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susam
I began blogging in the early 2000s when blogging on blogspot.com, wordpress.com, livejournal.com, etc. was quite popular. While they were pretty good for quickly writing and publishing content using their built-in layout templates, I also cared about customising the HTML templates to suit my taste. To my disappointment, I found working with their HTML templates clumsy. For example, with blogspot.com, I would spend a few hours customising the template to my needs and then a few months later they would make an update to the website, such as adding a few new elements or removing some, which would then end up rendering my template in a slightly different way that I might not have anticipated.
I have since moved away from blogging platforms. I have my own little Common Lisp program and my own HTML templates, all handwritten from scratch, and I am very happy with the results. The biggest benefit of this approach I find is that the layout does not change or break every few months/years and I can focus completely on writing content.
emadda
Do you write your content directly in Lisp/HTML?
susam
I write the content in HTML. I know many like to write it directly in Lisp where Lisp macros that correspond to HTML tags do the work of generating the HTML. However, I began blogging long before I learnt Lisp, so I had a lot of content written in plain HTML, so I stuck with HTML for the content.
xrd
I love this writeup.
The solution the author comes to is great, AND, I think it says that as a blogger you should probably always own or create your own tools.
I went down this same path, and Svekyll is my result (combination of Jekyll conventions with Svelte).
(https://svekyll.com or https://extrastatic.dev/svekyll/svekyll-cli/)
Svekyll offers a different perspective to get the same benefits as documented in this great post. I love that we generally reached the same conclusions as to what is important.
* WYSIWYG editor: Svekyll just builds from Markdown files (https://svekyll.com/Markdown)
* Customizable themes: Svekyll lets you configure DaisyUI themes in your _config.yml (e.g.: theme: dracula, https://svekyll.com/Theme)
* SEO out of the box: Svekyll has this too (https://svekyll.com/SEO).
* Runs forever: Svekyll compiles each post to a single independent HTML page (zero JS or CSS links, it is all inlined, https://extrastatic.dev/svekyll/svekyll-cli#technical-notes-on-svekyll-cli)
* RSS Feed Support: add rss: true to the _config.yml and get RSS. And, you can even add RSS feeds for each tag. (https://extrastatic.dev/svekyll/svekyll-cli/-/merge_requests/11, and see an example here: https://webiphany.com/2023-10-16-building-webapps-for-the-amazon-kindle-paperwhite-browser)
* Improved post creation: while not a feature of Svekyll itself, ExtraStatic (my hosting service) let's you create posts as Markdown by sending an email. This is an example where building on a simple foundation like Markdown opens a ton of possibilities.
* Analytics: Add matomo analytics to Svekyll in your _config.yml (https://svekyll.com/Analytics).
* Featured posts: stumped by this, but definitely a problem!teh_klev
> as a blogger you should probably always own or create your own tools.
That's all fine and dandy if you're a developer (or have some developer skills). But my mate who wants to blog about wood working isn't a developer and has no interest in building his own blogging tools.
I'm a developer and even I don't want to build and maintain my own blogging tools, I just want to write about the stuff I find interesting (most of which isn't necessarily development related).
xrd
Agreed. I tried to convey that by saying "own or create" because I feel like Wordpress always "owned" me (not the other way around) and I couldn't stand being forced to use it in a certain way.
dreamcompiler
> SEO Optimized Out Of The Box
To me this is a bug, not a feature. Google is so broken now that I assume any website in their first page of results is likely worthless.
gsa
Chasing Google ranks is an abysmal practice, but a basic level of SEO goes a long way in making content discoverable and accessible. As for the rest of the practices of the SEO industry, I believe in the saying "if you provide good content, you don't need to SEO".
hoosieree
Would you mind elaborating a little on where you draw the line? In my mind "SEO" means adding the correct meta tags to the html, but I suspect that's because I have approximately zero wisdom on the subject.
Kye
SEO and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) get mixed up a lot. SEO vs SEM is like aesthetics (color theory, composition, etc) vs a billboard ad. The latter cares about the former, but the former is innocent.
gsa
Some things that qualify for essential SEO in my book:
- (Basic) meta tags
- Alt attributes
- Mobile friendly content (always required for a blog)
- Loading speed, optimised images etc.
- No JS rendered content
xnx
We should rename legitimate SEO to Search Engine Usability.
bayindirh
Same for me, too.
I honestly love https://mataroa.blog it ended my paralysis for searching a blog platform, and every page is bog standard HTML. It accepts Markdown, plus it has its own anonymous analytics, so it's nice.
On the other hand, everyone has different needs, and I wish Banner blog the best of luck!
Developer_Tom
Thanks! Glad to hear there are other platforms out there.
bayindirh
I'm aware of four in total, excluding yours. Writing them down, so maybe you can get some inspiration from them.
