Simple Personal Site

A fast and minimalist Django-based CMS for developers and tech enthusiasts.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Before installing
• Installation
  • Install with Docker
  • Install in a virtualenv
• Using HTTPS
• Add content
• License

Features

• Easy-to-manage site content
• Markdown support throughout the site
• Post blog articles
• Create project cards
• Embed code blocks in blog posts
• Video and image embed in blog articles and project cards
• Show social media links in footer
• Contact form
• Host PGP public key
• URL shortener

Before installing

• Clone this project and enter project directory.

git clone https://github.com/chrisx8/simple-personal-site.git
cd simple-personal-site

• Generate a strong password for the database. Save it, as you'll need it during the setup process.
• Create your env file for site config.

cp .env.example .env

• Edit .env, following instructions in the file.
• Generate your own icons: https://realfavicongenerator.net. Download the generated Favicon package.
• Unzip the downloaded package and upload everything to static/img/, replacing all existing placeholder icon files.
• Upload a banner image for og:image (1280*640, in .png format) to static/img/, replacing the existing og-image.png

Installation

Install with Docker

• Make sure your database is accessible from inside the container
• Create directory for static files

mkdir -p static_serve/media staic_serve/static
sudo chown -R nobody:nogroup static_serve

• Run Docker container.

# Replace [ADDRESS]:[PORT] with wherever you want the container to listen at
# When using a reverse proxy, make sure this container is NOT EXPOSED to the
# Internet! (e.g. listen on 127.0.0.1)
docker run -d -p [ADDRESS]:[PORT] \
  --env-file=.env \
  -v $(pwd)/static_serve:/app/static_serve \
  -v $(pwd)/static:/app/static/ \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  --name simple-personal-site \
  ghcr.io/chrisx8/simple-personal-site:latest

• Create an admin account.

docker exec -it simple-personal-site python3 manage.py createsuperuser

• Set up a web server (such as Apache or Nginx) to serve static files.
  • Serve static_serve/media at /media/
  • Serve static_serve/static at /static/
  • DO NOT serve static/
  • Sample Nginx config

Install in a virtualenv

• This site supports Python 3.10-3.14.
• Make sure Python and uv are installed.
• Install project dependencies.

# Bootstrap virtualenv and install dependencies with uv
uv sync

# Activate virtualenv
source .venv/bin/activate

• Start server

# Replace [ADDRESS]:[PORT] with wherever you want the container to listen at
# When using a reverse proxy, make sure this container is NOT EXPOSED to the
# Internet! (e.g. listen on 127.0.0.1)
gunicorn simple_personal_site.wsgi:application -b [ADDRESS]:[PORT]

• Create an admin account.

python3 manage.py createsuperuser

• Set up a web server (such as Apache or Nginx) to serve static files
  • Serve static_serve/media at /media/
  • Serve static_serve/static at /static/
  • DO NOT serve static/
  • Sample Nginx config

Using HTTPS

Using HTTPS is optional but highly recommended. To use HTTPS:

• Set up the site behind a reverse proxy. Sample Nginx config
• For best security, make sure the reverse proxy strips incoming X-Forwarded-Proto header, and sets X-Forwarded-Proto header to https for HTTPS connections only.
• Get an SSL certificate. Let's Encrypt offers free certificates to everyone.
• In .env, set USE_SSL=True.

Add content

Access the site and follow the guides on the Welcome page.

Congratulations! Now you have your personal site!

License

MIT License

Copyright (C) 2018-2023 Chris Xiao