my-lite-blog

A lightweight, fast, and secure static site generator for blogs. Zero config, just write and publish.

Features

- Markdown - Write posts in Markdown with YAML frontmatter
- Tags - Organize posts with tags, auto-generated tag pages
- Table of Contents - Auto-generated from headings
- Reading Time - Estimated reading time for each post
- Related Posts - Suggestions based on shared tags
- Syntax Highlighting - Beautiful code blocks with highlight.js
- Reading Progress - Progress bar while scrolling
- Image Optimization - Auto resize, WebP conversion, responsive images
- RSS Feed - Auto-generated RSS feed
- Sitemap - Auto-generated sitemap.xml for SEO
- SEO Ready - Auto meta tags and Open Graph
- Incremental Build - Only rebuild changed files
- Hot Reload - Live reload during development
- Fast - File caching, ETag support, optimized serving
- Secure - XSS protection, security headers, path traversal prevention

Installation

$3

- Node.js 16 or higher
- npm or yarn

$3

``bash
npm install -g my-lite-blog
`

$3

`bash


Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/pvdrh/my-lite-blog.git
cd my-lite-blog

Install dependencies

npm install

Link globally

npm link
`

$3

`bash
lite-blog --version
`

Quick Start

$3

`bash
lite-blog init my-blog
`

This creates:
`
my-blog/
├── config.json # Site configuration
├── pages/ # Your content (Markdown files)
│ ├── index.md # Home page
│ ├── about.md # About page
│ ├── hello-world.md # Sample post
│ └── tags/
│ └── index.md # Tags listing page
├── templates/ # HTML templates
│ ├── default.html
│ ├── post.html
│ ├── list.html
│ ├── tag.html
│ └── 404.html
└── static/ # Static assets
├── css/
└── images/
`

$3

`bash
cd my-blog
lite-blog dev
`

Open http://localhost:3000

$3

Create pages/my-first-post.md:

`markdown
---
title: My First Post
date: 2026-01-19
description: This is my first blog post
tags: [blog, introduction]
---

Hello World!

This is my first post using lite-blog.

Features I love

- Simple Markdown writing
- Auto-generated table of contents
- Beautiful syntax highlighting

`javascript
console.log('Hello from lite-blog!');
`

Happy blogging!
`

Save the file and the browser will auto-reload.

$3

`bash
lite-blog build
`

Output is in the public/ folder, ready to deploy.

Configuration

Edit config.json:

`json
{
"title": "My Blog",
"description": "A blog about awesome things",
"siteUrl": "https://myblog.com",
"author": "Your Name",
"postsPerPage": 10,
"language": "en"
}
`

| Option | Description | Default |
|--------|-------------|---------|
| title | Site title | "My Blog" |
| description | Site description for SEO | "" |
| siteUrl | Full URL of your site | "http://localhost:3000" |
| author | Author name | "Anonymous" |
| postsPerPage | Posts per page for pagination | 10 |
| language | Language code for date formatting | "en" |

Writing Posts

$3

Every post starts with YAML frontmatter:

`yaml
---
title: Post Title (required)
date: 2026-01-19
description: Short description for SEO
tags: [tag1, tag2, tag3]
template: post
image: images/cover.jpg
draft: false
---
`

| Field | Type | Description |
|-------|------|-------------|
| title | string | Post title (required) |
| date | string | Publication date (YYYY-MM-DD) |
| description | string | Short description for SEO/previews |
| tags | array | List of tags for categorization |
| template | string | Template to use: default, post, list, tag |
| image | string | Cover image path for Open Graph |
| draft | boolean | If true, post won't be published |

$3

Supports GitHub Flavored Markdown:

- Bold and italic text
- Links
- Images: !alt
- Code blocks with syntax highlighting
- Tables
- Task lists
- Blockquotes
- Horizontal rules

