Ask HN: Which static site generator is your current favorite and why?

6 points by 12s12m 8 years ago | 5 comments

There are thousands of static site generators to pick from and it is very confusing for a beginner. Which static site generator is your current favorite and why?

geraldbauer 8 years ago |

In the Stay Static showcase [1] I've built the same (static) website with pages, posts and datafiles in 10+ versions (e.g Jekyll • Middleman • Nanoc • Webgen • Metalsmith • Gatsby • Harp • Nikola • Hugo • Jigsaw [2]). I'd say pick the one with your favorite template language or scripting language. I'm a fan of Jekyll (thanks to GitHub Pages) and the kramdown markdown to markup converter. Easy to get started - no config needed, just a single README.md, for example. See my collection of Jekyll themes (starter sites) called Henry's Themses [3] incl. Hello, Pages! or Hello Jekyll! etc. Happy publishing. Stay static.

[1] http://staystatic.github.io [2] https://github.com/staystatic/staystatic [3] https://github.com/henrythemes

accordionclown 8 years ago | |

your showcase is an excellent idea!

the huge array of static-site generators today is amazing, as a demonstration of the creativity of developers, but it makes it difficult to sort out all of the contenders.

a head-to-head matchup, on the same material, is a fantastic way to make an informed decision to cut through the clutter.

geraldbauer 8 years ago | | |

Thanks for your kind words. Don't be afraid to build your own. With the magic of libraries or tools a build script for your use case might just be a couple of lines. A great real-world example is the Raspberry Pi documentation website build script [1]. Cheers.

[1] https://github.com/raspberrypi/documentation/blob/master/Rak...

12s12m 8 years ago | |

I have been watching staystatic for a very long time :) Your commitment is really awesome.

geraldbauer 8 years ago | | |

Thanks for your kind words. Trying to add a new sample every other month. Pelican in Python upcoming in July (or August). Contributions always welcome. See the Sample Site Starter Kit [1]. [1] https://github.com/staystatic/staystatic-starter