- mataroa.blog - My favorite. Pretty minimal, but well thought out.
- smol.pub - Another favorite of mine, but a little too minimalistic for me.
- prose.sh - A part of pico.sh ecosystem. Very interesting, but I started with mataroa when they started, so I didn't migrate.
- bear.blog - A more comprehensive package, a bit too heavy for my taste.
Again, good luck. We need more small web. Not less!
jamietanna
A number of my blog posts appear on Google's first page. I have some SEO tags but I don't optimise for it, nor do I make content that is purely built to feed the algorithm, I just write content that is applicable to people, and has some of the basic tags in it.
Although I can see why you may do that, it also does discount things that are relevant
maegul
I feel like the new kinda-alternative on the rise is to support federation with either ActivityPub, BlueSky/ATProto or both.
That is, instead of going for search engines, go for open social. It’s obviously a new and relatively unpopular ecosystem, but makes much more sense than this SEO stuff IMO.
Wordpress have rolled out their AP support and it seems to be working well so far. I just “replied” to a blog post on mastodon today without even realising it was from a blog.
Developer_Tom
Yeh definitely agree. Banner blog has support for basic link sharing on social media, but something to look more into definitely!
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Developer_Tom
Yeh, I agree. Especially with the most recent updates.
The sentiment behind this is more about making the posts more readable to bots as opposed to trying to game the system
sertbdfgbnfgsd
Don't worry, your website won't be on the first page.
You sound like those guys who don't go to the gym because they're afraid of becoming huge and muscular. Don't worry, it won't happen by accident.
cryptos
It looks like "the better WordPress" already exists: https://ghost.org/vs/wordpress/ (at least the Ghost makers say so)
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dep_b
I just slapped something together with PHP includes and HTML exports from MD files. Slap the right header.php and footer.php to replace everything above and every below the body opening and closing tag and add the .php extension. Upload using an FTP program. Internet as the internet was intended. And PHP remains the best template language ever invented.
mvuijlst
> No lonely text box, nor a bloated Gutenberg editor in sight. Just a simple WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor so you can write to your heart's content
Have written daily for the last 20+ years. At this point I refuse to use any CMS that doesn't have an editor that is not at least as good as Gutenberg.
What WYSIWYG editor do you use?
_Edit_: it's Suneditor. Not my idea of a good editor, and I don't really like the default font either -- see https://imgur.com/TNT44Bp
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fredwu
I don't think blog platforms "suck", but I do think there are QoL enhancements that can be made to them the experience better for both the writers and the readers.
I built https://persumi.com for exactly this reason - to replace my own blog with a bit of QoL flare. Things like AI summaries, the optional social aspects (like/follow, etc), and TTS to turn text articles into audio / podcasts, etc, etc.
netol
Can it be self-hosted? Is it open-source? Is the WYSIWYG editor custom-built, or does it use CKEditor or similar projects? What about media management? Is there a place for a simple CMS? E.g. developers usually prefer simple static site generators, such as Eleventy.
readingnews
Totally agree with this... If you say it will live forever, but _you_ are doing the hosting, it can not, by default, live forever. I need to own the HTML, then it will live as long as I will.
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HermanMartinus
This is very similar in concept to https://bearblog.dev
kevincox
With the BB alteration and .dev I thought this was some sort of parody or knock off at first.
alabhyajindal
This looks oddly similar to bearblog.dev Some of the planned features mentioned here like analytics are already available for bearblog.dev
Edit: fixed link
fmajid
It apparently can't sustain being featured on HN and is returning empty pages, can't be much of a blogging platform.
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I have written blog platforms for myself several times over the years. (I've always compared it to the Great American Novel. Every programmer has to write at least one.) It's a fun thing to do and it sounds like Developer_Tom has a nice perspective on the matter.
I gave up on that seven or eight years ago. I realized that running it was like being my own plumber. Sure, I can do it but aren't there better ways to spend my time? (No criticism intended. I'm old. You're probably not.)
I have only one criticism for Developer_Tom as he takes signups for his "forever" platform: He's not charging for it. Just as with my own efforts, if there's no revenue model, I'm not trusting it with my bon mots.
A half dozen years ago or something, I switched to a blog platform named https://posthaven.com because they said two things that were crucial to me: 1) They offered nothing for free and 2) They considered running this to be a lifetime commitment.
I'm sure both of them have other jobs and projects. It's a simple site, as bannerblog.dev will eventually be, and doesn't take much from them. I'm guessing it's a good money maker. And I love them for that.
Occasionally I see something that has features I like. Eg, Developer_Tom looks like he might offer easier customization. Then I remember that the PostHaven guys made a commitment to me that really requires a commitment from me. I will be giving them five bucks a month for the rest of my life and, if I have any money left, I will arrange for them to get five bucks a month for eternity.
That's the relationship I'm looking for in a blogging platform.