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Open Website Builder
Open Website Builder is a visual website editor for building and publishing fast, static websites. It is built with Lit and Vite, and it's the tool I use to build and publish this website.
How does it work?
Your website lives in its own repository with a small owb.config.js file. Pages, collections and shared components are stored as simple JSON files that you edit visually in the browser. When you're ready, the publish step turns everything into a static website that can be hosted almost anywhere.
Features
Here are some of the most important features of the builder.
#1. Visual editor
Build pages directly in the browser by adding sections, containers, text, images, buttons and more. Layout, spacing and style settings are available for each element, and you can preview your changes as you go.
#2. Collections
Collections are perfect for repeated content like blog posts. Each collection has its own fields and a template, and every item is stored as its own JSON file.
#3. Shared components
Reusable blocks like a navigation bar or a footer are created once and shared across every page. Update them in one place and every page stays in sync.
#4. Static publishing
Publishing generates a complete static website, ready to be deployed to your favourite host. There is no server to maintain for your visitors.
#5. Pluggable backends
Content can be stored on the filesystem, in SQLite or in memory for prototyping. The backend is plugin-driven, so you can also write your own provider, for example for Postgres.
#6. Free for creatives
Open Website Builder is free for personal use, public open-source projects and independent creatives like photographers, artists, writers and small content creators, even when their website earns them money. Companies with multiple employees, paid client work and commercial products require a commercial license.