Templates

$3

| Placeholder | Description |
|-------------|-------------|
| {{title}} | Post title |
| {{content}} | Post content (HTML) |
| {{date}} | Formatted date |
| {{dateISO}} | ISO date format |
| {{description}} | Post description |
| {{tags}} | Tag links HTML |
| {{toc}} | Table of contents |
| {{readingTime}} | Reading time in minutes |
| {{relatedPosts}} | Related posts section |
| {{metaTags}} | SEO meta tags |
| {{progressBar}} | Reading progress bar |
| {{posts}} | Posts list (for list template) |
| {{pagination}} | Pagination links |
| {{tagsList}} | All tags list |
| {{siteTitle}} | Site title from config |
| {{siteUrl}} | Site URL from config |
| {{author}} | Author from config |

$3

Edit files in templates/ folder to customize your blog's look.

CLI Commands

`bash


Initialize new project

lite-blog init [directory]

Initialize in current directory

lite-blog init .

Start dev server (default port 3000)

lite-blog dev

Start dev server on custom port

lite-blog dev --port 8080

Build for production

lite-blog build

Show help

lite-blog --help

Show version

lite-blog --version
`

Image Optimization

Place images in static/images/. Automatically:

- Creates multiple sizes (640px, 1024px, 1920px)
- Converts to WebP format
- Generates responsive tags
- Caches optimized images for fast rebuilds

Deployment

$3

`bash


Build

lite-blog build

Deploy using gh-pages

npx gh-pages -d public
`

Or use GitHub Actions:

`yaml


.github/workflows/deploy.yml

name: Deploy
on:
push:
branches: [main]

jobs:
deploy:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
- uses: actions/setup-node@v3
with:
node-version: 18
- run: npm install -g my-lite-blog
- run: lite-blog build
- uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
with:
github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
publish_dir: ./public
`

$3

1. Connect your repo to Netlify
2. Build command: npx my-lite-blog build or lite-blog build
3. Publish directory: public

$3

1. Connect your repo to Vercel
2. Build command: npx my-lite-blog build or lite-blog build
3. Output directory: public

$3

1. Connect your repo to Cloudflare Pages
2. Build command: npx my-lite-blog build or lite-blog build
3. Build output directory: public

Project Structure

`
my-blog/
├── config.json # Site configuration
├── pages/ # Markdown content
│ ├── index.md # Home page (uses list template)
│ ├── about.md # About page
│ ├── post-1.md # Blog post
│ ├── post-2.md # Blog post
│ └── tags/
│ └── index.md # Tags index page
├── templates/ # HTML templates
│ ├── default.html # Default template
│ ├── post.html # Blog post template
│ ├── list.html # Posts list template
│ ├── tag.html # Tag page template
│ └── 404.html # 404 error page
├── static/ # Static assets (copied as-is)
│ ├── css/
│ │ ├── style.css
│ │ └── hljs.css
│ └── images/
├── public/ # Generated output (after build)
└── .lite-blog-cache.json # Build cache (auto-generated)
``

Performance

Optimized for speed:

- File Caching - Files cached in memory during development
- ETag Support - Browser caching with 304 Not Modified
- Incremental Build - Only rebuilds changed files
- Minified Assets - Progress bar and live reload scripts are minified

Security

Includes security best practices:

- XSS Protection - All user content is HTML-escaped
- Path Traversal Prevention - Strict path validation
- Security Headers - X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, X-XSS-Protection

Comparison

| Feature | lite-blog | Jekyll | Hugo | Gatsby |
|---------|-----------|--------|------|--------|
| Setup time | ~1 min | ~5 min | ~3 min | ~10 min |
| Dependencies | 8 packages | Ruby ecosystem | Go binary | 1000+ packages |
| Build speed | Fast | Medium | Very Fast | Slow |
| Learning curve | Easy | Medium | Medium | Hard |
| Config files | 1 (JSON) | Multiple (YAML) | Multiple (TOML) | Multiple (JS) |

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please open an issue or submit a pull request.

GitHub: https://github.com/pvdrh/my-lite-blog

npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/my-lite-blog

---

Made with ❤️ for developers who love simplicity.