illuminea

Static WordPress is possible - you can generate a static replica of your WordPress site and deploy that via CDN. There are some plugins that help you do that (Simply Static, WP2Static) but you need to also configure your whole infrastructure when using them, and the build process can be long and painful.

There are also managed services for doing this that take care of everything for you, from the WP hosting env, to the static hosting and CDN, along with replicating certain types of dynamic functionality on the static site like forms and search.

One example of this type of managed static WordPress hosting service is Strattic: https://www.strattic.com.

Have you seen Strattic? It's a static hosting service for standard WordPress sites (i.e. monolithic WordPress as opposed to headless WordPress), so the time has arrived (unless you meant "freely" as in "free beer" and not "without limitation). https://www.strattic.com

You could use WordPress as the CMS (it's an excellent WYSIWYG editor) and then publish the site as a static replica using one of the tools and solutions available for turning WP into a static site generator, like Strattic https://www.strattic.com.

You can try Strattic - it turns WordPress into a static site generator so you can use page builders etc. as usual, and then in one click generate the static version of the site. https://www.strattic.com

Many people in the comments recommended using WordPress, and for good reason. Your client can manage their content on their own, and WP will be around for the foreseeable future.

If you want to use WP as usual and get a headless output in one click that even your client can generate, check out Strattic: https://www.strattic.com (Disclosure: I'm from Strattic).

Chris: I wonder where headless WordPress will land. And by “headless” I mean only using the WordPress admin and building out the user-facing site through the WordPress REST API rather than the traditional WordPress theme structure.

Is it… big? The future of WordPress? Or relatively niche?

You could check out Strattic which gives users the best of both worlds - edit your site as usual in WordPress, and click a button to deploy a static, Jamstack version of the site. All the power of WordPress with none of the headache. https://www.strattic.com

WordPress is a nightmare because of the issues surrounding speed, security and scalability. But if you use a static WordPress hosting solution (like Strattic for example - I'm the CEO) that solves all that, so you can benefit from WP's robust CMS while enjoying a perfect, static output. https://www.strattic.com

I totally agree. It's so important to own as much of your content on the web as possible. That's why CMSs like WordPress are a great solution. I know WP has lots of issues, and that's why we created Strattic: static and headless publishing for WordPress websites so you can easily and quickly create content, but not worry about security and performance. https://www.strattic.com

Covers the exciting growing trend of WordPress and Jamstack and how they can actually go together.

There are a number of ways you can create static from wordPress. You can check out https://www.strattic.com as one example. Strattic hosts your original WP site in a container that shuts down when you are not editing your site, and publishes a completely static version of your site in one click. [disclosure: I'm the co-founder and CEO]

You could try Strattic (I'm the CEO) - it's a static site generator for WordPress. It's not a plugin, but rather a platform where we host the WP site and also generate the static output, which we then serve up via CDN. https://www.strattic.com.

Most WordPress plugins work with a statically generated WP site. For functionality that generally demands db communication, there are many services that have been created for use on static sites that can be used on WP too. We created a static tools directory for our users on Strattic so that they can easily find those types of services when moving their sites to Strattic, or building for Strattic: https://www.strattic.com/static-tools/

You can take a look at Strattic: https://www.strattic.com - static publishing for WordPress websites.

So, you're saying you love WordPress? :)

I hear your complaints, but WordPress is still the best tool for marketers and companies. What we need is something that combines the benefits of WordPress with the benefits of static sites.

Maybe something like Strattic: https://www.strattic.com :)

WP auto update is nice...until a WP update breaks the functionality! Lol. https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2018/02/broken-auto-update/

We created Strattic to allow anyone to use WordPress (and eventually other CMSs) as static site generators. It's the best of both worlds. We're in private beta but you can check it out here: https://www.strattic.com.

Google Carpool has been available in Israel for a while now. I've used it, it works great. The only problem is there aren't enough drivers here (supply). I've also used Moovit Carpool for getting rides, which works basically on the same principle, and it is great. Carpools are as "insecure" as Airbnb and Uber. It's all part of the sharing economy. I've met really interesting people in my carpools. Both companies have support in case of issues etc. I totally recommend trying out this concept. The only challenge seems to be building up a big enough database of drivers.

From a branding and long-term point of view, it's really important to "own" your content by hosting it on your own domain and even server space. The advantage of a platform like Medium is that it can increase the reach of your content, but it's too risky to go all in with them since who knows how long they'll be around, or what limitations they might add down the line.

But there's a way to have your cake and eat it too: you can publish first on your self-hosted WordPress site, and then republish automatically on Medium with a canonical tag pointing back to your WordPress site. This means you get the SEO and control benefits of WP, and the reach benefits of Medium.

I wrote a guide on how to make this magic happen: https://illuminea.com/ultimate-guide-to-wordpress-medium/. Of course this post is also reposted on Medium with the canonical tag :) https://medium.com/@miriamschwab/6425c2d5e5c4

That's why we developed Strattic: it allows users to enjoy the flexibility and power of WordPress without the need to maintain and secure servers. Strattic publishes the site as static and serverless, and the origin site is only available to the site owner. It's like a static site generator, but for WordPress. Strattic is currently in beta: https://strattic.com.

We developed Strattic to solve the issue of difficult to maintain and optimize WordPress websites. Strattic publishes WordPress websites as static sites, and the origin site sits behind a login so it's only accessible to you. No server issues etc. Strattic is currently in beta: https://strattic.com.

I recommend going for a theme that doesn't have a ton of bells and whistles that you probably won't end up using. The default WordPress themes are simple and could possibly suit your needs. In particular, check out Twenty Fifteen: https://wordpress.org/themes/twentyfifteen/.

That sounds great, but doesn't it get gigantic and hard to focus on at a certain point?

We believe the platform we are developing, Strattic, could fill the gaps - it publishes WordPress (and other platforms) as static sites. That way non-technical clients still get their CMS, and developers get a production static site. Best of both worlds. https://strattic.com

We're working on Strattic, which we are beta testing right now. It publishes CMSs as static sites. You can check it out here: https://strattic.com.

That's why WordPress is still growing, and isn't going anywhere anytime soon. The problem is that while non-tech users like it, tech users increasingly don't. That's what we're hoping to solve with Strattic: https://strattic.com.

That's why we are developing Strattic, which is a static publishing sites for the popular CMSs like WordPress. This way end-users who aren't techy can continue to manage their sites in our secure staging area, and the site is then published live as static. Our company site is running on our platform - the origin site is WordPress: https://strattic.com. I'd love to hear feedback, and we're also looking for beta testers.