By front porch I assume you mean the typical country farm house porch that's not more than 3 to 4 feet off the ground.
If that was the case, you really don't need to over build it. setting posts every 8' would be fine, with diagonal straps for lateral support. Joists 16" OC would be just fine, on a low elevation porch you could even run them 24" oc.
But, if the porch sits 6' or higher off the ground, then I'd make it stiffer.
I'd plant footings spaced every 6 foot. anchored in 12x12 concrete footing (minimum), if you're in earth quake country, then I'd run one continuous footing 18" deep x 10" wide and anchor the posts in that using Simpson's strong ties screwed into 4x4 pressure treated posts.
Joists 16" on center for a small deck is fine, but if you anticipate lots of traffic and some dead load like furniture/etc then I'd make it stiffer and space them 12" OC.
The one area that most porches decay quickest is the stairs, because a lot of folks use non-pressure treated lumber, and use nails instead of deck screws. Go all out and reinforce the stringers and if possible, mount the boards (treads) from underside so no holes from the top are exposed. That's the root cause of wood decay and this simple step of securing from underside (or covering counter sunk screw holes with plugs), will extend life of your stairs significantly.
I hope you found this helpful.
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Posted by: stratmister@gmail.com
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