There are quite a lot of static site generators, I think it's mostly just down to taste in the end. I'm using Pelican for generating docs.tildes.net and blog.tildes.net. In terms of hosting, I've...
There are quite a lot of static site generators, I think it's mostly just down to taste in the end. I'm using Pelican for generating docs.tildes.net and blog.tildes.net.
In terms of hosting, I've also seen some people mention hosting their static sites for free on Netlify, but I don't have any personal experience with it or know if it's better than the other options for any reason.
Largely that it's Python and uses Jinja templates, which were already things I was using for the site itself, so it's nice to have the blog/docs using the same style of templating as well.
Largely that it's Python and uses Jinja templates, which were already things I was using for the site itself, so it's nice to have the blog/docs using the same style of templating as well.
The basic idea is similar to the basic html sites you described above. Instead of writing them by hand however, there's a tool to generate them from a set of source files. This allows you to make...
The basic idea is similar to the basic html sites you described above. Instead of writing them by hand however, there's a tool to generate them from a set of source files. This allows you to make use of templating systems, file includes, and other useful features.
I use Jekyll as part of Github Pages for my personal site, but I can also recommend Hugo.
Github Pages is nice because you can simply push your files to Github, and they will generate the new static site on your behalf. It's not too tough a system to learn, either.
I think SSGs are great because they're inherently performant, and reduce complexity (no database to worry about). The lack of a server-side component does mean some features are more difficult to implement though (contact forms, comment systems). Client-side solutions will still work of course!
FWIW I'm in the process of migrating my blog from NearlyFreeSpeech.net to GitLab pages, because I don't really want to be paying for hosting while I don't need, even though they can host your...
FWIW I'm in the process of migrating my blog from NearlyFreeSpeech.net to GitLab pages, because I don't really want to be paying for hosting while I don't need, even though they can host your website for as low as about $5 a year (it costs ยข31 a month with their cheapest plan and it's quite good, includes CGI). I think GL Pages are great if all you have is a static website. I'm waiting for my DNS to propagate, then I'll get it to be HTTPS via LetsEncrypt.
The setup is like this: I use this library I wrote to build the website, and put the generated HTML into a local clone of my gitlab pages repository, then check in there and push. All this is handled by a simple script that I can share if you want (and can be adapted to use by any platform where you upload via git). The library is rather alpha, but also quite small and (supposedly) versatile, use it if you want, but I think a stable, widely used stuff would be better. In the end, I get to run the build as I like and keep stuff like drafts private. One thing with GitLab pages that's different from Github though is that the page build is done via their (free) CI system and you can run whatever script you want and use any generator you want. You just write a YAML file to control the CI build. So, you're not limited to Jekyll like with GH.
One thing that I discovered recently that was interesting is Publii, it's a static site generator with a GUI which has a WYSIWYG editor and graphical interfaces for managing the website like WP has. I thought of using it with a project we planned with a non-techie friend (that ultimately didn't work out, but still), and I think the concept might be quite useful (though I did not actually test it hands on).
Super belated, but I checked out Publii for a couple blogs I'm planning - thanks for linking it! It's pretty intriguing for someone like me who doesn't feel quite comfortable with python/command...
Super belated, but I checked out Publii for a couple blogs I'm planning - thanks for linking it! It's pretty intriguing for someone like me who doesn't feel quite comfortable with python/command line stuff (maybe one day...).
Well the community is a spectrum. I'd say the majority are unconcerned about the change, myself included. For those that still use the term "M$" unironically in 2018, they might be happier...
Is there any community worry about GitHub since they were bought by Microsoft?
Well the community is a spectrum. I'd say the majority are unconcerned about the change, myself included. For those that still use the term "M$" unironically in 2018, they might be happier self-hosting.
If you want another hosting option, AWS can host static sites very easily out of S3. Obviously the AWS server parts of it aren't open-source, but since you're a paying customer (even though it's...
Any strange hosting changes on the horizon? What's the open-source status of all this?
If you want another hosting option, AWS can host static sites very easily out of S3. Obviously the AWS server parts of it aren't open-source, but since you're a paying customer (even though it's only a few bucks a month) it's very unlikely Amazon will pull the rug out from under you.
