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Content management systems

Static site generators

Eleventy

A simpler static site generator. An alternative to Jekyll. Transforms a directory of templates (of varying types) into HTML.

Astro

Build faster websites with Astro's next-gen island architecture.

See also: Next.js for React, SvelteKit for Svelte.

Content management systems

WordPress

WordPress is at its core a blog engine, and several CMS features are absent from a vanilla installation. Some essential plugins:

Content types, called Custom Post Types or CPT for short, are managed through code in either the theme or (ideally) in a plugin.

Because it’s used by a significant portion of websites today, WordPress and its plugin ecosystem are attractive targets. It’s sensible to keep plugin use minimal, and to update the core and plugins regularly, along with general security hygiene. Wordfence’s free version offers a firewall and a malware scanner.

Check out Lathe, a Timber-based WordPress starter theme I wrote and use in all my WordPress projects.

Kirby CMS

Craft CMS