Category Archives: Digital Skills

HTML Basics: The First Building Block of the Web

What I’ve Learned So Far About the Web’s Foundation

I will never forget how my love for literature opened the doors to the world of tech. From Shakespeare to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (my second daughter’s namesake), I was always drawn to how words shape meaning. Back then, everything I read followed the same form — paragraphs, punctuation, printed language.

But today, the internet has become the new library, the global stage, the printing press of our age. It holds books, news, images, videos, and even live broadcasts — all formatted and structured not just by language, but by code.At first, I thought writing online followed the same rules as traditional writing. I was wrong. The internet has its own structure, and its name is HTML — a powerful, silent language that gives order and shape to the web.

What Is HTML, Really?

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language.It’s the skeleton of every website you see — organizing content, defining where things appear, and making sure the browser knows how to display them. HTML does not  make websites look beautiful (that’s CSS), or make them respond to actions (that’s JavaScript), but without it, there would be no structure at all.

A screenshot of my initial HTML code in VS Code

My First Few Tags

I started with just a few basic tags:

<html>, <head>, <body>, <p>, <h1>

At first, they looked strange. But once I practiced wrapping my words inside them, I began to see the pattern. <h1> gave me headlines. <p> wrapped my thoughts into neat paragraphs. <body> told the browser, “Here’s the main content.” Suddenly, I wasn’t just writing — I was building.

Mistakes I Made as a Beginner

Like any beginner, I stumbled:

To have order, there must be rules.

  • I forgot to close tags (</p>, </body>) and watched my whole page collapse
  • I confused class and id between HTML and CSS
  • I sometimes put CSS rules directly inside HTML, not knowing how to link stylesheets

But each mistake taught me something.

What’s Next?

Now that I understand the basics, I am excited to:

  • Combine HTML with CSS for layout and design
  • Create simple templates I can reuse
  • Practice building pages from scratch using VS Code

Final Thoughts

If you are new to coding, look here but here’s my advice:

Start small. Test often. Don’t be afraid to break things.

With every tag you write, you will understand more about how the web works — and the satisfaction that comes from seeing your ideas take shape is unlike anything else.

Feel free to share your first steps in coding, or drop any questions below. Let’s learn together — one tag at a time.

Exploring WordPress: A Beginner’s Companion in Web Creation

From Words to Websites

The life of words and the desire to give shape to my story inspired my search for a platform to share whatever message I could offer. That moment came with an announcement at my local church—an opportunity to learn Amazon Kindle publishing. It promised a way to express ideas through storytelling and self-publishing.

How I moved from Curiosity to confidence...

There were moments of frustration….

..But with every challenge came a small breakthrough”

-One Step at a time


I enrolled, but soon, family life, work pressure, and excuses crept in. I paused that journey, not knowing that years later, I would find myself back on the path—this time through WordPress.

Why WordPress? A Surprising Discovery

When I started exploring tech again, I kept hearing about WordPress. Some called it outdated. Others called it a game-changer. I decided to see for myself—and discovered something more powerful and beginner-friendly than I ever imagined.

Maybe it was the free one-year plan that drew me in, or the simplicity of drag-and-drop blocks. But more than that, it was the realization that I didn’t need to code to build something beautiful. I could test different themes, experiment freely, and bring my thoughts to life on the web—without spending a cent.

Publishing my first story on WordPress felt magical. I wasn’t just consuming the internet anymore. I was creating for it.

3. From Curiosity to Confidence: My Early Learning

At first, I was overwhelmed. I knew almost nothing. I didn’t even know what the “blocks” meant. I remember staring at the screen, unsure of what to click.

Gradually, things started making sense. I learned that every website starts with a theme—a kind of template that determines how your site looks. From there, I explored headers, footers, navigation menus, and the difference between a post and a page. Each block had a purpose, and slowly I learned to identify them and put them to use.

4. Challenges and Breakthroughs

There were moments of frustration—especially when I struggled with themes like Kadence, Barnsbury, and Twenty Twenty-Four. The Seedlet theme gave me headaches when I tried to configure social media icons.

But with every challenge came a small breakthrough. The built-in tutorials, community forums, and video guides helped me move forward.

And then I discovered ChatGPT.

It became my silent teacher—helping me match fonts, pick color palettes, understand block functions, and even add HTML or CSS tweaks. I wasn’t alone anymore. WordPress gave me a platform, and ChatGPT gave me the support I needed to shape it.

5. Why I Recommend WordPress for Beginners

WordPress powers over 62% of all websites that use a content management system (CMS), according to W3Techs. That says a lot.

Here’s why I recommend it:

  • ✅ Beginner-friendly interface
  • ✅ No coding required, but code-friendly if you want to learn
  • ✅ Huge library of themes and plugins
  • ✅ Massive global community
  • ✅ Total ownership of your content

Whether you’re building a blog, portfolio, or online shop, WordPress offers the flexibility to grow with you.

6. A Personal Invitation (Call to Action)

Everyone has a story. I know you have one too.

You don’t need to be a tech guru to share it. There’s someone out there who might learn from your experience, but they’ll never know unless you begin.

That’s what WordPress gave me—the courage to start, one small step at a time. You can do it too. Just start with one page. Or one sentence. You’ll be amazed at how far that one click can take you.

Tell me—what are you exploring right now? Your suggestion might inspire my next post, just like an email I received recently led me to write about my journey in HTML and CSS. That’s coming soon on ObisDeck.

7. Closing Reflection: Is WordPress Still Relevant in 2025?

A friend recently told me WordPress was no longer relevant. I smiled but felt sad. Because for me, it was WordPress that gave me my first real step into tech. It didn’t just offer a website—it offered confidence.

The real choice isn’t between Wix, Blogger, Shopify, or Hostinger. The real choice is: Will you start at all?

If you’re a beginner with a story to tell or a dream to build, WordPress is not only relevant—it’s essential. And yes, in 2025, it’s still my number one recommendation.