The simplest blog

Luca Leone — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 08:42:27 +0000

To build a personal blog there's no need to make it complicated. At the core it's just an HTML page.

I would like to create an online course on User Interface (UI) design. How can I find students?

I could blog about UI design topics, and hopefully get some people interested.

All right then, which blogging platform should I use?

I don't want to use platforms, I'd like to have control over my content and the publishing process. Also, it can't be that complicated to build a blog. Let's make a very simple one.
A blog post is just an HTML page, so, I create the file. I also create a new repository on Github, which allows me to publish a static site with a couple of clicks.
I buy a domain name, and point it to Github servers. The page is on the web in a few minutes: I've created the blog!

That's great, but what about allowing people to comment my posts? It seems inevitable that I have to add a form, write some JavaScript, and add a database, right?

Wrong! I'll add two paragraphs:

"Do you want to comment? Send me an email"
"Do you want to receive an email when I publish the next post? Send me an email"

OK, I admit it, it was quick, but... it's not professional. First of all everything is manual: writing the HTML for the post, publishing the comments. Second, a lot of features - the ones all blogging platform offers - are missing.

The post is published. I own the process and people can comment. I don't need anything else for now.
It took me a long time to understand that there is almost always a simple-and-quick solution.

DEV Community: Luca Leone

The simplest blog