Generating static pages but not for upload at GitHub

#1

Many of you have helped me for a while with different elements of the new website I want to upload, using Tiddlywiki. Thank you.

I want to upload my Tiddlywiki as static pages, but I do not want to upload it to GitHub. I have a website and domain name. I’ve read many tutorials and have tried uploading to GitHub with success, but now I want to upload to my actual domain for the first time.

I guess I’m confused because the tutorials focus on GitHub. I’m possibly a little nervous and scared too. I know that anything uploaded can be taken down if I make a mess of it, but still…

I know there are lots of posts on this, but many are quite old so I’m asking the question again to ensure I am using up-to-date information. Please advise how I upload Tiddlywiki to a non GitHub website? Do I still use Node.js? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

#2

Are you planing to upload your single file wiki and static pages for others to read an not save?

You can place a single file wiki anywhere on the internet someone can link to and read your files.

Perhaps tell us a little more about your website and how you want to interact with it, and how you want others to interact with it. Will it have its own domain name or just any old link that works.

Personally I use tiddlyhost a lot and pay a regular donation, but that may not permit static pages.

I have also used tw-reciever to host and let me edit single file wikis on a cpanel account host. You could install the static pages there.

Why do you have static pages?

#3

I had a Wordpress website and for a while now wanted to replace it. The constant updates sometimes break the site and have caused me a lot of issues which I’m done with. I have been working on a Tiddlywiki website for a long time (about a year) and have it looking right. It will need tweaks, but I’ll deal with that later.

I have a website and domain name, which I’ve used for many years. The website is aimed at readers and writers (there are a lot of book reviews). For now, I want a read only website. I thought about having comments open but honestly don’t think it’s necessary, so will let that idea go.

I may add a shop later, but maybe not too. I don’t know yet.

Because I’ve got a lot of book reviews, many tiddlers have an image so I’m thinking it’s best to have static pages, instead of a single file wiki because it might load slowly. Also, read only would be good as I don’t want people making changes.

I hope this helps.

#4

This makes it a lot clearer. To externalise images static pages is not the only way. You can store the tiddlers in the same folder as a single file wiki and use the canonical field to point to external images.

  • Just upload your files to a location and try giving the correct address to see if it loads correctly.
  • If you name your file index.html it should load with the path given and not need the filename.
  • If you upload the single file wiki people can make changes within it but not save it. If you install tw-receiver you can login and save it if you make small changes. After upload.
    • This helps them customise a little and remember where they are, there are read only themes and settings available.
  • You can make a wiki load quicker with a CDN content delivery network like Cloudflare for free,
  • I recommend including a splash page asking people to wait until it loads.
  • You can install local storage for the site to remember setting for users across visits.

Just keep asking the community questions as you go.

#5

OK. I’ll do as you suggest. Upload the file to my website host and see what happens. I feel excited and nervous about it. But, it’s time to try it and see what happens. Thanks for responding.

#6

If you already know, how to upload to GitHub, you can use your own domain with GH.
See: Managing a custom domain for your GitHub Pages site - GitHub Docs

tiddlywiki.com is also hosted by GH.
-m

#7

This is how you can externailse images that @Mark_S shared previously Externalising Image Files with JSzip using tools you probably already have meaning you dont need static tiddlers.

#8

Depending on your host, there is likely a simple way to add a subdomain, which would give you a way to test this out without committing to changing the main site until you’re sure.

So, instead of loading to, say, https://example.com, you can load to https://testing.example.com.

Once you’re really happy with what you have there, you can back up what you have at example.com, and replace it with the content that has been at testing.example.com (and either remove the “testing” subdomain or keep it around for your next version.

I hope you’ll share the site when it’s ready. (If it’s open to the public, that is.) I always like to look at sites for readers/writers.

#9

Thank you for responding and for the suggestions. I have uploaded the single file to my website. It is 8gb so takes a little longer than I’d like to load, but not too long.

It looks good, but there are a few things I’d like to fix. Here’s a little to do list:

  • Hide the sidebar by default
  • Change to a responsive header (looks fine on laptops and tablets, but not so good on a mobile)
  • Fix the “Back to Top” button at the bottom of the Blog page
  • Work out why the “Home” button doesn’t work some of the time

I’ll probably add more to the list over the coming days.

I will share a link to the site in the hope that I might get some suggestions on how to do these things. My website can be found here.

Oh, and by the way, I did attempt to install the Notebook theme but the website appears to be offline.

1 Like
#10

Very nice!

There is a little typo – It actually is 8MByte – I thought I would have to wait for quite some time to download it :wink:

1 Like
#11

Yes, that is a bit of a typo. I honestly thought it was 8gb and couldn’t understand how it could be so big, but put it down to all the images. Thank you for pointing that out to me. I feel better knowing it’s actually a small file.

#12

I would still install a splash screen, especially for those with lower bandwidth.

#13

I have already made changes to the website. It looks heaps better, but I think a splash screen is a good suggestion. I will look into doing that. Thanks again for your help.

Edit: @TW_Tones - I followed a link you left in another thread and noticed you had a splash screen for tiddlywiki. I’m using that on my next upload to my website. You help me a lot. I appreciate it. Thanks.