Personal website builder

A one-page personal homepage.

Bio, work, and the links that matter, on one designed page at sayhi.page/yourname. You can finish it without opening a CMS.

Alex Chen

Languages, tools, and the notes between them

I design small languages and the CLIs that keep them honest. Currently at Harbor Labs, previously on the typechecker for a research notebook that got out of hand in the best way.

San Francisco

Now

Building Ink, a typed notebook format for people who write with code sitting next to the sentence. Harbor is the CLI around it — evals, snapshots, and a boringly reliable local workflow.

GitHub

harbor-labs/ink

A typed notebook format. Prose, code, and tests in one file that still diffs like a human wrote it.

TypeScript · local-first

GitHub

harbor-labs/harbor

The CLI for Ink: run, snapshot, and compare notebooks without standing up a service.

Rust · CLI Types as documentation — Northshore ConfTalk notes and slides

Writing

Occasional notes on type systems that stay out of the way, local-first tools, and why most developer portfolios look like résumé PDFs with extra steps.

Write to AlexSlow email, real replies.

Work with me

Tell me about the project. I read every note.

What you can put on the page

A personal page builder is only useful if the blocks match a real public life. These are the ones SayHi ships.

Bio and a headline

Your name, one sentence, and a longer note. The sentence should sound like you said it.

Projects

Title, year, a summary, optional tags, and a still you upload. Four honest projects beat a dump.

Pictures

Upload images in the studio. They are served with the page. A random image URL from another site is rejected. When the stills should lead, use theportfolio builder.

X, Instagram, and other links

The block library can add an X block, an Instagram block, or a plain link. Each one is a link with a label. An X or Instagram block can also load that platform’s embed when a visitor asks for it. The studio does not edit the row of social URLs a starting demo already carries.

GitHub, YouTube, Spotify

If the page you start from already has one of those cards, you edit the title and the URL. GitHub and Spotify also have a sentence. The block library has no button to add a new one. Those cards do not read the account, and they do not embed a player. A GitHub URL has to be on github.com, a YouTube URL on youtube.com, m.youtube.com, youtu.be, or youtube-nocookie.com, and a Spotify URL on open.spotify.com.

Contact

A contact block, when the starting page already has one, renders a form. Email is always on that form. Name and a message are on unless the block turns them off. Company and phone appear only when the block enables them. The library cannot add a new contact block. An email block, if the demo already has one, is a mailto link.

Why a personal homepage is worth having

One URL you keep

Social apps change the rules of a profile. sayhi.page/yourname stays the address on the card, the résumé, and the bio.

The work has somewhere to sit

A bio line cannot hold a project, a photograph, or a record. A homepage can, without becoming a website project.

People can write back

A contact form is on the page only when the document you started from already has that block. An email block, when the demo has one, is a mailto link. After you publish, visits and messages are in a private dashboard. That is first-party and optional, not a marketing suite.

A personal homepage, a link in bio, a website builder

These get searched together because they overlap. They are not the same job.

Personal homepage

The page about a person: bio, work, projects, a way to be reached. This is the page you are on. A simple personal website, one page, no code.

Link in bio

The URL you put on a social profile. Often that URL opens a list of buttons that leave the page. SayHi can be that URL. The difference is what this page is allowed to hold: a headline, a bio, text, uploaded images, and project cards, with links as one block type rather than the whole layout. Thelink-in-bio page is that narrower job. Thebio site examples show Rio Hale, Sora Nakamura, and Nia Voss opening as pages. This page does not repeat other products’ prices or feature lists. Comparisons that cite a primary source are onalternatives.

Full website builder

Pages, posts, a shop, a docs site. SayHi is one public URL. It has no second page, no blog, no shop, no theme store, and no custom domain. The studio has no checkout. SayHi has not published a price list.

What personal homepage tools are for

Searchers looking for personal homepage tools, or personal home page tools, are usually trying to publish themselves. Not set up a server.

The job is practical. A bio that is longer than a social profile allows. A place for work and projects. Social links that do not have to be the whole design. A contact path. Sometimes a small portfolio. Always one URL.

SayHi is built for that list: a template, your blocks, and a username. Some people call the same job a website maker. It is still one page. It will not help you install a server. The layouts are the website bio page examples. A modular grid is the bento website builder.

