What I've Learned Building a Markdown-Based Blogging Platform and Static Site Builder

Over the past few months I’ve been building hosted.md, a platform that turns Markdown files into complete websites. It works for blogs, but it also handles simple static sites for projects, portfolios, or documentation. With the final round of beta invites about to go out, it feels like the right time to share some lessons I’ve learned while building a blogging platform and static site builder from scratch.

Shipping without every feature

One of the biggest lessons has been learning to leave things out. When you’re working on a new product it’s tempting to keep adding features until it matches the tools people already know. The problem is that you’ll never ship that way. I had to make tradeoffs and focus on the core: letting someone upload Markdown and see a working site. Leaving some things behind wasn’t easy, but it’s what allowed hosted.md to move forward.

Markdown is simple, websites are not

On paper it sounds straightforward. Take a Markdown file, process it, and publish a page. In reality, turning Markdown into a site involves more moving parts than I expected. Things like themes, templates, menus, and internal links add complexity quickly. A static site builder has to get the details right - like making sure nested folders work properly or that changing a file doesn’t break existing links. These are the pieces that make the difference between a quick experiment and something reliable enough for people to trust with their blog or website.

Balancing life and deadlines

Another lesson has been outside the code. Balancing startup energy with family life and work is tricky. I’ve wanted to move fast and get hosted.md into people’s hands, but there are times when I’ve had to step away. It’s taught me that steady progress matters more than occasional sprints, and that a healthy balance makes the work more sustainable in the long run.

Looking ahead

As hosted.md enters the final stage of beta, I can see how much these tradeoffs shaped the product. Choosing a smaller feature set made it possible to launch. Wrestling with the technical details behind Markdown sites created something dependable. And finding balance outside of coding has been just as important as the technical lessons.

I’m excited to see what people build with hosted.md - whether that’s a blog, a personal portfolio, or a simple static website. If you’ve ever wanted to publish with just Markdown, now’s a great time to join the beta.