Eleventy Web Starter is an archived, opinionated boilerplate for building static websites with the Eleventy static site generator, using ESBuild for JavaScript bundling and Tailwind CSS/PostCSS for styling.
What is Eleventy Web Starter?
Eleventy Web Starter is a starter template created in 2018 by chrissy-dev that provides a practical foundation for static site generation with Eleventy. It takes Markdown and Nunjucks templates as input, processes styles with SCSS and PostCSS, bundles JavaScript with ESBuild, and outputs a production-ready static site to a dist directory. The project runs on Node.js and is MIT-licensed. As of its final maintenance update, the repository is archived and no longer actively developed.
Key Features
- Eleventy static site generation — Uses the Eleventy SSG to build the site from templates and content, supporting multiple template languages including Nunjucks, Liquid, and Markdown.
- Tailwind CSS and PostCSS styling — Styles are processed with PostCSS, and the repository's topics indicate Tailwind CSS integration, along with SCSS support for custom styles.
- ESBuild JavaScript bundling — JavaScript is written as ES modules and bundled with ESBuild for fast, optimized output.
- Image optimization — Eleventy plugins handle image optimization automatically during the build.
- Live reload development server — Running
npm run devstarts a local server with watch mode and live reload for rapid iteration. - Basic SEO and social metadata — The starter includes default SEO and social sharing metadata out of the box.
- Deployment-ready output —
npm run buildgenerates a static site indist/deployable to common static hosts like Netlify.
Who is it for?
- Front-end developers — who want a pre-configured Eleventy starter with modern tools like ESBuild and PostCSS so they can skip setup and start building.
- Developers deploying to static hosts — who need a build pipeline that outputs clean static files compatible with Netlify or similar services.
- Developers learning SSG workflows — who can study the project structure and build scripts to understand how Eleventy, ESBuild, and PostCSS fit together.
What can you do with it?
- Launch a blog or content site — Write posts in Markdown, use Nunjucks layouts, and generate a static blog that's fast to serve.
- Build a portfolio or landing page — Use the starter's template structure and live reload to iterate quickly on a static marketing page.
- Prototype a static site — Use the dev server with watch mode to preview changes instantly before producing a production build.
How does it work?
Clone the repository and run npm install to install dependencies. Run npm run dev to start a development server that builds the site, watches for changes, and reloads automatically. Run npm run build to generate an optimized production build in the dist directory.
Pros and cons
- Pro: Fast setup with a sensible default structure for Eleventy projects.
- Pro: MIT license allows free use and modification.
- Con: The repository is archived and no longer receives feature updates or support, though a final maintenance update ensures dependencies install cleanly on current Node LTS.
FAQ
Is Eleventy Web Starter still maintained?
No. The repository is archived and no longer actively maintained. It received a final maintenance update to ensure dependencies install cleanly and builds succeed on current Node LTS, but no further feature work or support is planned.
What static site generator does this template use?
It uses Eleventy (11ty), a static site generator that takes Markdown and Nunjucks templates and outputs plain HTML files. The template also supports Liquid templates.
How do I build the site for production?
Run npm run build in the project root. The command generates an optimized production build and writes the output to the dist directory, which you can deploy to any static host.
Can I use Tailwind CSS with this starter?
Yes. Although the feature list mentions SCSS and PostCSS, the repository topics include tailwind-css, and the project description references Tailwind. You can write styles using PostCSS and integrate Tailwind as needed.
What license does this project use?
The project is MIT licensed, so you are free to use, modify, and distribute it, including for commercial purposes, as long as you preserve the license notice.
