Custom Website Build & Automation Checklist

Steps to ditch WordPress and build a custom site with AI and cloud hosting.

By Casey Builds It · YouTube Video Ak0pynSHnAI

1. Project Planning & Setup

Define your project goals and choose your core technologies.

• Identify reasons to move away from WordPress plugins.
• Select AI coding assistant (e.g., Cursor).
• Choose a cloud hosting platform (e.g., Google Cloud).
• Outline custom website features and functionalities.
• Plan your backend architecture.
• Determine database requirements.

2. Core Website Development

Build the fundamental structure of your custom website.

• Set up your development environment.
• Code the front-end of your website.
• Develop the back-end logic.
• Integrate a custom Content Management System (CMS).
• Implement a media library.
• Build a lead generation tool with download functionality.
• Create a build suggestions feature.

3. Cloud Hosting & Deployment

Deploy and manage your website on a cloud platform.

• Configure Google App Engine for hosting.
• Set up database connections.
• Deploy your custom-built website to the cloud.
• Manage backend services without WordPress plugins.

4. API Integration

Connect external services and manage API interactions.

• Identify necessary APIs for automation.
• Connect custom APIs to your website.
• Troubleshoot authorization errors during integration.
• Test API connections and data flow.

5. YouTube Automation Tool Development

Build tools to automate YouTube content processing and publishing.

• Develop a tool to process uploaded YouTube videos.
• Automate description generation.
• Automate comment generation.
• Automate thumbnail creation.
• Automate YouTube Shorts creation.
• Integrate with your website's CMS for auto-posting.

6. Content Publishing Workflow

Streamline the process of creating and publishing content.

• Test the end-to-end automation pipeline.
• Upload a video to YouTube.
• Trigger the automation tool.
• Verify generated description, comments, and thumbnail.
• Confirm blog post creation and publishing to your CMS.
• Review and edit generated content before publishing.

7. AI-Assisted Development & Debugging

Leverage AI tools for faster development and problem-solving.

• Use AI assistant (Cursor) for coding.
• Utilize AI for generating code snippets.
• Screenshot issues for AI analysis.
• Get instant AI-powered fixes for bugs.
• Refactor code with AI assistance.

8. Admin Dashboard & Tools

Create and utilize a custom admin interface.

• Tour your custom admin dashboard.
• Access and manage the media library.
• Provide downloadable lead-generation tools.
• Utilize the build suggestions feature.
• Manage website content and settings from the dashboard.

Build a flexible, automated website with custom code and AI.