How ChatGPT Revolutionized My Workflow

I’ve spent years dabbling in web development frameworks and libraries. When ChatGPT came along, it wasn’t just a convenient coding companion—it felt like having a knowledgeable mentor I could consult 24/7. Suddenly, the stumbling blocks I faced in building a custom blog disappeared faster than I could’ve imagined. I no longer need to watch a tutorial that is not exactly what I want to build to being able to learn how to build exactly what I want. As long as I know what to ask for.

Templating with Handlebars: A Game-Changer

One of my favorite parts of this project is using Handlebars. Its partials, layouts, and reusable components make site development fast and consistent. Instead of building every page from scratch, I just create a main layout and insert sections as needed. Here’s an example of a simple Handlebars layout structure:

{{!-- main-layout.hbs --}}
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <title>{{title}}</title>
  <!-- Include any CSS or scripts here -->
</head>
<body>
  <header>
    <h1>My Blog</h1>
  </header>
  <!-- This is where the specific page content will be injected -->
  {{{body}}}
  <footer>
    <p>Copyright 2025</p>
  </footer>
</body>
</html>

By creating layouts like this, I don’t have to rewrite boilerplate markup again and again, which cuts down on errors and keeps my code neatly organized.

Multiple Databases, Kept Simple

While I’m using multiple databases to manage different datasets, I’ve opted to keep the details at a high level here. The real point is: with ChatGPT’s help, setting up relations and writing queries is far less intimidating. I can focus on how data flows through the site instead of constantly referencing SQL docs.

Sharp for Image Processing—And a Little Debugging

As for images, ChatGPT guided me in implementing Sharp to automatically resize and convert uploads. The real challenge came when dealing with portrait vs. landscape photos; the aspect ratio can break page layouts if you’re not careful. Luckily, ChatGPT helped me troubleshoot everything from orientation issues to optimizing for performance. Now, my images display cleanly no matter how they’re oriented.

Continuous Improvement: Infinite Scroll and Beyond

This post itself is part of a test for my infinite scroll feature. It’s a small step toward a more engaging user experience, but it also shows how ChatGPT’s iterative approach makes learning fun. Every fix and adjustment makes me a better developer, thanks to the instant feedback loop. And because I’ll share this post on social platforms like Facebook and Nostr, I’m looking forward to gathering feedback and comments there.

Learning Through Debugging with an LLM

Using ChatGPT doesn’t mean you skip the learning process. Every line of code it suggests can become a mini-lesson in debugging and improvement. In the end, you develop not just a website, but a deeper understanding of how everything fits together.

Looking Ahead

Eventually, I’d love to self-host a private LLM on my own server—just like I plan to fully own my website infrastructure. For now, I’m grateful that ChatGPT and the rest of my tech stack help me bring these ideas to life. This journey is equal parts personal and technical, and I can’t wait to share more about my upcoming projects, including IoT with ESP32 devices and a self-hosted Home Assistant on Raspberry Pi.