Stacks 11ty Theme is an open-source starter theme for the Eleventy static site generator, built to give blog-focused sites a distinct personality while relying on plain CSS and Flexbox for layout.
What is Stacks 11ty Theme?
Stacks 11ty Theme is an open-source template for the Eleventy (11ty) static site generator. It takes Markdown content and produces a static blog website, handling the generation of HTML pages from templates and content files. The theme is intentionally styled with a personality to avoid the generic look of default starter templates. It is distributed with a demo site hosted on Netlify, and the setup guide instructs you to replace the placeholder data in the _data directory and package.json with your own project details.
Key Features
- Eleventy-based — Built on the 11ty static site generator, which compiles templates and content into static HTML files for fast hosting anywhere.
- Open source — The theme is released under an open-source license, so you are free to study, modify, and redistribute it.
- Blog-oriented structure — Provides a layout and content model suited to personal and content-driven sites, with the goal of making blog posts the centerpiece.
- CSS and Flexbox layout — Styling is written in plain CSS using Flexbox for the layout, so there is no dependency on a heavy CSS framework.
- Distinct personality — The design intentionally gives the site a character, setting it apart from default theme templates.
- Live demo — A working demo at stacks11ty.netlify.com lets you preview the exact look and behavior before customizing.
- Simple setup — The only required change to get started is to update the information in _data and package.json with your own details.
Who is it for?
- Developers new to Eleventy — They get a complete, working blog theme as a starting point, avoiding the need to assemble configuration and layouts from scratch.
- Bloggers who want a static site — They can use the theme as-is, replacing demo content with their own posts and benefiting from the personality baked into the design.
- Contributors to open-source projects — With 23 stars on the repository, the theme has a small community; contributors can fork it, extend features, and submit pull requests.
Use cases
- Personal bloggers — Set up a lightweight blog on Eleventy by copying the theme, editing _data and package.json, and writing posts in Markdown.
- Eleventy learners — Use the theme as a reference for how a blog is structured in Eleventy, including how content directories, layouts, and CSS are wired together.
- Developers building marketing sites — While the theme is blog-first, its static output and simple styling can be adapted to other content-driven pages.
How does Stacks 11ty Theme work?
Stacks 11ty Theme works like a typical Eleventy starter: you install or clone the theme, replace the placeholder data in _data and package.json with your own project details, and then add your content as Markdown files. Running the Eleventy build command generates static HTML into an output directory ready to deploy to any static host, such as Netlify.
FAQ
Is Stacks 11ty Theme free?
Yes, the theme is explicitly described as open source, which means it is free to use and modify with no licensing cost.
What static site generator does Stacks 11ty Theme use?
The theme is built for Eleventy (or 11ty), a static site generator that takes Markdown, HTML, and template files and produces a complete static website.
Do I need a CSS framework to use Stacks 11ty Theme?
No. The theme uses plain CSS and Flexbox for its layout, so there is no need to install or load Tailwind, Bootstrap, or any other CSS framework.
Where can I see a live example of the theme?
A live demo is hosted at stacks11ty.netlify.com, so you can inspect the final rendered design and behavior before you start customizing.
