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Static Blogging

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Now for the obligatory static blog post on any static blog This blog is a Nikola static blog, a python based static blog generator.

Why did I choose Nikola?

  1. It's Python based - I like python, I know python, and I can hack python. Jekyll, the most popular static blog generator, is written in Ruby. I found it to be slow and painful to work with. I couldn't be bothered learning it's particulars. Also my Desktop and Server came with python so there was no barrier to entry.
  2. Batteries are Included - I looked at the popular Pelican, it's arguably more flexible and powerful than Nikola, but you have to do more initial configuration. I had already been procrastinating on re-starting my blog for over a year, I needed to get started

Why do people like Static Blogs?

  1. You need to be savvy - Static Blogs scratch the tech tinkering itch, don't like something it's simple to change that.
  2. It's simple - Many CMS systems are over complicated messes, overkill for the typical blog. Do you need to render your blog on the fly for each visitor? PHP is useful but if you don't need it why use it?
  3. Portable - You render your site as it changes, have beef with your service provider? Change your dns and upload with next to no configuration. Done
  4. It's Fast - How fast can a server trow out a few kb of static html? Very fast! With Wordpress you need to install caching plugins to make your site essentially static, why not skip the middle man and do it from the start.
  5. You write how you like - Markdown, reStructuredText, MediaWiki Markdown or even HTML.
  6. It's secure - No database to hack, no PHP to patch.

Why do people hate Static Blogs?

  1. No web based content management system - This is something that tends to be lacking in any static blog. It's static after all! There are many ways to get around this by using something like Netlify CMS. Personally I'm using the Atom test editor and will be going over this in a future post.
  2. You need to be savvy - As a general rule you need to be able to deal with the nuts and bolts of your blog. This is a good and bad thing, depending on your disposition.