Hey everyone! I recently wrapped up my first project, which is a personal web photography portfolio. I may have made things a bit too complicated, but I wanted it to be easy to update text and upload images directly while keeping load times fast. The site is nearly free aside from the domain, which could be why I complicated the tech stack. I'm pretty new to this whole thing.
Right now, my setup includes Payload (a headless CMS), MongoDB (to keep Payload free), AWS (for media storage), and it's hosted on Vercel with Next.js.
I'm questioning if this is actually overcomplicated or if it's really simple. It works great and I've spent over a year on it, but I'd like to streamline things for my next project. I want a tech stack that's minimal but still allows easy text changes and media uploads, all without racking up costs, especially as traffic picks up.
Also, I've seen suggestions for static sites using platforms like Nuxt or GitHub Pages. Could someone explain what makes a site 'static'? Is it just that it doesn't have live content? Is my current site static? Sorry if this sounds basic!
4 Answers
Static websites are created using HTML, JS, and CSS—everything is built and stored as raw code, so the server just serves the files directly to users. At the end of the day, what really matters is the website's speed and how easy it is for you to manage updates. Doesn’t sound like your current setup is a simple one, but it’s all about personal preference. If I were you, I’d suggest a simple approach like using Google Sheets for your content and deploying the site whenever there’s an update. Static sites usually cost much less to host; just keep your API calls handled on the backend, like with Cloudflare Workers.
I’m with you on needing simplicity here. Managing backend stuff can be a headache!
You might want to look into using Cloudflare with OpenNext. Cloudflare won’t charge you for egress bandwidth like Vercel does, making it a cheaper option. Just a thought!
What exactly is OpenNext? Is it a database?
You could consider using Astro with MDX files. If you don’t need a UI for content management, you could directly edit the MDX files for each collection and then push updates to git whenever there are changes. This would give you a faster and possibly cheaper solution, especially if you add Cloudflare.
I need something with a UI since I'm trying to build cost-effective portfolios for photographers who want an easy way to upload their work.
How about using WordPress combined with AWS S3 for media storage? You could implement lazy-loading images and use Cloudflare for caching. This might streamline your process while keeping costs low.
Can you expand on that? Are you suggesting using WordPress as a headless CMS?
Thanks for the detailed explanation! So, I actually upload images via Payload on the live site, but they aren’t pre-loaded in an image folder. What do you mean by using Google Sheets? I want something simpler because setting up AWS was a bit of a hassle. I need a reliable place to hold images but also want my clients to independently manage updates. I’m working on a site for my partner who’s a therapist and another for a photographer, so I need to know what’s best for someone needing to upload regularly.