JAMstack is cool. If you haven't heard of Static Page Generators and Headless CMS yet, now's the time.
However, if you are familiar with it, and you know how to use them, then I need your opinion and help.
How do you convince a client to a static website?
What are your favorite players?
Do you have any tricks or tips you want to share?
Oldest comments (49)
So far, clients asked me to build them a static website.
I have built websites on Jekyll, Middleman, Hugo, and Hexo. I cannot say which one is my favorite, but I must admit that Hugo is fast.
Here's my two cents:
If you are using Netlify, you could add code snippets, like tracking snippets, right from Settings -> Build & deploy -> Post processing -> Snippet injection:
I fully agree with you, but I'd rather Hexo. It's more flexible than Hugo. Jekyll is very popular, because it's supported by github, but it's slower than Hexo and Hugo. I would also like to try a GatsbyJs that becomes more popular
Well, sometimes you cannot choose. I am using Hexo for my website, but if a client wants a website on Hugo than you build the website on Hugo.
Also, I don't know which one is more flexible, but I managed to fulfill all client's requirements no matter which generator is in use. If you have problems, the community will help you. For example, I had a problem, posted it on Hugo Discourse, and got an answer in minutes.
You are absolutely right. But if you do your own projects you don't need a clients ideas)) And that's why I like Hexo. It's more friendly with themes and plugins ;)
Had this conversation recently of static sites VS something like Wordpress, and the truth is, at the end of the day, clients really don't care about technologies, they care about scalability, SEO, posts, and Plugin support. Using something like Gatsby for static site generation isn't the best solution unless you use Netlify. In conclusion, using static sites without a service like Netlify is a huge NO.
Yes, I am using Netlify for every project.
I dont get it, you are the professional, you should decide which solution is the best.
Anyway you can just lay out the advantages of not having a server, which are costs and performance, low complexity and cheaper.
That is precisely my point, which advantages, how to present them, and so on. I am a professional, and I know all that, but I am interested in how others do it to help others, not just me.
Ah I see, then you should have started with how you solved this problem in the past, what worked and not, then others can add extra info.
I am sorry for the misunderstanding.
Do you have anything to share now that you know the intention of this discussion?
No sorry, I was just trying to put myself in your shoes and that is all I came up with.
I stopped doing freelancing and working with the end customer many years ago, I felt like I will live less if I kept doing it 😁.
I haven’t done a lot of client work but I’ve definitely had some hair-pulling interactions where they had heard about some random technology or wanted me to use the same stack some other project is using for completely arbitrary reasons.
I’ve learned how to really get this out of the way early. Lay down the law in this regard.
Security :) (and no update every week like Wordpress or Joomla)
Performance is a good point too.
I use Pelican (only because it's Python and I can read the code/develop plugin)
Just an advice: if you never tested static sites and if you are affraid to be limited by markdown syntax, some plugin/extension allow personnal syntax to be exported in your own html.
Thank you for your comment.
A genuine question: how far you can go in your experience? Do you know of any really complicated website made with JAMstack? Since your a Wordpress developer, any pro and cons between the two approaches?
Thanks!
As I already stated in this comment, I have developed websites on Jekyll, Middleman, Hugo, and Hexo so far.
The most complicated website that is built on JAMstack that I know of is Smashing Magazine.
In my opinion, Wordpress and SPG are two different worlds. The first one is a global solution with an enormous amount of themes, plugins, and solutions. In the last couple of years, the platform moved forward, and it has many great features, but there are still too many options, settings, and cluttering. SPGs are unique, they could be developed specific to users needs, they could be extended by some customizations, plugins, shortcode, etc. But delivering content over CDNs as static files, that is powerful. And it could be free if you are using Netlify free plan.
Thank you!
I don't get it : when you click on getting started, there's nothing about getting started but about best practices :)
I would disagree. All those things could be done in SPG. It takes time and knowledge, but it is worth it if performance and security are a requirement.
I don't know much about SPG admittedly, but I know a lot about wordpress websites and specifically how to optimize them.
There is virtually no performance difference with the core platform. Performance is only sacrificed by unnecessary plugins for one function, bloated themes with built-in page builders, and poor image/code optimization by the designer/developer. What you save in milliseconds by building a site statically is instantly wasted by longer development times.
In terms of security, every site is at risk. Wordpress, when managed properly, is just as safe as a static website. With plugins like WordFence you could even argue it's safer because I can easily blacklist suspicious IP's.
With all of that being said, if I ever want to do things a specific way I have simply just said this is the best way. I'm the developer, I'm the one building it, my clients pay me for my expertise and knowledge. It's literally that simple.
You shouldn't have to. If you do, though:
I spent the last two years championing static sites using SSGs and a variety of headless CMSs in a marketing agency. We ultimately came back to WordPress because our clients requested it and there's a lot of value out of the box. However, I still wanted the benefits of static sites (speed, security, scalability).
That's when we found a service called HardyPress. They host WordPress in an anonymous environment that goes to sleep when you're not using it. A static version of the site is deployed to a CDN when you're ready to publish changes. It's been the best of both worlds for us.
You do still have to think about what it would mean for your WordPress site to be static. Not all plugins will work. HardyPress does provide support for Contact Form 7 and search.
I have no affiliation with HardyPress. I just think it's an ingenious idea.
hardypress.com/
I haven't heard of HardyPress, but I will take a look at it.
I know about projects with Wordpress REST API as a backend with static page generators. This is similar approach, I think.
Thank you for sharing.
Yes, the WordPress REST API is another option, but it isn't used with HardyPress. You build your site like you normally would (besides not being able to use every plugin) and it deploys a static version of your WP frontend. Yes, this means your templating is still done in WP. We settled on using Timber to make that part less painful. :)
upstatement.com/timber/
Fair point. But you forgot there are clients that need smaller websites with smaller budget for development. You cannot say SPG is not good choice for those clients, IMO.
Static Sites are cheap and secure.
My Favourite is Hugo, because of performance even with thousands of pages.
Use 3rd party api for authentication and comments etc.. Like Auth0 and Disqus
Use this and you have a full funcional site in matter or minutes:
github.com/netlify-templates/one-c...
Let's stop here, because we are not on the same page. Let's agree that we don't agree.
Can I just hop on here to say that this is the most gloriously civil end to a discussion that I've ever seen on the internet.
^ seconded
But obviously – like others have stated – use the right tool for the job (even if that means resisting the urge to use Gatsby for everything).
My first boss said it best, "I use the language and platform that makes me the most money."