Static web site generation

Question

I need an easy way to generate static web pages so that I can serve them up with Apache or Nginx. Currently I am using SproutCore's build tool (Abbot) to generate static pages but that is a little bit cumbersome as it is designed for building SproutCore apps, not non-SproutCore HTML pages.

Here are my requirements:

• Javascript must be combined and minified
• CSS files must be combined
• Each image / CSS / Javascript asset must have unique URL for better caching (query string isn't enough)
• Asset URL should be different only when it really changes
• Localization support thorough HTML, CSS, Javascript and image files
• Nice template engine with layouts, partials etc.

Here are possible solutions I have found:

• Create the site using Ruby on Rails, then get all resources using wget like http://usefulfor.com/ruby/2009/03/23/use-rails-to-create-a-static-site-rake-and-subversion/
• Use Middleman: http://middlemanapp.com

Any thoughts on this?

After a longish evaluation process I have decided to use Middleman. It does the trick and I love its simplicity and the fact that I can use existing Rack components with it.

Best Regards,

Pekka Mattila

Answer 1

I'm the creator of Middleman and would be eager to help you get comfortable using Middleman. My main goal is to give users the power of Rails, but focused on static development. Some of the actual code of Middleman is simplified versions of Ab