My finger was on the Enter button, but my mind was undecided.
Buying a domain may not be a big deal for most people, but it was for me. I'm extra cautious with money, especially as a student.
latticeleaf.com is the domain we are talking about.
Owning a domain feels like owning a small piece of real estate on the internet. The idea of having a domain had been in my mind for quite some time. It started months ago maybe even a year, when I deployed my first static website on Jamstack.
Since then, I kept exploring domain names. I would search, check availability, open a few tabs, then close everything and tell myself, later. A big part of the hesitation was the confusion around what name to choose.
Then one day, the name "Lattice Leaf" finally clicked.
(Before you ask what Lattice Leaf means, it's a long-term plan, and more on that later.)
Even after getting the name idea, I was still pushing the decision ahead.
One day, my mind was just on a roll. My college exams were close, which should've been my priority. But my mind kept drifting back to the domain. I opened the domain website again and kept surfing. I was stuck deciding whether to buy it right then or wait until after the exams.
But I've noticed something about myself: once my mind decides something truly matters, it doesn't rest until it's done.
I did some thorough research and found that Namecheap had a first-time offer for the domain. The price was $6.49. This was the moment. After the dilemma (of course), I went ahead and purchased it. The process was straightforward, entered some information, paid, and it was mine!
The SSL Scare
All felt well. I configured the domain, hosted my website, and opened the link with excitement…
And then I saw a warning popup: this domain is insecure.
It was because I didn't have an SSL certificate. My first thought was panic, do I need to pay again for SSL? I started researching again, and that's when I felt relief. Cloudflare provides a free global SSL certificate if I use their DNS. Thanks a million, Cloudflare!!!
I already had my portfolio hosted on Cloudflare Pages, so configuring it was easy-peasy. A few steps later and voila!! it was there!!!
The Apex Domain Issue
A day passed, and the excitement still hadn't settled. I kept opening the webpage again and again, just playing with it happily and experimenting.
Then I searched latticeleaf.com and saw… nothing. Just an error.
Turns out, the website was loading on www.latticeleaf.com, not on the apex domain latticeleaf.com. So, back to configuration again. After fixing that, everything finally worked the way it should.
For now, it houses my personal portfolio, waiting to grow into its intended purpose as I execute. ✌