Build a website
August 2, 2025
The goal is to build a simple static site to host my little pictures and words. I have used plain PHP, Gatsby, 11ty, and Hugo in the past. Easy content management and templating are musts. It should not be a chore to edit (which means more content!). I have been in dependency hell before, wondering how I ever generated the site in the first place and spending more time updating the toolchain than creating. Alas.
Astro
Astro is the framework of the day, and I find it fits my
needs perfectly. Write content in markdown, organize the files in the right
directories, and make templates with .astro files. One can sprinkle in
React components for extra flare. I also use Astro for my
website clients, since one can also plug in a
CMS (so they can make edits
without me). In my opinion, Astro beats Wordpress on
performance, usability, and simplicity. If Astro falls out of fashion, I can
take my content with me and plug it into the next framework.
Hosting
I previously used Netlify to deploy my site, then ran my own OpenBSD server on Vultur with the static HTML files (inspired by Derek Sivers). I didnʼt like how my server IP was exposed in the DNS record though, so Iʼm back on Netlify.
CSS
I wanted simple styling that works on mobile and is not too flashy. PicoCSS fit the bill. I have used Sass and Tailwind in past projects, but they are too heavy for this site. Perhaps I will change the color one day.
Image CDN
I used Cloudinary to host my photos, but I find Netlifyʼs general purpose CDN works well enough for my small gallery.
A note on Next.js
Next.js could accomplish the same things. I have used Next.js + Vercel before, and they work just fine. But Next has some server functionality and React bloat that I donʼt need for a static site. I would use Next.js as a frontend of a pro web app, though I am wary of Vercel lock-in.
Final result
Youʼre looking at it! Hope you enjoy :)