makesite: A Simple Python Static Site/Blog Generator

Summary

makesite is a simple, lightweight, and magic-free static site/blog generator crafted for Python developers. It empowers users to take full control of their website generation process, encouraging customization and a deep understanding of how their site is built. This project offers a quick-start kit for those who prefer to write their own generator rather than rely on complex frameworks.

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Introduction

makesite.py is a simple, lightweight, and magic-free static site/blog generator designed for Python coders. This project encourages developers to "reinvent the wheel" by providing a minimal yet powerful foundation for generating static websites and blogs. It emphasizes full control over the generation process, allowing users to understand and customize every aspect of their site. The repository includes an example website demonstrating how to generate static pages and multiple blogs by simply running makesite.py.

Installation

Getting started with makesite is straightforward. You can quickly set up a local demo or generate your static site.

To run a quick demo on your local system:

make serve

If make is not available, but you have Python 3.x:

python3 makesite.py
cd _site
python3 -m http.server

For Python 2.7 users:

python makesite.py
cd _site
python -m SimpleHTTPServer

Visit http://localhost:8000/ to see the demo.

To ensure Markdown content renders correctly, install the commonmark package:

pip install commonmark

To generate your static website files for hosting:

make site

Or, using Python directly:

python3 makesite.py

The generated website will be located in the _site directory, ready for deployment.

Examples

makesite operates by processing content files and layout templates to produce a complete static website. You can fork the repository, replace the example content with your own, and then run makesite.py to generate your personalized site.

The makesite.py script handles several key tasks:

Creating the output _site directory and copying static assets.
Defining default parameters that can be overridden by individual content files.
Loading and combining layout templates (e.g., page.html, post.html, list.html).
Rendering pages and blog posts using make_pages() calls.
Generating blog listing pages and RSS feeds with make_list() calls.

The core logic is contained within makesite.py, which is less than 130 lines of code, making it easy to read, understand, and modify to fit your specific needs. The output can be seen in a live demo here.

Why use makesite?

makesite stands out by offering unparalleled simplicity and control, especially appealing to Python developers who want to understand every part of their static site generation.

No Hidden Magic: Unlike many popular static site generators, makesite has no complex abstractions or hidden processes. Everything is explicit in the Python code.
Code as Documentation and Configuration: There's no need to learn a new configuration language or extensive documentation. The makesite.py script itself serves as both the documentation and the configuration for your site.
Lightweight and Customizable: With a minimal codebase, makesite is easy to tinker with. You can modify the source code, layout, and stylesheet to fully customize the look and feel of your website.
Quick Start: Get a decent website or blog up and running within minutes, then dive into customizing the underlying Python script to add or remove features as you see fit.