A creator link-in-bio page starts from the same blocks. Developers, photographers, and everyone else with a body of work do too. The pages below change the emphasis, because the work is different.

Who it is for

Same studio and the same blocks. The audience page changes which demo you open first.

Developers

Projects, GitHub cards, and a short bio. No résumé template wearing a hoodie.

Designers

A bento or a portfolio grid. Objects and identities, not a button labeled Portfolio.

Photographers

Large stills, captions, print enquiries. The pictures lead.

Musicians

Listen first. Then the rooms, the tapes, the quiet next thing.

Freelancers

A practice page that could sit on a printed card. Clear, not loud.

Creators

A mobile-first page for video, latest work, and the rest of your internet.

Artists

Stills, a show, and a way to ask about a commission. Not a logo system.

Writers

Essays, a book, a newsletter, and a way to write back. Type before decoration.

Students

Coursework as projects, a short note, and contact. Not an employment history.

Job seekers

Three samples, a résumé link, and a way to write back. Built for a skim.

Consultants

A practice, two case notes, and an email that says how you begin.

Coaches

Who it is for, how a session works, and a contact path. No booking widget.

Streamers

Where you are live, when, and how a sponsor writes. The VOD stays on the platform.

YouTubers

One film first, then the context. The player stays on YouTube.

Founders

What you are building, proof that is not a metric costume, and a direct reply.

Indie hackers

Shipped projects, a build note, and contact. No fake MRR widget.

Realtors

Listings, a buyer consult, and the open houses you are actually holding.

Nurses

Specialty, credentials, and a door for staffing or speaking. No patient chart.

Tattoo artists

Booking status, flash, healed work, and the shop’s rules.

DJs

A mix, the genres you will play, and a rider that is a file.

Therapists

Who you see, the fee, and a crisis line that is not the form.

Teachers

Grade, subject, this week’s note, and the contact route the school allows.

Chefs

The restaurant, the reservation, and how a private dinner starts.

Barbers

Prices, the chair, and a straight answer on walk-ins.

Yoga instructors

This week’s classes, the style you teach, and how a private session differs.

Podcasters

Latest episode, one subscribe path, and a way to pitch the show.

Lawyers

Matters you accept, the jurisdictions, and what to send before a consult.

Personal trainers

Who you train, gym or remote, and the intake before the first session.

Makeup artists

A bridal book, an editorial book, and how far you will travel.

Florists

Counter hours, the delivery radius, and a separate door for weddings.

Wedding planners

Full planning or month-of, open dates, and the facts a first note needs.

Nonprofits

One program, the donation link you already run, and a volunteer door.

Hairstylists

Color or cut, formulas you can show, and when to come back.

Dentists

New patients, hours, the plans you take, and the after-hours phone.

Architects

Three projects with your role, the license, and which commissions are open.

Interior designers

Rooms, consult versus full project, and the sources you will actually name.

Illustrators

Whether commissions are open, what you draw, and a shop that is not the client work.

Videographers

One reel, a clear buyer, and when the files show up.

Filmmakers

The film, the rooms that screened it, and a note for the next one.

Voice actors

Separate demos for commercial, narration, and character, plus how you record.

Comedians

One clip, rooms you can name, and a press kit that is a file.

Dancers

A reel, company or freelance, and the class if you teach one.

Bakers

When orders close, this month’s flavors, and pickup versus delivery.

Tutors

Subject and level, in person or online, and how a family starts.

Accountants

Tax or bookkeeping, season hours, and what to bring to the first meeting.

Doulas

Birth or postpartum, what a prenatal visit includes, and who the backup is.

What a finished page looks like

The builder is these blocks, filled in. The people below are fictional. The pages are the ones you would replace.

Alex Chen — developer

Minimal. The Now block names Ink and Harbor. Two GitHub cards use sentences he wrote, because SayHi does not read a contribution graph. “Work with me” asks for the project.

Nia Voss — designer

Bento. Atelier Lumen, Civic Marks, and Lamp No. 4 are different sizes on purpose. A personal homepage can be a shelf of objects.

Maya Okonkwo — photographer

Editorial. Atlantic Edge states the print, 30×40 on cotton rag, before the picture. The photographer examples include that edit as editorial photography examples.

