File Based CMS and Static Site Generator

Nesta is a lightweight CMS for building content sites and blogs, written in Ruby using the Sinatra web framework.

• Write your content in Markdown or Textile, in your text editor (drop into HTML or Haml if you need more control)
• Files are stored in text files on your hard drive (there is no database)
• Publish changes by putting these files online (Git recommended, not required)
• Deploy either as a static site (SSG) or by rendering HTML on the server (SSR)

Begin by installing Ruby, then the Nesta gem:

$ gem install nesta

Use the nesta command to generate a new site:

$ nesta new mysite.com --git  # a git repo is optional, but recommended

Install a few dependencies, and you're away:

$ cd mysite.com
$ bundle

You'll find configuration options for your site in config/config.yml. The defaults will work, but you'll want to tweak it before you go very far.

That's it — you can launch a local web server in development mode using the mr-sparkle dev server:

$ bundle exec mr-sparkle config.ru

Point your web browser at http://localhost:8080. Start editing the files in content/pages (see the docs on writing content for full instructions).

You can either deploy it behind a web server, or build a static version of your site:

$ nesta build  # but see config.yml for build settings

There's plenty of information on https://nestacms.com. If you need some help with anything feel free to file an issue, or contact me on Mastodon (@gma@hachyderm.io).

If you want to add a new feature, consider creating an issue so we can have a chat before you start coding. I might be able to chip in with ideas on how to approach it, or suggest that we implement it as a plugin (to keep Nesta itself lean and simple).

-- Graham