Website Redesign! Custom Coded E-Commerce with Notion as the Backend

Summary

I'm happy to say that I have fully released my new website. This is something that I have wanted to do for years now, and ultimately I am very happy with the results after a few months of hard, dedicated work. With this new website, I will be able to update information faster, create new pages and r

Page Content

A Complete Website Redesign and Custom Content Management System Built from Scratch using:

NOTION BACKENDCURSOR AS MAIN DEVELOPMENT TOOL100 HOURS OF AI-ASSISTED DEVELOPMENT

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Read More about How The Redesign was Created Here

This custom-built platform replaces traditional website builders like Squarespace by leveraging Notion's database relationships, rollups, and API to create a sophisticated content management system. The project demonstrates you can build a professional e-commerce website using Notion as the backend, with a custom sync layer that transforms 11 databases into 22 optimized PostgreSQL tables, enabling dynamic content delivery and cross-database intelligence.

This is a comprehensive case study on using Notion as an enterprise-grade CMS backend

New Website

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Old Website

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The system reduces operational costs from $500-600/year to $30-120/year while dramatically improving content management efficiency. New page creation drops from 25-40 minutes to 5-10 minutes, with updates propagating automatically across the entire site. The architecture supports both dynamic pages (pulling from database properties) and static pages (using Notion's page content), creating a hybrid content delivery system that matches the sophistication of enterprise CMS platforms.

A key feature of this approach is its educational value for understanding database design and system architecture. The project serves as both a functional website and a comprehensive learning resource, showing how Notion's intuitive interface can teach complex database relationships that directly translate to professional development skills. The modular architecture allows others to adapt similar approaches for their own projects, whether building simple websites or complex data-driven applications.

The case study includes detailed breakdowns of the three-layer architecture (CMS Backend, Sync Layer, Dynamic Frontend), cost comparisons with traditional alternatives, AI coding strategies, security considerations, and practical lessons learned. The ultimate goal is to demonstrate that sophisticated web applications are now accessible to non-developers through the combination of Notion's database capabilities and AI-assisted development tools.