11tyCMS

👋 Introduction: There's not a simple offline "app" for publishing on SSGs?!

So after setting this blog up with 11ty, I'm IN LOVE. Its bonkers fast to develop with. I made this site in under 5 hours without any prior exposure to 11ty. So, safe to say that I'm a fan. The only thing about it though, is I'm not sure how I feel about being forced to use Visual Studio Code as my "CMS". I spend a lot of my waking hours writing code within it, and idk, it feels like a place where my creativity will go to die if I have to write in there too.

So I had a little think... Surely, there has to be a downloadable app I can use thats offline first, with no use of external servers and unnecessary bloat. All I want is a markdown editor that can keep track of all my posts, and preferably a way to publish from within said app to the platform I want (in this case neocities).

Surprisingly? All I was met with when I googled this was:

• How to use Strapi as a 11ty CMS
• Using Wordpress as a CMS for 11ty
• [insert name for expensive monthly subscription service] CMS for 11ty

No good... The closest thing I could find was Publii but it requires a yearly subscription and I'm NOT about that. I don't want yet another subscription for gods sake!! One, I can't afford it right now, and two, it implies that if ever they go "bump", I'll lose my software. No thanks. I'm not about tying my creative process to a massive corporation.

I'm still in disbelief that this isn't a thing. Its not like there's not something you can self host as a service like Directus, but for god's sake, I don't want to self host a whole ass server setup in order to make a damn blog post. 11ty is supposed to be simple and lightweight, I don't really understand the point of using something like Strapi, Wordpress or Directus if you end up hosting a server and database for it anyway. At that point just use something like Grav and have done with it (in my correct opinion 😆).

🤔 Introducing: 11tyCMS - a local first, self contained app to manage 11ty SSG sites

So what if... What if you could just download an app that could help you manage your SSG? It doesnt need to connect to some strangers server in the cloud. It'll still work if I stop working on it tomorrow. All you have to do, is open your app, select the 11ty site folder on your drive: and bam. All your posts, collections and everything visually represented in a minimal, user friendly UI. But also? The ability to make some quick changes to your templates and styling. I dont want this to become a code editor, but I do want the ability to make "on the fly" changes. Sometimes when I'm writing for my 11ty blog, I find out that I've not made CSS for a particular markdown thing, like quotes, for example. Even being able to manage custom properties with ease, not having to manually write them out.

And then? Once you're done writing, what if there was a way to run a community made script that you can configure in the UI that will let you upload your _site files directly to your host. Whether its via git, Neocities, WebDAV or FTP.

More exciting still, what if we had some sort of plugins store? Where the community can create scripts to help install popular 11ty extensions. But also have extensions especially for 11tyCMS to expand its functionality.

I feel like this is very attainable. And considering the technology out there, I can't imagine it'd be too difficult to get an MVP going:

💻 Technologies

• Electron for the framework

• React for the UI library

  • MDXEditor or Markdown Editor for the markdown editor
  • Microsoft's Monaco Editor for the code editor
  • Xterm.js for the integrated terminal

I'm want to use something like Electron (sorry) or Wails... But in all hoensty, it'll probably be Electron. I don't want to learn Go to do this project, I have very limited time as it is! I know, I know: "yet another electron app!"... But I need something well supported and well documented, so Electron it probably is.

React is a no brainer. I know it like the back of my hand, and I know it best. Now, for the UI tech:

MDXEditor looks the most appealing to me. It already has a nice UI, and has easy to use image integration, which is already a big motivator for me. Overall, I think it'll be a perfect match for the writing portion of the CMS.

Monaco Editor is kinda a no brainer. I (for the most part) LOVE VS Code's code editor engine, and see no reason to use much else. Its the same editor everyone knows and loves. It doesn't need to have all the bells and whistles, but most people have muscle memory in this editor, so why not stick with that?

Xterm.js, similar to Monaco is a no brainer. It's again, the same terminal that's used in VSCode, which is... Functional. I don't need anything too snazzy, all I want is something that can monitor and output the text that 11ty will output.

So... A pretty small tech stack, really. Though I wouldn't be surprised if this grows over time. But either way, I feel like this has pretty promising beginnings.

I will keep everyone posted with how this progresses over time 👀