Building a Markdown-Driven Website

Most personal sites use a content management system such as WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace. I wanted to understand the machinery, so I built my own small version with Next.js and React. The site generates its pages and routes from a repository of Markdown files.

Why Build It This Way?

The setup lets me write locally, include LaTeX and highlighted code, and keep the content portable. React handles the shared layout, while each Markdown file contains only the material for one page. That separation keeps the site consistent without forcing presentation details into every post.

Markdown with LaTeX and Code

The renderer supports equations and syntax-highlighted code alongside ordinary Markdown.

$SE = \frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{n}}$

template <typename T>
T& do_nothing(T& input) {
	return input;
}