Date: February 1 2025
Location: Brick Startup Space
I delivered an interactive talk to WordPress Chiang Mai attendees showing how to convert a WordPress site into a static site. I began the talk explaining some of the frequent issues with the standard ‘dynamic’ type of WordPress architecture:
- Security risks (hacks, vulnerabilities, updates)
- Performance issues (server load, slow speeds)
- Maintenance headaches (backups, updates, plugin conflicts)
What is a Static Site?
A static website is a type of website made up of web pages with fixed content. Its files are precoded and stored on a server, to be retrieved and displayed as they are when a user clicks to view it
Why Export a WordPress Site to a Static Format?
I summarised when using a static site was not suitable, e.g. for a site which requires database interaction such as a WooCommerce instance:
| Positives | Negatives |
| Fast | Updates require an extra deployment step |
| Secure | Not suitable for certain sites requiring database queries |
| Less maintenance overheads (it just works!) | More complex for sites with multiple authors |
Live Demo
Using the Simply Static plugin, I demonstrated how to deploy to:
- A shared hosting environment
- Github and serve via Netlify.
Workarounds
For some of the functionality required by a dynamic site, there are some workarounds if users still want to export their site into a static format.
| Forms | E-Commerce | Comments |
| Formspree, Getform, Netlify Forms | Shopify Buy Button, Snipcart | Disqus, Commento |