Introduction
DSF Static Websites is a four-part workshop series led by Digital Scholarship Services (DiScho) that introduces you to static website generation and the underlying skills that make creating your own website possible. Our series is influenced by the Lib-Static approach.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will apply version control methods.
- Participants will recognize different types of data, the file types that support them, and how to use them.
- Participants will effectively manage project repositories.
- Participants will learn the building blocks of the web and digital publication.
- Participants will develop their own project or proof of concept.
- Participants will discuss the ethics and responsibilities of working with data and digital publication.
Why Learn with Static Sites
Static site learning allows us here at DiScho to explore and share values important to our mission such as:
- Teaching transferable skills
- Project sustainability and preservation
- Lowering barriers to entry
By focusing on learning the underlying skills that ensure the success and sustainability of a static site digital project, we think that attendees will be better prepared to address their own research and project needs going forward.
But What is a Static Site?
Briefly, a static site is a collection of HTML, CSS, and JS files that are served to a user without dynamic changes. Evan Will suggests “you can think of a static site as a shared folder of readonly files exposed on the web” in his Introduction to Static Web and Jekyll. This may seem a little abstract now, but by the end of our series you will be able to confidently answer the question: What is a static site?
Our series will explore the benefits and limitations of static sites, while introducing you to the skills and tools that make it possible to create your own sustainable website. We will begin the the series semi-agnostic with our tool usage, but our sessions will culminate in everyone using CollectionBuilder, which is a digital exhibition framework that uses static web technology.
Static Site Key Terms
- Static Website: A group of files stored and delivered as is rather than a dynamic website generated by a web application.
- Static Site Generators: Software tools that transform source code into HTML files (a website) that can be rendered by your browser.
- Jekyll: One of the most popular static site generators. It uses the programming language Ruby and is integrated into GitHub Pages.
CollectionBuilder
We will use the digital exhibit framework CollectionBuilder, which leverages GitHub Pages and Jekyll, as well as other tools and methods that we will learn about, to create a prototype website. We will utilize CB during the second half of our series.
Spring Schedule
| Session Type | Date | Title | Key Themes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workshop | February 5 | GitHub and Getting to Know Your Computer | Version control; repositories; cloning |
| Workshop | February 9 | The Web, Markdown, and Data | Text editors; Authoring web content; Markup languages |
| Office Hours (optional) | February 25 and 26 | Office Hours (optional) | Work on your project, set up development environment, and troubleshoot issues |
| Workshop | March 5 | CollectionBuilder and Local Development | GitHub Pages; Hosting; CollectionBuilder |
| Workshop | March 19 | Advanced Building and Basic Computational Methods | Customization; Computational methods; Publication |
Credits
The weekly sessions borrow from Learn-Static. Their modules and templates are great for developing your own curriculum or pursuing asynchronous learning. Evan Will’s go-go gh-pages is a related project that also includes materials that have shaped this series.