SiteGuard AI: Architecture Reality Check & Scope Guard for Non-Technical Solo Founders

Building a small research institute website completely on my own with a very limited budget. I need help figuring out the right technical approach before I start

I can't tell you how much you should not do this. If you were willing to accept a simple, small, website - then we'd recommend a semi-WYSIWYG service like Webflow, or Squarespace, or even wordpress\_com . But your entire premise is wrong. While web dev doesn't need to be complex, it is complicated - even with the help of good AI models. But to answer your questions in order: >how I should actually approach building and maintaining this properly as a non-technical person. You shouldn't. You don't know what you don't know, and will trip over one of the unknowns. > public-facing platform + forms where people can submit  + internal/admin workflow This should make you stop. You want more than a website. >workflow diagram this should be the end >My main concern is choosing the wrong foundation. There is no such thing. This highlights why you should stop. What should I actually build this on? WordPress\_com will work fine for the content. >How much of this can a CMS handle natively? The question is flawed. A CMS is just a system to manage content. It's just a form that sits in front of a database. >How should I handle research publications? It's just content in the system to manag content >How should forms and file submissions work? In a way that complies with all local and international laws on data processing, retention and privacy - which you will fuck up. This is where you should realise you shouldn't do this. >Do I actually need a database/server architecture beyond what a normal CMS provides? A normal CMS doesn't provide a database >What should I be paying for and what shouldn't I be paying for? It's not modular. Either click to make a small website on one of the WYSIWYG website editors, and accept that it's just content only (which coves so much of your use case), or expect to pay for the full thing. >What am I likely to regret later? Scope Creep. Adding hte phrase just or simple whne you don't know if somethings simple. You're convincing yourself it is, because a chatbot that is designed to only tell you good thigns, is telling you good things about your chances of pulling this off. You keep referencing the vertical you're in, as if that makes any difference. A website for a football club is the same as one for research groups or think tanks, or nursery's. That's just content. It's a real litmus test that you don't know enough. >What decisions would you make differently if you had to do it again? Don't work with clients who want to do it themselves, and have you come in to fix a small bit >if you're experienced with this kind of project, I'd actually prefer you to ask me questions about my requirements before recommending a stack. No, because the stack makes no difference. They all work. It's like telling people to ask you about the colour of the paint on your car before they recommend tyres. >...rather than blindly following whatever AI recommends. I appreciate that. The fact that the AI models have convinced you that you can successfully do this yourself means you have already blindly followed them >what is realistically achievable for a solo non-technical person Nothing maintainable. >Basically: if you had to build and maintain something like this alone, with very little money and no developer on standby, how would you approach it? Step 1. Realise that this requires expertise, both knowledge and wisdom, and that you can't successfully pull this off. Step 2. Realise that you'll get a great first pass out of AI (AI is damn good), and then it'll quickly fall apart because you can't give it the context it needs to maintain it for you.