Blogger is a Gatsby starter and demo for building a blog site with Firebase authentication, Contentful as the CMS, Disqus comments, and a Formspree contact form.
What is Blogger?
Blogger is a Gatsby demo blog starter that bundles Contentful for content management, Firebase for authentication, Disqus for comments, and Formspree for contact form submissions. It takes a Gatsby project scaffold and produces a blog site with protected routes, user sign in/up, and password reset. The starter is maintained by aslammultidots and is deployed as a live demo at https://gatsby-blogger.netlify.com/. The README notes the demo is built with Gatsby and Netlify CMS, though the feature list emphasizes Firebase auth and Contentful.
Key Features
- Authentication flow — Includes sign in, sign up, forget password, and sign out pages backed by Firebase, plus protected routes with authorization.
- Contentful integration — Content is managed through Contentful, with GraphQL queries available via http://localhost:8000/___graphql during development.
- Disqus comments — Blog posts get a commenting widget through Disqus.
- Formspree contact form — A contact form submits messages through Formspree.
- Gatsby + React + Redux — Built on Gatsby.js using React and Redux under the hood.
- Netlify deployment — One-click deploy to Netlify via the repository link or the deploy button.
- Netlify CMS — Listed as part of the stack in the README alongside Gatsby.
- Local development workflow — Use
gatsby developto serve the site at localhost:8000 andgatsby new your-project-nameto scaffold a new project.
Who is it for?
Blogger is for developers who want a preconfigured Gatsby blog without building authentication and comments from scratch. Developers can scaffold a new project with the Gatsby CLI and then focus on customizing content in Contentful. Bloggers can get a live site with sign-in, protected routes, comments, and a contact form without implementing these features manually. Gatsby learners can explore the demo at https://gatsby-blogger.netlify.com/ and inspect GraphQL queries in GraphiQL.
What can you do with Blogger?
- Publish a blog with comments — Load Contentful content into Gatsby pages and add Disqus to each post.
- Gate content behind login — Use Firebase authentication and protected routes to restrict certain pages to signed-in users.
- Receive contact messages — Submit the contact form, which posts to Formspree.
- Run a local development site — Use
gatsby developto preview at localhost:8000 and inspect GraphQL queries at the ___graphql endpoint.
How does Blogger work?
From the README: create a project with gatsby new your-project-name https://github.com/aslammultidots/blogger, install dependencies with npm install, then run gatsby develop for local development. Before running, add your own credentials for Firebase, Disqus, Formspree, and Contentful.
Pros and cons
- Pros: Prebuilt authentication (sign in, sign up, password reset) with protected routes; integrates Contentful, Disqus, Formspree, and Firebase in one scaffold; one-click deploy to Netlify.
- Cons: Requires configuring four external services' credentials before the site runs successfully.
FAQ
How do I install Blogger?
Run gatsby new your-project-name https://github.com/aslammultidots/blogger with Gatsby CLI installed, then npm install in the project folder. The README lists Node and a globally installed Gatsby CLI as prerequisites.
What services do I need to set up?
Blogger uses Firebase for authentication, Contentful for content, Disqus for comments, and Formspree for the contact form. You must supply your own credentials for all four; the README explicitly says to run successfully with your own credentials.
How do I run Blogger locally?
After installing dependencies, run gatsby develop. The site will be available at http://localhost:8000, and the GraphQL explorer is at http://localhost:8000/___graphql.
Does Blogger support user accounts?
Yes, Blogger includes sign in, sign up, forget password, and sign out functionality based on Firebase, plus protected routes with authorization. This means you can restrict certain pages to authenticated users.
Can I deploy Blogger to Netlify?
Yes, the README includes a "Deploy to Netlify" button that starts a deployment from the repository URL. The live demo at https://gatsby-blogger.netlify.com/ is hosted on Netlify.
