#+TITLE: How to transform a Wordpress site into a static site? #+INCLUDE: "common.inc" Transforming a WordPress site into a static one can be beneficial for performance, security, and hosting cost reasons. However, you'll lose the dynamic parts of your site like commenting, searching, or any kind of real-time user input. Here's a general process to convert your WordPress site to a static one: * Install a Static Site Generator Plugin There are several WordPress plugins available that can convert your site to static HTML pages. Some of the popular ones are: - Simply Static - WP2Static - Static HTML Output You can install any of these from your WordPress admin panel. Go to Plugins > Add New, search for the plugin, then click Install Now and Activate. * Generate Your Static Site Once you've installed and activated the plugin, you can use it to generate your static site. If you're using Simply Static, you'll find its options under Tools > Generate Static Site. You can adjust the settings as needed and then click Generate. For WP2Static and Static HTML Output, you'll find their options in the WordPress sidebar. They both provide various options for generating and deploying your site. The plugin should create a directory of static HTML files, along with any necessary CSS, JavaScript, and media files. Depending on your plugin and settings, you might be able to download this as a zip file. * Deploy Your Static Site Now that you have your static site files, you need to deploy them to a web server. This process can vary widely depending on your hosting provider. Here are general steps: Create a new directory on your server for the static site. Upload all the files generated by the plugin to this directory. If you have a zip file, upload it and then extract it. Update your web server configuration to serve the static site. If you're using Nginx, this might involve changing the root directive to point to the new directory. If you're using Apache, you might need to change the DocumentRoot directive. * Test Your Site After deploying your site, thoroughly test it to ensure everything works as expected. Check all pages, click on all links, and make sure all media loads properly. Remember, by converting to a static site, you lose WordPress features like comments, contact forms, search, and any other dynamic content. You'll need to find static-friendly alternatives if you need these features. For example, you can use Disqus for comments, a third-party service like Formspree for contact forms, and Google Custom Search or Algolia for search.