In this short post, I’ll briefly discuss changes made to the backend of the website which will make updating it much simpler.

FTP

When I started making websites, I relied on FTP as the means to update them, before switching to mostly using a web interface while using Wordpress. As such, when I moved away from Wordpress, I naturally returned to FTP as it was what I knew. However, despite considering myself as quite interested in this sort of thing, I was behind the times with how websites, particularly websites generated via static site generators, were now more likely deployed, and it was not by FTP.

My workflow was to make changes locally, build using hugo in terminal, log into my FTP server via Filezilla, navigate to the appropriate folder, and then upload the files. I began to find this process cumbersome and time consuming, and started finding it to becoming a barrier to updating the website as often as I would have liked. With my new mantra of the year trying to keep life more simple, I looked into how to simplify this process.

git

The obvious solution was using git, something I was completely unfamiliar with, but aware of. I took an afternoon to read various guides on how to host websites on GitHub, how changes are easily pushed there, and finally how the website gets updated.

The first part was easy, make an account at GitHub, create a repository and upload the files, generated again by using hugo, to it.

However, most use git via a command-line interface, and I did manage to set it all up in Terminal on my Mac desktop and my Linux laptop, but, being a newcomer to git, I also downloaded GitHub Desktop and found it very easy to commit changes as well as push online. Significantly easier than the hassle of using FTP, and, with my next step, I would also no longer need to use hugo to build.

Cloudflare

Trying to run my websites on as much as a shoestring budget as possible, I purchase my domains using Cloudflare as they do not add a markup. This meant configuring these domains to use another Cloudflare service, Cloudflare Pages, was incredibly simple. Following this guide, I was quickly able to link Cloudflare with the corresponding GitHub directory, instruct it to use the hugo build command, and then leave it alone. All I do now is create my changes locally in applications like Typora, commit and push using GitHub Desktop, and then wait a minute for Cloudflare to process the update.

There are some limits to the free plan, such as 500 builds/updates a month, but I do not find myself reaching anywhere near this, or any other limits placed at this level.

It’s an incredibly simple process with almost all the barriers removed, creating an experience more like I had with Wordpress and its web interface, and it enables me a simpler experience of creating content for my website - I only wish I had tried it sooner!

Removed

This has, however, meant a farewell to UberSpace, as I no longer need their services. However, I still nonetheless highly recommend them if their services meet your needs. Furthermore, as Cloudflare also offer free privacy respecting website analytics, I no longer need to use PikaPods to host Umami. Again though, I still highly recommend PikaPods due to their low costs and ease of use hosting a series of software, as well as Umami for their no-fuss interface. I have some credit left in my PikaPods account (because running Umami was so cheap!), and am looking into what I might try out for fun to later pursue!