What you're reading now is actually a static site, generated by a custom process that I've evolved over time.
Goals
- Super fast
- Really simple
- Good looking and legible
- Extreme control
I really didn't want to use an existing platform (Wordpress, static site generators, etc) because I felt that they were all super heavy. I started with static pages only, and then slowly evolved things.
Solution
- Static directory structure, PHP files, and content
- I can write the content in HTML, but I also created a very simple Markdown editor generates the PHP files
- A custom travel post editor that implements my template there
- Some bash scripts to process photos (resize, strip meta, rename) and videos (convert and shrink)
- A bash script to deploy changes
- I used PHP because I hide some content behind login, and to enable templating
Outcome
I'm really happy with where things have ended up. The site looks great, loads fast, and is very easy to maintain. I also have complete control, which allows me to do custom things wherever I like (e.g. the Roadtrip hero page).