simonewebdesign is the source repository for a personal blog built with Jekyll that combines classic static-site publishing with IndieWeb principles and webmention support for cross-site conversations.
What is simonewebdesign?
simonewebdesign is a personal blog template and GitHub repository maintained by Simone Vittori, a software developer based in London. It is built with Jekyll, a Ruby-based static site generator, and its primary output is plain HTML pages. The site hosts programming-related articles and exposes an Atom feed at /atom.xml for syndication. The featured article criticizes the bloat of cookie banners and behavioral tracking scripts found on 95% of sites, promoting a lighter approach to web development that this blog practices.
Key Features
- Jekyll static generation — Converts Markdown posts into static HTML files, resulting in a lightweight site with no client-side framework overhead.
- IndieWeb integration — Follows the IndieWeb movement, letting the author retain full ownership of their content and online identity.
- Webmentions — Enables the blog to display replies and interactions from other IndieWeb sites directly in the comment area of each post.
- Atom feed — Provides a standard /atom.xml endpoint for subscribing with any feed reader.
- Cruft-free front end — The featured article criticizes cookie banners and behavioral tracking scripts, reflecting the blog's emphasis on a minimal, fast-loading experience.
- Public GitHub source — The full source code is available at simonewebdesign/simonewebdesign, making it easy to inspect, fork, or adapt for your own blog.
Who is it for?
- Software developers who blog about programming — They can reuse the repository structure to publish their own Markdown articles as a static Jekyll site.
- Advocates of lightweight web design — The approach demonstrates a site without cookie consent pop-ups or tracking scripts, useful for teams aiming to reduce page weight.
- IndieWeb community members — The repository serves as a concrete example of a Jekyll blog integrated with webmentions and IndieWeb standards.
- Jekyll beginners — The repository offers a minimal personal blog setup with an Atom feed, ready to be studied and customized.
What can you do with simonewebdesign?
- Publish programming posts — Write articles in Markdown and let Jekyll render them into static HTML blog entries.
- Follow via a feed reader — Point any RSS/Atom reader at https://simonewebdesign.it/atom.xml to receive new posts automatically.
- Exchange webmentions — Send webmentions to other IndieWeb-enabled sites so replies appear on your own post pages.
- Learn minimal web performance practices — Review the codebase to see how a blog can avoid third-party scripts and still function fully.