Elena Rossi — freelancer

Elegant. A month of interviews, a positioning note, two new studios a season. The freelancer examples put a developer, a designer, and a director next to her.

Personal website examples Freelancer website examples Photographer portfolio examples

Templates that already have bones

Start from a layout, then replace the person who is standing in for you.

Minimal

Type and a few projects. Alex’s developer page uses it. So does the freelance developer study.

Editorial

Pictures and sentences in order. Maya’s page, and the editorial photography examples, use it.

Bento

A modular grid when the pieces are actually uneven. Nia’s objects use it.

Elegant

A practice that could be printed. Elena’s page uses it for a written offer with a limit.

All templates Portfolio Studio

How a page gets made

This is the studio as it works today, from the claim form on this page through Publish.

Check the name

The form on this page checks the name, then opens the studio. A username is 2 to 24 characters: lowercase letters, numbers, and single hyphens. Reserved names are refused. The draft stays in the browser until you sign in.

Sign in and create the page

Save & publish goes to sign-in. Google and GitHub appear when they are configured. Creating the page saves the current studio document to that username. One account holds one page. The username does not change later. The page stays a draft until you press Publish.

Pick the starting layout

Choosing a template changes the layout and leaves the blocks in place. If you only passed a username, the studio starts from Nia Voss’s fictional bento page. To start from another demo, open the studio with that profile, for example Alex Chen on Minimal.

Replace the blocks

Edit the display name, headline, and bio on the canvas. Add Text, Image, Project, Link, X, Instagram, Divider, or Spacer. Reorder by dragging. Preview at desktop width or 390px. Signed-in image uploads accept JPEG, PNG, WebP, or AVIF up to 8 MB. An image URL from another site is rejected.

Publish the URL

Publish turns on sayhi.page/yourname. There is no custom domain and no checkout. SayHi has not published a price list. A public page is eligible for this site’s own index only after a quality check: a real display name, some writing of your own, at least two meaningful blocks, and no spam. More than twelve link, GitHub, YouTube, or project URLs, or the same one of those URLs four times, fails the check. A page that passes is marked eligible and, with no moderation decision, is treated as indexable seven days later. A rejected moderation state stays noindex. Publishing is not a Google ranking.

Questions

What are personal homepage tools?

They are the tools people use to publish a personal homepage: a bio, selected work, projects, social links, a way to be contacted, and one URL that holds all of it. Personal home page tools — the spaced spelling — is the same search. SayHi is one of those tools, aimed at a single designed page rather than a multi-page site.

Is a personal homepage the same thing as a link in bio?

The link in a bio is the job of the URL: the one address you put on a social profile. A personal homepage is the page itself, with room for work and a voice. SayHi can be both. If you only need the bio-link job spelled out, start at the link-in-bio page.

How is this different from a full website builder?

A full website builder assumes pages, a blog, plugins, and a theme store. SayHi assumes you want one public page. If you need a shop, documentation, or a set of campaign pages, use something built for that.

Can I make a simple one-page personal website without code?

Yes. Claim a name, start from a template, replace the blocks, and publish. You do not write HTML. The published page is still ordinary HTML when someone opens it.

Do you offer custom domains?

Not yet. The public address is sayhi.page/yourname. Pick a username you would actually share.

Where can I see pages this personal website builder already makes?

Four fictional demos are written up as personal website examples: Alex Chen on Minimal, Nia Voss on Bento, Maya Okonkwo on Editorial, and Elena Rossi on Elegant. Freelancer website examples and photographer portfolio examples read the same layouts as a hireable page and as an edit.

Which template should I open first?

Minimal if the proof is a sentence and a few projects. Editorial if pictures and captions share the page. Bento if the pieces are different sizes. Elegant if the page should read like a letter. You can change the template after the words are true. The template does not invent the work.

What can I add in the studio, and what has to already be on the page?

The block library adds Text, Image, Project, Link, X, Instagram, Divider, and Spacer, up to 48 blocks. GitHub, YouTube, Spotify, TikTok, email, contact, and a social-links row can be edited when the demo you started from already includes them. There is no button to create those types. GitHub, YouTube, and Spotify stay cards with a link. They do not embed a player. An X or Instagram block is a link until a visitor loads the official embed.

Remix the developer page How to make one Guides for a link in bio, a personal site, and a portfolio