How long does it take to build a website?

by Garrick van Buren Comments Off on How long does it take to build a website?

A year or so ago, I had this ‘Website-in-a-Weekend’ idea. Walk a group of people from nothing to a nice looking, easy-to-update, custom website in a weekend using WordPress.

Something like this;

  • Day 1: Install WordPress ( ), define categories, pages, generally get everything in place. Add some images and text.
  • Day 2: Edit the layout and CSS. Launch.

WordPress’ Themes are so much more mature in v1.5, so Website-in-a-Weekend is even more do-able.

Digging around the triple-dub this evening, I found some folks that, in the spirit of Scott McCloud‘s 24 hour comic, have raised the bar: Write an entire webapp in 24 hours, including Photoshop comps, CSS, & Javascript.

Considering the months- and years-long projects I’ve been involved in, this makes me wonder: How long does it take to build a useful website?