I Rebuilt My Personal Website with Eleventy — Here’s Why I Wanted It Simple

jienweng.com Hi all. I recently rebuilt my personal site using 11ty, and I wanted to share a bit about why I chose simplicity over flashy design. Like many developers, I started with a more complex stack — Astro, React, lots of moving parts. It looked cool, but it started to feel like I was building for the tools instead of myself. So I started over with 11ty. It’s fast, flexible, and just lets me focus on content. Tbh I hate npm, and with 11ty i like that there's no bundlers, no frameworks. Just clean HTML, Markdown, and a bit of templating. The site is still a work in progress, but I like how it feels now — more personal, less performative. It’s a place for my notes, thoughts, and projects. Nothing fancy. Just mine. Would love any feedback or thoughts — especially from others who’ve simplified their stacks or gone the “digital garden” route. Thanks for reading!

May 5, 2025 - 07:09

I Rebuilt My Personal Website with Eleventy — Here’s Why I Wanted It Simple

Hi all.

I recently rebuilt my personal site using 11ty, and I wanted to share a bit about why I chose simplicity over flashy design.

Like many developers, I started with a more complex stack — Astro, React, lots of moving parts. It looked cool, but it started to feel like I was building for the tools instead of myself.

So I started over with 11ty. It’s fast, flexible, and just lets me focus on content. Tbh I hate npm, and with 11ty i like that there's no bundlers, no frameworks. Just clean HTML, Markdown, and a bit of templating.

The site is still a work in progress, but I like how it feels now — more personal, less performative. It’s a place for my notes, thoughts, and projects. Nothing fancy. Just mine.

Would love any feedback or thoughts — especially from others who’ve simplified their stacks or gone the “digital garden” route.

Thanks for reading!