the design was super beneficial, so I'll be keeping that in mind for future redesigns!

Check it out here: jenessawhite.com
Stack: React w/SASS & Bulma

Leave feedback and your own site in the comments!

Top comments (33)

Ben Halpern • Jul 7 '18 • Edited

Oh yes I've totally been there with the 1am personal site.

It's how benhalpern.com came to be 🙃

Jenessa White • Jul 7 '18

hahaha this is my kinda personal site!!

charliedeveloper • Jul 10 '18

My eyeballs are bleeding, and I love it.

Shahriar Siraj Snigdho • Jul 8 '18

Can't believe that your url has an error, Ben!

Kauress • Jul 8 '18

lol thats kind of cool..what have you used if I may ask?

Andrew Diana • Jul 10 '18

im cackling in my chair playing with your site sir

ItsASine (Kayla) • Jul 7 '18

That is so much better than what I could do on a whim! 😮

Small typo:

out side of work

sounds like that should be outside of work

Jenessa White • Jul 7 '18

Thank you!!
I love a good QA audit lol

tiff • Jul 8 '18 • Edited

I've been wanting to play football for the Pittsburgh Passion forever. Too old now but damn. Used to dream about it a lot. LOL. Great looking site btw and yay for women football players!! 🏈🏈🏈

Also my personal site is just plain with all my relevant links, like blog, portfolio, LinkedIn etc. You can find it here.

Jenessa White • Jul 11 '18

Hey Tiffany!!
The Passion are a good team. YOU SHOULD TOTALLY TRY OUT! We have a 50-year-old on our team and she's an All-Star this year!

Thanks for looking at my site!
I like that your site keeps it simple especially since you're looking for a new job (according to Twitter)

tiff • Jul 12 '18

I def would if I still lived in Pittsburgh. Maybe when I move back. Need to get in better shape first! 🏋🏾‍♀️💪🏾

Jenessa White • Jul 13 '18

That'd be so awesome!! Being in good shape is definitely necessary!

Julian • Jul 8 '18 • Edited

of course i read that you use react for your page but something i really don't want to read on webpages:

You need to enable JavaScript to run this app.

this is quite a bad UX. of course most of your users will not see this error but as securit fan i disable javascript (noscript) and block requests to domains which are not the current one (request policy continued).

such a simple one page, which only shows some about text, 4 portfolio items and a contact form plus some social links should not require js and cdns to display the basic things. for me it is ok, if some features don't work but if i simply want to call you or write you an email it won't help at all. have a look at kingsnigdho.com/ a user posted in a comment here. the page works without any problem without js and without any access to another domain (of course there are some missing assets and features but i can access everything which is important)

at least add some basic html to your no script section. as you are using formspree it should be possible to add this as no js part but if this is too cumbersome, at least write your email address

this could be your no script section:

<h2>about</h2>
<p>
    So, I'm Jenessa (my teammates call me Extra)!
</p>
<p>
    I am a Front End Developer based in the Twin Cities, MN. I enjoy creating simple, beautiful and intuitive websites that solve problems. Currently, I work at an amazing company called Software for Good in Minneapolis.
</p>

<p>
    I like to live a pretty fulfilling life outside of work too though...
</p>

<p>
    One of my main activities outside of the office is playing Tight End for the Minnesota Vixen! I joined the team for the 2018 season and have learned so much more about teamwork and myself than I had in a while. Football has taught me some skills that we even can apply to our everyday workflows. I also love to hang out with friends, watch Netflix, try out new restaurants, attend concerts/sporting events and go on all types of adventures.
</p>

<h2>portfolio</h2>
<ul>
    <li>Can I Vote If? http://canivoteif.com/ https://github.com/Can-I-Vote-If/can-i-vote-if</li>
    <li>Bulb-App https://github.com/jenessawhite/Bulb-App https://github.com/mplsjrdevs/mplsjrdevs</li>
    <li>MPLS Jr Devs https://mplsjrdevs.com/</li>
    <li>3Way Marketing Group http://3waymarketinggroup.com/</li>
    <li></li>
    <li></li>
</ul>

<h2>contact</h2>
jene...@gmail.com

<h2>links</h2>
<ul>
    <li>http://github.com/jenessawhite</li>
    <li>http://twitter.com/jnessview</li>
    <li>http://linkedin.com/in/jenessawhite</li>
    <li>http://instagram.com/thenessview</li>
</ul>

alternatively you can simply go to any browser and click on "safe as html" and then upload it to the server and link to this page from your noscript section.

btw a subjective feeling i have is that your main image gets a little bit lost on desktop screens.

Jenessa White • Jul 9 '18

Thanks for the feedback.

Jeremy • Jul 7 '18

Pretty good actually, very nice work. I recently remade mine too, check out jeremyshaw.co.nz

Jenessa White • Jul 7 '18

Nice! I love how simple and easy yours is to navigate.

Jeremy • Jul 7 '18

Thanks! That was the main principal I was focusing on when creating it

Toni. • Jul 9 '18

I love it! It looks amazing. Your color palette is vibrant and your content modules are clearly organized. Love love love it <3

I recently redid my portfolio site at tonibrooks.me.

Go us!

Jenessa White • Jul 11 '18

Thanks Toni! I used coolors.co to generate my pallatte since I am terrible at picking colors unless it's paint lol

I really liked your site! I love the banner on your homepage and the way you designed the portfolio page. Keep it up!

Toni. • Jul 11 '18

I'll definitely bookmark coolors. I like Kuler by Adobe but it's always great to find more resources :D

Thank you so much for your positive feedback! It means so much coming from someone as talented as you!!

I'm still cleaning up the portfolio page. I can't seem to push the menu more to the left while pushing the background graphic to the right, so there's a bit more contrast between them. I might have to do it dirty and create graphics with loads of white space to achieve my goal LOL