Markdown Static Site Generator

A lightweight, theme-driven static site generator that converts your Obsidian-styled Markdown files into a beautiful website with live development server support.

Features

• 📁 Smart Navigation - Automatic dropdown menus from your file structure
• 🎨 Beautiful Themes - Paper and dark themes with Garamond typography
• 🔄 Live Development - Auto-rebuilding server with file watching
• 🔗 Wiki Links - Preserves Obsidian-style [[links]]
• 📱 Responsive Design - Mobile-friendly layouts
• 📋 Privacy Control - Files starting with _ excluded from navigation
• 🚀 Zero Configuration - Works out of the box

Quick Start

1. Clone and Setup

git clone https://github.com/felixheins/Markdown-Static-Site-Generator.git
cd Markdown-Static-Site-Generator

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Generate the Demo Site

# Build the included demo site
python build_site.py "Demo Site"

# Or start development server with live reload
python serve.py "Demo Site"

Visit http://localhost:8000 to see the demo site with full documentation.

3. Build Your Own Site

# Build your Obsidian vault
python build_site.py "/path/to/your/vault"

# Development server with live reload
python serve.py "/path/to/your/vault"

# Use different theme
python build_site.py "/path/to/your/vault" --theme dark-theme

Available Themes

• paper-theme (default) - Warm, elegant design with Garamond typography
• dark-theme - Modern dark mode with beautiful contrast

Demo Site Structure

The included Demo Site/ shows the generator's capabilities:

Demo Site/
├── Demo Site.md           # Homepage
├── Documentation/         # Full documentation
│   ├── Getting Started.md # Installation & usage
│   └── Features.md        # Complete feature list
└── Examples/              # Usage examples
    ├── Quick Start.md     # Step-by-step tutorial
    ├── Advanced Usage.md  # Complex scenarios
    └── Implementation Details.md  # Technical details

Usage

Build Commands

# Basic build
python build_site.py /path/to/vault

# Custom output directory
python build_site.py /path/to/vault --output /custom/output

# Specific theme
python build_site.py /path/to/vault --theme dark-theme

Development Server

# Basic server
python serve.py /path/to/vault

# Custom port
python serve.py /path/to/vault --port 3000

# Network accessible
python serve.py /path/to/vault --host 0.0.0.0

File Organization

• Files starting with _ are excluded from navigation (but still built)
• Resources/ folders are copied but not processed as pages
• Directory structure becomes navigation hierarchy
• Index files (same name as directory) become dropdown main pages

Deployment

The generator creates static HTML/CSS that works with any hosting:

• GitHub Pages - Copy Outputs/ to docs/ folder
• Netlify - Drag and drop the output folder
• Vercel - Connect your repository
• Traditional hosting - Upload via FTP

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please read the documentation in the Demo Site for implementation details.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

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Generate beautiful static sites from your Markdown files with zero configuration.