Aphra

A simple sitebuilder in Perl

Aphra is a simple yet powerful static site builder, developed in Perl. It helps you create web pages seamlessly from templates, offering an efficient way to generate dynamic static websites from structured content. This site provides all the information you need to get started with Aphra, as well as additional resources to help you along your journey.

Why Aphra?

Aphra stands out for its simplicity and flexibility. Here are some key features:

  • Template Toolkit Integration: Aphra uses the Template Toolkit to process templates, allowing for a robust templating system that can incorporate layouts, fragments, and more.
  • Markdown Support: Aphra seamlessly integrates with Markdown via the Pandoc tool, converting content into HTML or any other format Pandoc supports.
  • Site Configuration: You can store site-wide settings in a convenient site.yml file, making global data available across all templates.
  • Front Matter: Aphra templates can include a front matter section in YAML format, providing page-specific data directly accessible within each template.
  • Server: Aphra includes a simple serve command to launch a local server for testing and previewing your site.
  • Customizable Extensions: Easily manage which file extensions Aphra recognises as templates or content, allowing for a versatile and adaptive workflow.

Installation

You can get hold of Aphra:

Getting Started

  1. Build Your Site: Start by organizing your content into a directory tree, including your templates, fragments, and layouts. Then, run aphra build to process the files and generate a static website.
  2. Preview with serve: To preview your work, use the serve command to launch a local HTTP server and check the output files directly in your browser.
  3. Configuration Options: Modify how Aphra works by using various command-line options, such as source, fragments, layouts, and more. These help tailor the tool to your specific workflow.
  4. Documentation: For further information on Aphra’s commands, options, and template processing, explore the detailed documentation available on this site.

Aphra Behn
(14 December 1640? – 16 April 1689)