wise iris
normally i set goals for myself, ie "1 science/s"
then i build science crafting to that rate, and make sure i have enough resources being mined/smelted to support it
smelting is easy to do on a "fill a yellow belt" basis, and normally people will over build it in the moment since it's used by all production
if you know your end goal, you can leave enough space for all the smelting you need as you start planning it out
and the more smelting you have, the easier it is to just build stuff later
everything is easier with plates readily available
jovial marten
Main bus layout with scaling smelting perpendicular to it.
early game, 3 lines are enough, later, get trains for ores and supply everything
velvet island
I'd definetely not recommend a First Timer Go for a Main Bus design
I can't watch a stream right now. The Basic principle is to use conveyor belts to transport Materials around, use inserters to automatically fill Machines (most often assemblers) with them, then Bring the results elsewhere to where they're needed. The biggest Goal in Automation should Be science packs; 0.5/s to 1/s should Be a good goal to aim for; then Deliver those to several labs. Research is Progress in factorio, automated Research means you're cooking.
One big Tip: Leave generous space between your different builds. It's enticing to try and build compact, but getting more space to Work with is much cheaper than headaches from running out of space to Run anothers belt through your stuff!
And remember: Perfection is Impossible, flawed factories win games. It would be extremely silly to judge yourself by comparing your Base to that of someone who did this a hundred Times before