Eleventy starter set (Nunjucks-based) is a static site generator boilerplate that produces a lightweight, Tailwind-styled website with responsive images from Markdown content, built for solo projects and blogs. This starter was created by Bryce Wray and is available on GitHub; its development was suspended on 2021-09-11, and the repository description recommends the Eleventy Starter Projects page for newer alternatives.
What is the Eleventy starter set (Nunjucks-based)?
This starter is a project scaffold for Eleventy (11ty), a static site generator, which uses Nunjucks as its templating engine. It takes Markdown files and site configuration as inputs, and outputs a static site with processed CSS and responsive HTML images. The repository is intended to be cloned, configured, and extended with your own content, then deployed to any static host.
Key Features
- Nunjucks templating — Uses Nunjucks for page and layout templates; an alternative JavaScript-templated version exists in a separate repo (
eleventy_solo_starter). - Responsive images — Integrates the
eleventy-imgplugin and animageshortcode to generate resized, responsive images from source files. - Tailwind CSS with JIT — Includes Tailwind CSS and PostCSS; from version 2.1.0 it uses the
@tailwindcss/jitlibrary for just-in-time class compilation. - Hashed production CSS — Production builds emit CSS with a hashed filename for long-term caching, while development mode serves a local
index.csswithout hashing. - Markdown content — Sample posts demonstrate authoring in Markdown and wiring up layouts, data files, and shortcodes.
- Easy local workflow — After cloning and editing two JSON data files (
/_data/metadata.jsonand/_data/siteparams.json), runningnpm installthennpm run startserves the site at localhost:3000.
Who is it for?
- Solo web developers building a personal blog or small site who want a working Eleventy setup without assembling configuration from scratch.
- Developers learning Eleventy who want to study a minimal Nunjucks-based project that includes image processing and CSS pipeline examples.
- Tailwind CSS users who need a quick starter combining Tailwind with an SSG, complete with sample content to modify.
What can you do with it?
- Start a blog quickly: clone the repo, rewrite the sample Markdown posts with your own content, and deploy to a static host like Vercel.
- Prototype a personal site: adjust the included metadata and site parameter JSON files to change site name, navigation, and other configuration.
- Learn image handling: examine the
imageshortcode to see how Eleventy generates responsive images from a single source.
How does it work?
The setup process is: clone the repo locally, edit the JSON data files so they match your site, run npm install to fetch dependencies (including Eleventy), then run npm run start to preview at http://localhost:3000. Content is edited in Markdown, and when you are ready to publish, you deploy the generated static files to your chosen host.
FAQ
Is this starter set still maintained?
No. Development was suspended as of 2021-09-11, and the repository description redirects users to the Eleventy Starter Projects page for other options.
What templating language does it use?
It uses Nunjucks for all templates. A separate repository provides the same starter using JavaScript templating (.11ty.js files) if you prefer that.
How do I run it locally?
After cloning, edit the JSON config files, run npm install to install dependencies, then run npm run start. The site will be available at http://localhost:3000.
Does it include Tailwind CSS?
Yes, Tailwind CSS is integrated via PostCSS. It also includes the @tailwindcss/jit library for just-in-time compilation, which is included from version 2.1.0 of the starter.
Where can I find other Eleventy starters?
The official Eleventy Starter Projects page at https://www.11ty.dev/docs/starter/ lists many other starter projects, which is the recommended place to find actively maintained alternatives.
