DEV Community

PRIYANSHU SINGH
PRIYANSHU SINGH

Posted on

I Built a Developer Blog Using Next.js App Router, Velite, and Firebase — Here's How

#cnc2018 #webdev #programming #javascript

Image description

Hey everyone! 👋

Over the past couple of months, I’ve been working on building my own blog — not with WordPress or a headless CMS, but from scratch using tools I enjoy. I wanted something fast, fully under my control, and fun to build.

The result? ghoops.me — a minimal blog for writing about AI tools, productivity workflows, and web dev insights.

🚧 Why I Built It Instead of Using Dev.to or Hashnode

Dev.to and similar platforms are great, but I wanted:

  • Full control over content structure
  • Markdown with MDX component support
  • Custom metadata (likes, views, author profiles)
  • A playground for trying out tools like Firebase, analytics, and SEO experiments

🧰 The Stack

  • Next.js App Router — for routing and static site generation
  • Velite — markdown-first content manager (a lightweight alternative to Contentlayer)
  • Firebase Firestore — to store likes, views, and author data
  • TailwindCSS — for a clean, mobile-first UI
  • Framer Motion — subtle page transitions
  • Supabase — used for tracking trending posts via page views

📚 Some Articles I’ve Published So Far

Here are a few posts you might like:

💡 Lessons I Learned

  • Firebase is great for micro features like likes and view tracking
  • Velite + MDX is powerful and intuitive for managing blog content
  • App Router in Next.js requires a bit of learning, but works well for static blogs
  • SEO is a long game — but you have more power when you own your platform

🙌 Your Feedback Is Welcome

If you have a moment, I’d love feedback on:

  • Blog performance (speed, responsiveness)
  • Design simplicity or readability
  • Any bugs or improvements you notice

You can check it out at ghoops.me — open to suggestions and collaboration!

🎯 TL;DR

Built a static developer blog using Next.js App Router, Velite, Firebase, and Tailwind. It’s SEO-friendly, fast, and fun to hack on. I’ll keep publishing articles around AI tools, indie dev workflows, and productivity systems.

Thanks for reading 🙌

Top comments (0)