I have this setup for a personal site, including using CloudFront to generate an SSL cert, so I've got a website with an A grade on SSL Labs, without any webserver configuration or hosting setup on my part.
Alternately, if you want something not part of the AWS borg, NearlyFreeSpeech is a legit old-school hosting company that could also easily handle the output of a static site generator.
If you haven't already, I'd recommend hosting your domain using AWS Route 53 as well. The different moving parts integrate really well when they're all hosted by Amazon. eg I had to verify domain...
If you haven't already, I'd recommend hosting your domain using AWS Route 53 as well. The different moving parts integrate really well when they're all hosted by Amazon. eg I had to verify domain ownership in order to get an SSL cert, the AWS console is smart enough to notice my domain is already hosted on Route 53, so there's a one-click "add the necessary domain validation entries" option.
This how-to covers the steps pretty well, even using Jekyll (though most of the steps are applicable to any static site generator you might use).
You and @koan might also look into Firebase for hosting the static files, it's free for up to 10GB/month and I've been using them to host a personal website for the past few years without any...
You and @koan might also look into Firebase for hosting the static files, it's free for up to 10GB/month and I've been using them to host a personal website for the past few years without any issues or hiccups.
I've hosted a decent sized site (but low traffic) using grav for a while, then moved to WordPress, mostly to let other people be able to author. That need is changing, and like you, the...
I've hosted a decent sized site (but low traffic) using grav for a while, then moved to WordPress, mostly to let other people be able to author. That need is changing, and like you, the performance isn't there for me (at a $$$ amount I want to spend), so right now I'm moving toward Hugo... fed by emacs/org-mode using ox-hugo, although if you aren't into Emacs, you might want to just go straight Hugo.
It sounds like Jekyll or Hugo is indeed what you want. Github pages will have automatic publishing for it. If you want a bit of a better "wordpress lite", I also recommend https://ghost.org
It sounds like Jekyll or Hugo is indeed what you want. Github pages will have automatic publishing for it.
If you want a bit of a better "wordpress lite", I also recommend https://ghost.org
Well Wordpress was pretty much the standard for self-publishing and a lot of providers offered easy installs, so it's not that difficult to see why you'd assume that was just the way to do things.
Well Wordpress was pretty much the standard for self-publishing and a lot of providers offered easy installs, so it's not that difficult to see why you'd assume that was just the way to do things.
I just set this thing called Grav up on one of my vps's. I wanted to host something simple without databases and whatnot, but with all the fancy stuff from cms's and this feels like a decent mix....
I just set this thing called Grav up on one of my vps's. I wanted to host something simple without databases and whatnot, but with all the fancy stuff from cms's and this feels like a decent mix.
Atm I've just been using the skeleton templates they provide and just modifying bits here and there, but its plugin system might end up drawing me into the nitty gritty when I want to get into some niche features
If you don't really need a lot in a CMS, http://picocms.org has been good to me. It's all folders and markdown. I used to use Wordpress, but I initially tried out https://www.indexhibit.org and...
If you don't really need a lot in a CMS, http://picocms.org has been good to me. It's all folders and markdown.
I used to use Wordpress, but I initially tried out https://www.indexhibit.org and realized that a completely flat CMS was better suited for my simple needs.
Have you looked into Static Site Generators before?
There are quite a lot of static site generators, I think it's mostly just down to taste in the end. I'm using Pelican for generating docs.tildes.net and blog.tildes.net.
In terms of hosting, I've also seen some people mention hosting their static sites for free on Netlify, but I don't have any personal experience with it or know if it's better than the other options for any reason.
Largely that it's Python and uses Jinja templates, which were already things I was using for the site itself, so it's nice to have the blog/docs using the same style of templating as well.
The basic idea is similar to the basic html sites you described above. Instead of writing them by hand however, there's a tool to generate them from a set of source files. This allows you to make use of templating systems, file includes, and other useful features.
I use Jekyll as part of Github Pages for my personal site, but I can also recommend Hugo.
Github Pages is nice because you can simply push your files to Github, and they will generate the new static site on your behalf. It's not too tough a system to learn, either.
I think SSGs are great because they're inherently performant, and reduce complexity (no database to worry about). The lack of a server-side component does mean some features are more difficult to implement though (contact forms, comment systems). Client-side solutions will still work of course!
