SimplyStatic WP plugin is working… but is this really a static site?

  • Resolved 1waytoheaven

    (@1waytoheaven)


    1 week, 2 days ago

    Dear Patrick,

    Thank you for your hard work creating this excellent plugin.

    I set it up to convert our WP site into a static site, but in the settings did not exclude any files because I couldn't understand what to keep, and what to drop.

    I thought I was making a flat-file site, where each WP page and post is made into an .htm file, but what I see is each post made into a folder, with a slim index.htm file inside that.

    The new "static" site works well, loads faster, and looks the same as the WP site, but what has surprised me is that the plugins that I kept active are still working as they did in WP, and still require updating. Today I had to even update the SimplyStatic plugin! Should I delete it now, or keep it?

    Ought I to have disabled all plugins, and +then+ SimplyStatic +would have+ made a genuinely static site, without a database, as I expected?

    Should I try again, this time excluding certain WP directories? If so, which ones?

    However, I actually quite like the way it is now, with just three useful active WP plugins instead of 23!

    But feel I may have misunderstood what you were aiming for.

    Perhaps you were made it intending it to create hybrid WP-static sites, rather than completely static sites?

    I'm sure I'm not the only person confused about this.

    Please clarify for me, and others considering using it.

    I emphasise for fellow newbies; Patrick's plugin did what it did cleanly, without any bugs.

    Colin

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Plugin Author patrickposner

    (@patrickposner)

    Hey Colin (@1waytoheaven),

    first off: I’m glad it worked for you!

    <span style=”box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;”>The free video course I recorded and published on?YouTube covers many of these questions</span>.

    We also covered a lot of these things in our documentation (What happens to the WP site, what we recommend in terms of setting it up, etc): https://docs.simplystatic.com/category/57-prepare-wordpress

    I hope that helps clarify it! ??

    Cheers,
    Patrick

    Thread Starter 1waytoheaven

    (@1waytoheaven)

    Thank you Patrick,

    Actually, I did indeed read through all those pages, and even watched all the videos you made before using Simply Static.

    But I honestly think you need another to answer my question :)

    I still have not understood the Simply Static "philosophy", the idea behind transforming WP to static.

    As I wrote in my original post, I thought the idea was to covert the WP site entirely to static, but that is not the case is it?

    Instead, it seems to be, let the user decide the degree of static they wish to make their WP site into.

    If that is the case, then non-nerd users like most of us, will not know what to include and exclude.(Despite watching your video on that topic twice now. It's too superficial.)

    WP is already a lumbering behemoth, and I don't even use "Blocks", so it will only get worse, and more and more folks will want to use your Simply Static plugin to get some sanity back.

    So I urge you to find time to make a video addressing this :)

    And I would make it the first one to watch!

    Colin
    Plugin Author patrickposner

    (@patrickposner)

    Hey Colin (@1waytoheaven),

    thanks for the clarification!

    The idea is to make your website entirely static but have WP somewhere available (locally or protected somewhere online) to make updating content easy.

    I think we need a beginner-friendly video to explain this!
    I might do 1-3 videos on this to cover the very basics:

    • What to do with WordPress (LocalWP vs. Basic Auth for protection)
    • How to bring your website to Local WP (Create a backup, download it, import it..)
    • How to use Basic Authentication instead of LocalWP (to keep WP online)
    • What is my static site and where is my WP site (and how do I spot the difference?)

    Anything else you like to see?

    Thread Starter 1waytoheaven

    (@1waytoheaven)

    Thank you, this one sentence of yours is what I needed to read;

    The idea is to make your website entirely static but have WP somewhere available (locally or protected somewhere online) to make updating content easy.

    I agree with that concept, and will try to get our live site there.

    I made it using SimplyStatic as a staging site, behind BasicAuth, then just used a tool in cPanel to move it to the live site, delighted to have retained the same urls, but confused that much of WP still functions, hence the confusion I had.

    To be honest though, I do like the “slim WP” site even though it’s not really static… yet.

    It is nearly as fast loading as our hand-made flat-file sites.

    Now that the penny has dropped, I’ll rewatch your videos before going further.

    Thank you, its a good plugin, and should do very well.

    Colin

    Thread Starter 1waytoheaven

    (@1waytoheaven)

    Actually, a simple written text page would be enough for most of us newbies, just to explain what the plugin is trying to do for them, as you’ve done here in this thread.

    The term “LocalWP” also confuses, because an online staging site on a sub domain IS local to the live site. But now I see you meant LocalWP to mean Offline on your device’s HD.

    It’s easy for beginners to find what they need to set up BasicAuth, just a link to a tutorial you endorse would be enough.

    The video on switching A records will spook many, so I was happy I didn’t need to do that. The cPanel “Softaculous” tool switched my staging site smoothly.

    Thanks for your help ??

    Colin

    I think we need a beginner-friendly video to explain this!
    I might do 1-3 videos on this to cover the very basics:

    • What to do with WordPress (LocalWP vs. Basic Auth for protection)
    • How to bring your website to Local WP (Create a backup, download it, import it..)
    • How to use Basic Authentication instead of LocalWP (to keep WP online)
    • What is my static site and where is my WP site (and how do I spot the difference?)

    Anything else you like to see?

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
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