Why I Chose Eleventy for My Blog

After researching various static site generators, I decided to go with Eleventy (11ty) for my blog. Here's why.

Simplicity and Flexibility

Eleventy doesn't force you into a specific template language or structure. You can use Markdown, Nunjucks, Liquid, JavaScript, or even mix and match. This flexibility was a big selling point for me.

Zero Configuration to Start

You can literally get started with just a markdown file. As your needs grow, you can add configuration, but you're not forced to deal with complex setup from day one.

// .eleventy.js - simple config example
module.exports = function(eleventyConfig) {
  eleventyConfig.addPassthroughCopy("css");
  return {
    dir: {
      input: "src",
      output: "_site"
    }
  };
};

Performance

Eleventy is incredibly fast. Build times are measured in milliseconds for small to medium sites. This makes the development experience smooth and enjoyable.

JavaScript Ecosystem

Since Eleventy is built on Node.js, I can tap into the entire npm ecosystem for plugins and tools. This is a huge advantage if you're already familiar with JavaScript.

Great Documentation

The Eleventy docs are comprehensive and well-organized. There's also a helpful community and lots of starter projects to learn from.

Perfect for Blogs

With built-in support for collections, pagination, and data processing, Eleventy is particularly well-suited for blogs and content-heavy sites.

Conclusion

If you're looking for a static site generator that's powerful yet simple, I highly recommend giving Eleventy a try. It's been a pleasure to work with, and I'm excited to keep building with it.