Introduction
What bx-sites is, who it's for, and what this course covers.
On this page
Introduction
bx-sites is a static site generator, powered by BoxLang - point it at a folder of Markdown, and it builds a fast, fully static website: docs, a blog, or both. No server, no database, no client-side framework required to read it - just HTML, CSS, and a little vanilla JS for the parts that need it (search, dark mode, the copy button you'll meet in a few lessons).
If you've used Hugo, Jekyll, Docusaurus, MkDocs, or GitBook, the shape
will feel familiar: Markdown files in, a site/ folder of plain HTML
out. What's different is what happens in between - ten built-in themes
to choose from, a family of GitBook-style content blocks Markdown alone
doesn't have, reusable data and variables, and a build that's fast
because it's just BoxLang running on the JVM, not a bundler chewing
through a dependency graph.
What this course covers
Twenty short lessons, in order, each building on the last:
- Lessons 1-5 get a real site running - install, scaffold, understand the folder layout, write your first page.
- Lessons 6-13 cover authoring - everything Markdown can do here that plain CommonMark can't: content blocks, tables, images, reusable data, loops and conditionals, interactivity.
- Lessons 14-19 cover the rest of the platform - themes, search, API docs, blogging, versioning, translations, plugins.
- Lesson 20 ships it - building, deploying, and publishing for real.
Every lesson is short on purpose. Where a topic goes deeper than a lesson can cover, you'll get a link to the full guide - this course is the map, not the territory.
Before you start
You don't need to know BoxLang to use bx-sites - writing docs/a blog needs nothing but Markdown. BoxLang only shows up if you reach for magic functions or a plugin later on, and even then, it's plain, readable script - nothing like the ceremony of a full framework.
Ready? The lesson pager below moves you straight to install.