How-to / A guided look at how we build

How-to template — building a website

Side post for "How to use analyst-server" (pua-4-side-posts, criterion pua-4-how-to-templates). This is a template: the six stops from part 2, filled in for one use case so you can copy it. Swap the words in ‹angle brackets› for your own. The screens are the same ones part 2 describes. Kind of work: Products (a surface for others). Drafted 2026-10-08.

Why use the path for a website at all? A website is easy to start and easy to forget. Running it as an initiative means "done" is written down before anything is built, and the briefing tells you later whether the site still does what you wanted, not only whether it is up.

① say it ──► ② read it back ──► ③ place it ──► ④ watch it build ──► ⑤ judge it ──► ⑥ change it
  "a site for    "is the site       under Products    lane "site-‹name›"  "does a visitor   "add a booking
   ‹business›"    saying it?"                                          find ‹action›?"   page"

1 · Builder session — state the intent

Intent text to copy:

"I want a public website for ‹my handyman business› so that a visitor can see ‹what I do, where, and what it costs› and ‹ask for a quote› in under a minute. It should load on a phone, and I want to know every week whether people are using the quote form."

Width check. Ask the session: does this belong under an existing venture (the business it serves), or under Products? Is there already a site or a hosting node for this domain? The usual answer: the site is a Product that serves the venture, so it sits under Products with an edge to the venture.

The tree you accept (what the session should propose):

big-init-site-‹name›            "A public site for ‹business› that turns a visit into a quote ask"
├── 1 · Content       the pages and words: home, services, area, prices, contact
├── 2 · Hosting       domain, TLS certificate, where it runs, backups
├── 3 · Quote form    the one action: the form, where the ask lands, who is told
├── 4 · Measure       weekly visits and quote asks, read from the server logs
└── 9 · Operations    derived: what is owed, by whom, in what order

One criterion per branch, each with its reach test. For example, 3 · Quote form: "A visitor can send a quote ask from a phone — REACH-TEST: a test ask sent from the live page arrives where ‹you› read asks within 5 minutes."

Briefing you describe: "Weekly, Monday morning. Lead with whether the site is up and how many quote asks came in. Then what changed on the site, and anything that needs me."

2 · Briefing draft — read it back

What the draft should say, first two lines:

Intent: a public site for ‹business› that turns a visit into a quote ask, checked weekly. Verdict: Started — 0 of 4 branches met; domain and hosting not chosen yet.

If the first line talks about containers or certificates instead of visitors and quote asks, it is describing machinery. Go back to stop ① and say so.

3 · Workbench — place it and give it a lane

Open the workbench at the parent (?root=big-init-nature-products) and check:

  • no other site node for the same domain is already there;
  • the Hosting branch does not duplicate the box's own web hosting apparatus. Link to it, don't copy it;
  • the edge to the venture it serves exists.

Lane: site-‹name›. Every build entry for this site is filed under that lane.

4 · Lane activity — watch it build

On the activity page, filtered to site-‹name›, expect roughly this order: pages drafted, domain and certificate landed, the form wired, then the first measured week. If the lane goes quiet while the Hosting branch is still open, the usual reason is a card waiting on you, because buying a domain spends money and is always your call.

5 · Initiative briefing report — is the intent fulfilled?

What the filled-in report should show:

Branch Evidence a stranger can check
1 · Content the live pages, read on a phone
2 · Hosting the domain answers over HTTPS; the last backup and its date
3 · Quote form the last test ask and when it arrived
4 · Measure this week's visits and quote asks, against last week

The judge's question: would a stranger landing on the site know what you do and how to ask for a quote? "All criteria met" with zero quote asks in a month is a true report on the wrong intent. That sends you to stop ⑥.

6 · Builder session — request changes

Typical ask to copy:

"People read the prices page but don't ask for quotes. Add a booking page with three time slots, and report bookings in the weekly briefing next to quote asks."

The session files your words verbatim as an upgrade proposal against big-init-site-‹name›. After you agree, a new branch (for example 5 · Booking) and its criterion appear on the workbench, and the loop runs again from stop ③.

Back to the side-posts list: 04-side-posts.md · The six stops in general: 02-screen-path.md