Jason Milliken

11ty

Using 11ty to create this micro-blog.

11ty - Easy, fast, static site generator

I have often wanted to start a blog. There are a plethera of great blogging platforms like WordPress, Meduim, and Ghost - but none of the options suited me. I liked the simplicity (and cheapness) of a static site. So I tried 11ty and wasn't disappointed.

Static site generators have gained a lot of popularity in recent years because they offer simplicity, speed, security, and scalability compared to traditional CMS platforms.

11ty is a modern and lightweight static site generator that is simple to set up, customize and well suited for small projects that don't need the power of a full CMS. With 11ty, you can easily create a static site that is easy to deploy, cheap to host, and simple to extend. Moreover, it works with most frameworks out of the box and has great documentation and community support.

One of the most notable features of 11ty is its flexibility. It allows you to use your favorite templating engine, including Nunjucks, Liquid, Handlebars, and more, and it supports a wide range of front-end tools and technologies such as CSS preprocessors, JavaScript bundlers, and SVG images.

If you're familiar with HTML/CSS, 11ty is a great option to consider. You can quickly get started with 11ty by watching some tutorials and reading the documentation, and you'll be up and running in no time. In just a few hours, you can have a basic site up and running.

If you want to take your 11ty site to the next level, you can use Computed Data to pull in data from beyond the front matter included at the top of each post. This opens up quite a few options for more robust content management and dynamic navigation.

11ty is an option for developers looking for an easy-to-use, fast, and flexible static site generator.

Disclaimer - not an 11ty expert - but I didn't need to be an expert to still be productive.

As of the time of writing this I have all of a few hours using 11ty. I watched a few short videos and read a few post listed below and then went straight away to building a custom site template! A few hours later ... my first post.

Take aways.

  • easy and fast if you know HTML/CSS
  • flexable and seems to work with most frameworks out of the box
  • great docs
  • community support
  • easy to deploy
  • cheap to host
  • simple to extend

Resources