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  • Space Catitude 🚀TerryHancock@realsocial.life
    Oct 25, 2026, 4:57 PM

    Here's a conceptual programming question for you:

    If I have a static site generator, can I make it federated..? :anime_huh:

    I mean, I think you can set up an RSS feed so that the feed is updated when the site is updated.

    Could that be federated? Tied to a federated platform to handle the dynamic aspects, maybe..?

    I ask, because when people were asking about better "web comic" platforms, some of the stuff they asked for were my reason for making "LunaGen" for my landing site for serial episode content.

    Could it be federated? Does that even make sense? Would I lose the benefits of a static website? 🤔 :raccoon_cool:

    #Programming #Fediverse #ActivityPub #StaticSiteGenerator

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Replies

  • Space Catitude 🚀TerryHancock@realsocial.life
    Oct 25, 2026, 8:36 PM

    Thanks for the comments! This has helped me to think about the design issues much more clearly.

    First, the RSS can just be static. I had not really considered that.

    Second, the federated behavior is dynamic, but could easily be contained by a separate process, even running on a separate server. All I really need is to get my site-updater to make a post to that server. I could link or embed the reply thread.

    So I could provide a small dedicated server, or use an existing one. For example, I could deploy GoToSocial, and use the Mastodon API to post to it.

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  • Alter Kakeralter_kaker@hachyderm.io
    Oct 25, 2026, 5:10 PM

    @TerryHancock I think that you will need some kind of small server to ingest the RSS feed and push it. However it's been a while since I looked into it and I don't remember the details. I guess you should probably wait for replies from people who actually know what they're talking about haha

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  • David Carewdavidcarew@genart.social
    Oct 25, 2026, 5:31 PM

    @TerryHancock Partially. I don’t have the links handy but I have seen a few blogposts about how to implement some features of activitypub with just static files. But to get fully federated I think you do need a dynamic server

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  • ff@todon.nl
    Oct 25, 2026, 5:31 PM

    @TerryHancock hey! yes, you can take a look at the work we did at @distributedpress and @sutty with the social inbox. basically some parts of activitypub can be generated statically by your generator but you still need a server receiving follow requests and other activities and sending out notifications and pushing out new and updated posts to your followers.

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  • Doug BostromDoug_Bostrom@scicomm.xyz
    Oct 25, 2026, 5:48 PM

    @TerryHancock

    We recently set up @SkepticalScience to follow our RSS and post here. It was a snap even for low-grade mental material me. :-)

    As @alter_kaker says, somekind of little platform will be needed. Or for that matter it could be a little thing that runs when you open your laptop.

    [see docs on Mastodon API, docs.joinmastodon.org/api/ as well as some examples to be found, such as this all-BASH arrangement gist.github.com/matthewp/74f76 ]

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  • Doug BostromDoug_Bostrom@scicomm.xyz
    Oct 25, 2026, 6:03 PM

    @alter_kaker @TerryHancock @SkepticalScience

    The footprint of the guts is tiny. #curl or equiv. is the main heft. Often already in place.

    [thinking of the case where RSS is being generated/available but the publishing platform is not necessrily tractable due to it being turnkey or whatever, so that an external process is perhaps easier to add]

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  • mccmcc@mastodon.social
    Oct 25, 2026, 6:04 PM

    @TerryHancock RSS can be a static file, and for a SSG it would make the most sense for it to be a static file.

    There are no dynamic aspects, and it is already federated, in the sense the WWW is.

    You could imagine (and I have created) a centralized site that mixes together other people's RSS feeds into one combined html/RSS feed. But that is not federation, it is an RSS client web app.

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  • Space Catitude 🚀TerryHancock@realsocial.life
    Oct 25, 2026, 7:42 PM

    @mcc
    Yes, that's a good point about RSS.

    I think federated features (such as comment threads) would have to be dynamic -- perhaps handled by a separate server affiliated with the site.

    I'm wondering if this is the niche that customizable servers like "Streams" or "Emissary" is targeting? Or perhaps it could just post to a small server, like GoToSocial or SNAC? IDK. 🤔

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  • clewclew@ecoevo.social
    Oct 25, 2026, 6:18 PM

    Being a “good neighbor” small website might be enough. What do you want your server to store and what do you want other servers to be able to see?

    (I think RSS is plenty for a small website. Add a Fediverse handle for the site author/moderator/human host, and lots more is possible. Speaking from the old blog days, hosting other people’s comments is a whole social job.)

    @TerryHancock

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