“Static Site Generation” is the process of rendering html from a codebase, where you can describe the pages succinctly using humane markup languages like Markdown. They are more secure than Wordpress or other dynamically-rendered content management systems, because any changes require access to the source code - in our case, permissions in the GitHub org. This thread is a place to explore libraries and themes.

Before the library dump, I should include that we could do interactive elements through iframes, including the popular giscus and utterances. These need nearly no management and can be easily moderated through GitHub issues; basically making our GitHub codebase a public discussion running parallel to this forum.

So, choices.

Zola builds domains using Rust. Some of these themes are more for blogging, but I think you may like some.

• serene
• zola-theme-nivis
• tanuki
• terminus
• zap
• apollo
• boring
• pico
• papermod
• zola-theme-terminimal
• juice
• shadharon
• papaya
• zola-386

Hugo is an option using Go (of course) (Themes)

• Newsroom has a nice look

Lume is popping up in the Deno land. (Themes)

Docusaurus is based on simple and approachable ideas, designed for readable guides.

Gatsby is Javascript & React. Discouraged, because things seem up in the air during an acquisition.

NextJS is popular, had a full hype cycle.

Quartz is like a knowledge base similar to Obsidian, but public on the web. Could be plugged on top of a wiki or some such arrangement.

Quarto is more for data dashboards, probably beyond scope. Same for Framework.

Deploys

GitHub can handle all of the publishing for us using GitHub actions; this takes less than an hour to set up, and then you never have to think of it again. If you do have to make changes, it’s easy to find people who have used it or can pick it up quickly.

Deno Deploy is a new option that is based on similar principles, and is designed for Lume or Fresh (below). I helped a friend deploy here once, and the process had been easy as can be. Requires a credit card on file for antispam purposes; their free plan is the most generous I’ve seen. They also support dynamic-rendered apps, which brings us to…

Bonus: Dynamic Rendering

I’m already dumping links, so here are directions to look if we outgrow SSG.

• WikiJS is a fully managed wiki with a one-line deploy. I’d recommend upgrading our wiki to this soon. Has serious benefits for content management.
• DataStar
• HTMX
• Deno Fresh
• Astro