The website isn't representing their work, the portfolio within is. There's the opportunity cost of the construction vs pre-built. I write smart tv applications for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, etc. I'm not a web dev nor do I pretend to be one. However, I would like videos and descriptions of my work displayed in the nicest way possible, like this. If every dev had to only use the code which only they created, this entire industry would grind to a halt. All of these criticisms about looking down on people using the same theme for a portfolio site just sends up all kinds of flags about their understanding of the software industry in general, and their hiring practices / company culture. I'm guessing many of you "can't find good devs" or keep devs for very long. It's like judging a job applicant on their tie instead of their resume.

Not all programmers are competent web developers or designers. Some may not see it as worth the time investment; others may not have an aesthetic sense that jives with the majority's.

I think people want it to look fancy, rather than just plain: http://motherfuckingwebsite.com/

Most people don't benefit very much from having prettily-designed websites.

As a new joiner to the Freelance Web Developer pool, building myself a portfolio website is on my list of things to do - but, honestly, I'm struggling with some very basic questions:

- Do I want the site to demonstrate the areas of coding I most enjoy (eg HTML5 canvas)? Or should I use it as a glossy form of CV which I can use to impress potential clients?

- Do I want it to act as a simplistic (single-page) calling card? Or should I be looking to use it more as an interactive hub aiming to do stuff like gather contacts, generate discussion on blog posts (which I could submit/share on HN, LinkedIn, Twitter) etc, etc.

- What tech should I be choosing to demo to visitors? If I go for a React front end is that going to put off potential clients with Vue projects I could work on? If I want to attract bread-and-butter work should I be looking to demo a Wordpress site with a home-built theme and plugins? Do I want to show off my skills with 3rd Party APIs?

At the moment I'm thinking of doing a minimalistic HTML site hosted in an AWS S3 bucket, with a picture of my cat above a big CTA button saying "Hire my human!" and a couple of links to my GitHub and LinkedIn accounts. At least it'll be easy to maintain and easy to replace once I'm clearer on the areas of work I want to focus on.