And another thing
by Wayne Thursby
This is Another Post
Why do things have to be so complicated? Why can't I just run a static site? What am I missing?
Editing in Markdown isn't hard. I think it's easier than futzing with someone's graphical representation of the things they think you want to use.
In fact the hardest part is still what to write. We've solved all of the hard problems with how to publish. The ubiquity and efficiency of JavaScript has allowed companies like Netlify to package some ridiculously powerful features into a very affordable product.
So where does that leave Content Management Systems that require dynamic content to exist? Here, of course, we're referring to WordPress, but just as much, we're looking at the use case for many custom applications as well.
How dynamic is it, really?
Most use cases for websites revolve around presenting structured content. That content is only "dynamic" in the sense that it needs to be editable in a meaningful way by the end users.
Very few of these sites have to be truly dynamic in the sense of presenting information which literally changes with every page load.
Markdown is better than your editor
After a 15 minute introduction, anyone can begin writing Markdown and publishing content on any number of platforms. Even publishing on a custom domain -- like the site you're looking at right now -- can be done so cheaply as to be completely free.
Other services like GitHub Pages exist that also provide a similar experience, and more are likely on the way.
Will this put a damper on the dynamic content CMSes? After all, things like backups, updates, maintenance, and security are much easier problems to solve (or non-existent) on a static site.