Eleventy (11ty) is a JavaScript-based static site generator that has grown into one of the most flexible options in its category. Where Hugo makes strong structural decisions and asks you to work within them, Eleventy makes almost none — it is a set of tools for turning content into HTML, with minimal opinions about how your project should be organized. That flexibility is genuinely powerful and genuinely requires more upfront decision-making.

JAMstack is an architectural approach to building websites that has reshaped how publishers think about performance, security, and hosting. The term has become somewhat elastic with use — vendors apply it broadly — but the underlying principles are specific and worth understanding clearly. What JAMstack Actually Means JAM stands for JavaScript, APIs, and Markup. The original definition describes a web architecture with three characteristics: JavaScript handles all dynamic functionality, running in the browser rather than on the server.

The static site generator landscape has matured considerably. What was once a niche developer preference — choosing a build tool over a CMS — is now a mainstream option for publishers of all sizes. Performance, security, and hosting cost advantages have made static generation attractive well beyond the developer blog use case. The challenge now is not whether to consider a static site generator, but which one. The options differ in speed, flexibility, content modeling, and the technical profile they assume.

The term “headless CMS” gets used loosely enough that it has started to lose meaning in some conversations. Publishers evaluating content infrastructure deserve a clear definition, a realistic picture of the tradeoffs, and an honest sense of when the architecture is actually the right fit. What “Headless” Means A traditional CMS — WordPress, Drupal, Joomla — couples content management with content presentation. The system stores your posts in a database, applies templates to them, and renders HTML pages.