[kradeelav]

No problem! There's a static site generator called Publii that I tried once that was a simple "download linux(/win/mac) package, used a GUI to import posts from wordpress, and used the same GUI to post/deploy with two clicks."

Very doable with 10 minutes of training (or far less if you know your way around things). (The app didn't work ultimately for me for text-focused reasons but it was the closest thing yet.)

Couldn't see why a very simple GUI wouldn't be the game changer.

[poushkar]

Thank you for elaborating! I still have a question though if you don't mind? Wouldn't a Wordpress or Ghost or anything similar be that GUI? I understand that neither Wordpress or Ghost is SSG but I simply don't see why a photographer, let's say, would care about the underlying technology as long as their art is published online on a nice-looking web page? I am not trying to downplay your idea. Just really curious if I am not missing an interesting, niche project idea here. Thank you

[kradeelav]

The other reply nailed it, but since you're curious:

- It's my understanding that SSG's are much harder to hack/deface since there's much less (or nothing) to hack "into"; no databases, MYSQL, etc. Security's always a plus. Faster loading, too, is always a plus.

- It's abstract language, but wordpress "feels" bloated to just use in having way too many extensions, options, security holes, code, etc, when very often, artists only want their blog to look something like this: http://log.kradeelav.com/ - aka five features/options, max. Header, post image, post timestamp, title, tags, boom.

- Artists/designers have a spectrum of tech knowledge in that while sure, the vast majority have very little experience, there's quite a few "tinkerers" (I'd put myself there) that have no desire for a tech career but have enough experience to build a site (but not a blog), and want it to look clean/minimal with little fuss. Looking cleaner/better than your average corporate bootstrap blog is a huge plus aesthetically. ;)

- Artists tend to lean on the side of wanting to "own" their data and images as well caring about a free internet. Cutting out the bloat and keeping the values of RSS feeds, local hosting (much harder to censor too), and open-source code is a net win for individuals and society. Doesn't take a techie to understand the advantages there.

Happy to answer more privately if you do get curious enough to do something like this - email's in my profile. :)

[marc_io]

I'm not the OP, but WordPress is quite complex to maintain. Technical tasks like upgrades, backups, security, server maintenance and testing are all your responsibility unless you pay someone good money to do it.

It also takes a lot of effort to get great loading performance with it. A “free, simple visual SSG” without these problems would be much more attractive to artists or designers.

[marc_io]

> The app didn't work ultimately for me for text-focused reasons but it was the closest thing yet.

You can use a portfolio theme in Publii for this purpose, it doesn't have to be text-centric.