Under the hood

Why not simply use Wordpress?

Hello there, folks!

If you've been following my online adventures on LostInBrittany.org for the past couple of decades, you've seen it evolve from a mishmash of topics to a place where tech reigns supreme. I've used trusty old WordPress for this journey, running everything from my personal blog to corporate platforms like the current OVHcloud blog. Plus, I've set up countless blogs for friends, family, and various groups.

Now, let's talk about WordPress for a moment. I've become pretty handy with it over the years. I can run it, tweak it, manage it, and even craft custom themes and plugins. But when it came to launching this fresh blog, I had to think twice.

Why, you ask? Well, lately, I've been exploring the world of static site generators for most of my side projects. For instance, for the website I built for Le Camping des Speakers, I opted for Eleventy.

The Eleventy choice

Now, you might wonder why I picked Eleventy from the plethora of static site generators out there. Let me try to explain my choice!

First things first, Eleventy plays nice with the web. It's crafted in JavaScript, which makes it feel right at home in the web development world. Plus, it's wicked fast. And when I say fast, I mean that generating a site with hundreds of pages only take a couple of seconds.

A world of template options

Eleventy doesn't box you into a specific template language. It's a playground of choices, and I've enjoyed exploring them.

For my precedent foray into Eleventy with Le Camping des Speakers, I decided to go a bit off the beaten path. Instead of using traditional templating languages, I embraced the unique charm of 11ty.js, the 100% JavaScript templating language for Eleventy. It was an exhilarating experience, constructing the entire site structure in JavaScript. It allowed me to flex my coding muscles in a different way.

However, as I embarked on this new blogging adventure, I stumbled upon something intriguing on the Eleventy website – the option to use WebC as a templating language.

Now, let me tell you, WebC is a gem in its own right. It's a framework-independent, standalone HTML serializer designed specifically for generating markup for Web Components. And guess what? I've been a fervent advocate of Web Components for quite some time. When I saw the possibility of using WebC with Eleventy, it was like a siren's call I couldn't resist.

Web Components: the future of the web

In my very opinionated way of seeing web development, Web Components are a game-changer in web development. They offer a clean, encapsulated way to create reusable, self-contained components that work seamlessly across different frameworks and platforms.

By embracing Web Components with Eleventy, I'm not merely creating a blog; rather, I'm actively participating in the effort to expand and share this technology, making the web more modular, efficient, and developer-friendly. It's a small step toward a future where these improvements benefit us all.

Plus, the combination of Eleventy and WebC makes the content generation process a breeze. It's a harmonious blend of simplicity and power, much like the rest of the Eleventy ecosystem.

Join me on this journey

So there you have it, folks. The second half of the story behind my choice to embrace Eleventy and WebC for my blog. It's about simplicity, performance, flexibility, and a dash of advocacy for the future of the web.

I invite you to stick around as in the next few posts, we dive deeper into the inner workings of my blog, exploring how Eleventy and WebC come together to make this digital adventure possible. Together, we'll uncover more about this dynamic duo and how it's transforming the way we create and experience web content.

Stay curious and stay connected!

Warmly,

Horacio Gonzalez - LostInBrittany