FWIW I'm in the process of migrating my blog from NearlyFreeSpeech.net to GitLab pages, because I don't really want to be paying for hosting while I don't need, even though they can host your website for as low as about $5 a year (it costs ยข31 a month with their cheapest plan and it's quite good, includes CGI). I think GL Pages are great if all you have is a static website. I'm waiting for my DNS to propagate, then I'll get it to be HTTPS via LetsEncrypt.
The setup is like this: I use this library I wrote to build the website, and put the generated HTML into a local clone of my gitlab pages repository, then check in there and push. All this is handled by a simple script that I can share if you want (and can be adapted to use by any platform where you upload via git). The library is rather alpha, but also quite small and (supposedly) versatile, use it if you want, but I think a stable, widely used stuff would be better. In the end, I get to run the build as I like and keep stuff like drafts private. One thing with GitLab pages that's different from Github though is that the page build is done via their (free) CI system and you can run whatever script you want and use any generator you want. You just write a YAML file to control the CI build. So, you're not limited to Jekyll like with GH.
One thing that I discovered recently that was interesting is Publii, it's a static site generator with a GUI which has a WYSIWYG editor and graphical interfaces for managing the website like WP has. I thought of using it with a project we planned with a non-techie friend (that ultimately didn't work out, but still), and I think the concept might be quite useful (though I did not actually test it hands on).
Super belated, but I checked out Publii for a couple blogs I'm planning - thanks for linking it! It's pretty intriguing for someone like me who doesn't feel quite comfortable with python/command line stuff (maybe one day...).
You're welcome!
Well the community is a spectrum. I'd say the majority are unconcerned about the change, myself included. For those that still use the term "M$" unironically in 2018, they might be happier self-hosting.
Jekyll is Open Source. Github Pages is not.
If you want another hosting option, AWS can host static sites very easily out of S3. Obviously the AWS server parts of it aren't open-source, but since you're a paying customer (even though it's only a few bucks a month) it's very unlikely Amazon will pull the rug out from under you.
I have this setup for a personal site, including using CloudFront to generate an SSL cert, so I've got a website with an A grade on SSL Labs, without any webserver configuration or hosting setup on my part.
Alternately, if you want something not part of the AWS borg, NearlyFreeSpeech is a legit old-school hosting company that could also easily handle the output of a static site generator.
If you haven't already, I'd recommend hosting your domain using AWS Route 53 as well. The different moving parts integrate really well when they're all hosted by Amazon. eg I had to verify domain ownership in order to get an SSL cert, the AWS console is smart enough to notice my domain is already hosted on Route 53, so there's a one-click "add the necessary domain validation entries" option.
This how-to covers the steps pretty well, even using Jekyll (though most of the steps are applicable to any static site generator you might use).
You and @koan might also look into Firebase for hosting the static files, it's free for up to 10GB/month and I've been using them to host a personal website for the past few years without any issues or hiccups.
I've hosted a decent sized site (but low traffic) using grav for a while, then moved to WordPress, mostly to let other people be able to author. That need is changing, and like you, the performance isn't there for me (at a $$$ amount I want to spend), so right now I'm moving toward Hugo... fed by emacs/org-mode using ox-hugo, although if you aren't into Emacs, you might want to just go straight Hugo.
It's fast... really fast.
It sounds like Jekyll or Hugo is indeed what you want. Github pages will have automatic publishing for it.
If you want a bit of a better "wordpress lite", I also recommend https://ghost.org
Well Wordpress was pretty much the standard for self-publishing and a lot of providers offered easy installs, so it's not that difficult to see why you'd assume that was just the way to do things.
Sorry about this, the link is https://ghost.org.
That link seems to be broken. https://ghost.org/
Oops, fixed. Thanks.
I just set this thing called Grav up on one of my vps's. I wanted to host something simple without databases and whatnot, but with all the fancy stuff from cms's and this feels like a decent mix.
Atm I've just been using the skeleton templates they provide and just modifying bits here and there, but its plugin system might end up drawing me into the nitty gritty when I want to get into some niche features
If you don't really need a lot in a CMS, http://picocms.org has been good to me. It's all folders and markdown.
I used to use Wordpress, but I initially tried out https://www.indexhibit.org and realized that a completely flat CMS was better suited for my simple needs.