+++
title =
date =
[taxonomies]
tags = ["zola", "static site generation", "blog"]
categories = ["web"]
[extra]
thumbnail = "grass.jpg"
+++

## Cutting website costs with static site generators

-> appeal to both webdevs by introducing new tech, but also to e.g. small website owners.

**Maybe split into 2 articles**

-> talk about markdown being easy to use for anyone

-> Explain the benefits of static sites in comparison to eg. wordpress

-> quickly show how easy it is to use

-> show more in-depth functions like macros and tera in a second part

-> a super fast and easy install guide for win, mac

-> google analytics setup, mention alternatives and why you should think about them
-> reddit is initial target audience, but may expand in future. big showstopper is requiring the use of a terminal, which many people fear. consider writing a small wrapper to serve/build with zola using a small gui

## Introduction
It's a quiet afternoon and you're thinking: Man, I wanna have a website. I wanna have a blog. I wanna have something where I can show me off.
Hi, we've been there and done that. In this article we'll compare
One of the more obvious, popular choices would be platforms like Wordpress or Drupal
Platforms like Wordpress and Blogger are popular choices for making blogs and websites. However, they come at a cost. The websites created with these platforms are dynamic, and generate pages on-the-fly as the end-user visits them. This uses more resources, and can slow down your website.
In this article we want to introduce you to a cheap, easy to set up and use alternative to those platforms.
Recently though, an old method of creating blogs and websites has been re-emerging, known as "Static site generators". such as [Zola](https://www.getzola.org/) or [Jekyll](https://jekyllrb.com/). Static site generators generate all of your webpages, blog entries and forms ahead of time, meaning that the server on which your website will be hosted only has to serve those generated files. This brings many upsides, but of course also some downsides.
Just to clarify, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using dynamic platforms such as Wordpress and the like. They offer tremendous amounts

- Statically generated websites are generally way cheaper (and potentially free) to host, while also being incredibly fast to load.
In this article we'll show you how to set up and use Zola, the static site generator we at strct.net are using.
-> static pros in terms of SEO
## Right, what about Wix? Squarespace?

## Why should I care?
- complete control over data, limitless options
- fast page loads basically guaranteed
- simple to use when paired with a good theme

## I don't know what's right for me and I just want a website, what do I do?
- Wordpress, explain why

## compare ssgs

## Why we have opted for SSG/Our experience with Zola

## Preparation
instol zola and tings
gotta windörs proof it

## Themes
-> showcase some themes with link to repo, but also our theme

## Zola basics
explen structure and tings
With Zola, you can either design your own website with HTML/CSS, or use a pre-made theme.

## Deploying to Netlify
- Netlify easiest onboarding, generous free tier

## Control structures

## Variables and functions

## Macros

## Summary
-> a tldr? mayhaps