Why create another static site generator?
623 words, 4-minute read
There are plenty of great Static Site Generators (SSGs) for various languages. I’ve used several over the past decade including Jekyll, Metalsmith, and Eleventy. Why build another?
The main reason: personal preference. All SSGs have features that I need, features I don’t need, and features that aren’t supported. Sure, I can code around problems, but I’d rather not have to.
Publican is an opinionated SSG. It implements just enough of what I want with the flexibility to configure a site in native JavaScript. I hope you like it, but you may not agree with all my opinions! Publican’s primary features include…
HTML first rendering #
SSGs build content. Content is HTML – ideally server-rendered. Viewing the site should not be dependent on JavaScript. JavaScript can be used as a progressive enhancement, but most pages should continue to work without it.
Publican primarily renders HTML, but supports any text-based output such as TXT, XML, and SVG.
An ECMAScript solution #
For future-proofing and compatibility, Publican uses ES modules throughout rather than CommonJS.
Product stability #
How often have you returned to a Node.js project after a few months to find it won’t install or build? Publican has very few dependencies – primarily the jsTACS templating system, a markdown converter, and an HTML minifier. There’s less code to break. In theory.
Virtual content and templates #
Sites can be created with markdown, HTML, or other files but it’s sometimes necessary to dynamically create content from a CMS.
A simpler templating system #
Templating systems can be complicated:
- You need to learn and remember a specific syntax.
- Few templating systems are compatible with others.
- Implementing advanced functionality can be tricky.
Publican uses jsTACS which parses native JavaScript template literal ${ expressions }. Those expressions can include your own functions. You’re just using JavaScript: there’s nothing new to learn and it’s faster than template systems with custom syntaxes.
Partial template rendering #
Publican can partially build templates for Express.js or similar server frameworks. You can render most of the page at build time but retain islands of runtime functionality.
${ expression }statically renders content once at build time.!{ expression }identifies expressions to dynamically render at runtime – they are converted to${ expression }at the end of the build. These can be processed using jsTACS as an Express.js rendering engine.
Built-in menus, tags, and feeds #
Publican provides objects so you can create menus, tags, and feeds based on the site’s content structure.
Built-in pagination #
Few SSGs provide good pagination options, especially for tag lists. Publican handles pagination for you.
Built-in syntax highlighting #
Publican is primarily aimed at documentation and technical blogs so syntax highlighting is a must. You can ignore or disable it.
Fast enough #
Publican is written in JavaScript. It won’t be as fast as Rust or Go SSGs, but it’s fast enough to be practical.
Why name it Publican? #
I didn’t think about it too long, but:
- it’s a play on the words publish and publication
- it’s short and memorable
- the
publican.devdomain was available, and - it reminds me of beer. Nice.
Get started #
The Publican documentation provides a quick start guide, a detailed set-up guide, API references, and common recipes you can use and adapt for your own projects.