Static Site Improvements: Scheduled Posts, Preview Builds, Robots Writing the CSS

I’ve standardized design, upgraded components, added client-side search, and configured browser caching for this site over the last few weeks. I’ve also adopted a workflow that helps me capture ideas, test changes, and get posts published more easily.

I’m not a web developer, I’m a database nerd. I’m don’t want to be great at CSS. I got this all done with a personal Cursor subscription and an obsessive urge to tag and tidy all my old posts. AI tooling these days makes static websites easier than ever to set up, design, and improve.

If you’re open to AI tooling and want to create a website (or upgrade one you already have), a static site is a great bet.

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Adding a Netlify Contact Form to a Hugo Static Site

I redid my static site’s contact form with a free option from my host, Netlify.

Here’s why I changed my static site host and how I got a Netlify contact form to work with a blog built on Hugo and the Mainroad theme.

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Azure Static Web Apps Are Now Generally Available

I wrote recently about moving my blog from Wordpress to an Azure Static Site.

Azure Static Web Apps have now moved out of Preview and are now generally available. A free tier has been announced which is great for personal blogs.

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How I Got Twitter Cards Working in Hugo with the Mainroad Theme

Hugo now has native support for Twitter Cards, but it took a few steps to get them working on my site in the way I wanted.

Here’s how I configured Twitter Cards in Hugo without any new shortcodes.

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Moving From WordPress to an Azure Static Site with Hugo

I’ve moved from WordPress to an Azure Static website built with Hugo. The conversion, including grooming all my old posts and a special setup for my free courses took up most of my personal time for a week (including a 4 day weekend).

Here’s why I made the change. I’ll also share the basic components I chose for my site, the tools and steps I used in the conversion, and some lessons learned from the implementation.

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