The Fujoshi Guide to Web Development

The Fujoshi Guide to Web Development's project preview image

The vision

A series of books (zines) to teach web development concepts, specifically catering to hobbyists and self-learners who are stuck between the simplistic, shallow tutorials for beginners, and the dense, jargon-filled documentation for professionals.

Rather than shying away from the complexity of modern web development, The Fujoshi Guide to Web Development (informally known as FujoGuide) gently introduces readers to concepts most beginners guides shy away from, trusting in their innate desire for mastery and growth, and giving them the tools to build more ambitious and complex projects.

”Volume 0: Git & GitHub” focuses on how to use version control for both personal projects and to collaborate on open source software. It was successfully funded on Kickstarter and is currently in production.

The Premise (from the Kickstarter)

Boba-tan, BobaBoard mascot and fangirl extraordinaire, is very sad about the state of the modern, corporate web. Unfortunately, while she keeps meaning to (re)learn how to make her own websites, she’s too busy shipping fictional characters to find the time and motivation to study. Not to worry though, because she (smart) has finally found the perfect solution: imagining web development and other programming concepts as swoon-worthy ikemen, and alternating her study sessions with bouts of daydreaming about their yaoi-tastic interactions.

The Fujoshi Guide to Web Development follows the adventures of Boba-tan’s own “programming world” self-insert as she learns web development straight from the source: the hot personified technologies who contribute to the marvel that is today’s internet.

Story and Background

The 4th in the series of BobaBoard’s April Fools’ Day projects, The Fujoshi Guide to Web Development went from a tentatively-proposed idea (“I keep thinking about this idea, but it’s too overboard even for me”) to a fully-fledged Kickstarter campaign in just about 2 months.

FujoGuide is the culmination of what I’ve learned from nurturing beginner BobaBoard volunteers, and what I observed running the Fandom Coders community:

  1. Confusion around version control is the biggest barrier for beginners seeking to contribute to open source projects they love.
  2. Currently available resources for web development are often outdated or simplistic, and those tools and technologies that would make the lives of hobbyist programmers easier are hidden behind layers of jargon targeted at professionals.
  3. People’s fear of teaching advanced concepts to beginners holds back the most ambitious and motivated learners.
  4. While Git and GitHub can be scary and confusing to beginners, those who persevere find them to be incredibly empowering tools, and can quickly get up to speed with the basics if properly guided.

While I lead the overall project and melded the technologies into a cohesive set of characters traits and relationship dynamics, the project was only possible thanks to the friends I made throughout my journey (as well as a few new allies) who came in to help with the writing, art, design, brainstorming, emotional support, and the incredible amount of work that such a project requires.