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MkDocs

144
147
+ 1
14
Pelican

89
112
+ 1
28
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MkDocs vs Pelican: What are the differences?

Introduction

MkDocs and Pelican are both static site generators used to create and manage websites. However, there are key differences between the two that set them apart in terms of functionality and ease of use.

  1. Learning Curve: MkDocs is designed to be beginner-friendly, with a simpler and more intuitive configuration process. It uses Markdown for content creation and requires minimal technical knowledge. On the other hand, Pelican has a steeper learning curve due to its more complex configuration options and requires some knowledge of HTML and Python.

  2. Themes and Customization: MkDocs offers a limited number of themes and customization options. While it provides a clean and minimalistic look, there may be less flexibility to create unique and highly customized websites. In contrast, Pelican offers a vast array of themes and plugins, allowing for extensive customization and the ability to create visually stunning and highly personalized websites.

  3. Content Management: MkDocs is primarily focused on creating documentation websites. It provides features specifically tailored for managing and organizing documentation, such as hierarchical navigation, search functionality, and version control integration. Pelican, on the other hand, is a more general-purpose static site generator that can be used to create various types of websites, including blogs, portfolios, and documentation.

  4. Deployment: MkDocs simplifies the deployment process by providing a built-in development server and a one-command deployment to GitHub Pages. It is straightforward to publish and update the website with minimal hassle. Pelican also offers various deployment options, but setting up and configuring the deployment process may require more technical expertise.

  5. Community and Support: MkDocs has a larger and more active community, with frequent updates and a thriving ecosystem of plugins and themes. It benefits from continuous development and regular bug fixes. Pelican, while less popular than MkDocs, still has an active community, but updates and bug fixes may be less frequent in comparison.

  6. Scalability: MkDocs is better suited for smaller projects or single-page documentation websites. It may face performance issues when dealing with larger websites or extensive content due to its design and rendering process. Pelican, with its ability to handle more complex and larger websites, is more scalable and suitable for projects with a higher volume of content.

In summary, MkDocs is a user-friendly static site generator targeted towards documentation websites, with a simpler configuration process and straightforward deployment options. It has a limited number of themes and customization options. Pelican, on the other hand, offers more flexibility, extensive customization options, and scalability, making it suitable for different types of websites. It has a steeper learning curve and requires more technical knowledge but provides a wider range of themes, plugins, and deployment options.

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Pros of MkDocs
Pros of Pelican
  • 5
    Speed
  • 4
    Gitlab integration
  • 3
    Extensibility
  • 2
    Themes
  • 7
    Open source
  • 6
    Jinja2
  • 4
    Implemented in Python
  • 4
    Easy to deploy
  • 3
    Plugability
  • 2
    RestructuredText and Markdown support
  • 1
    Easy to customize
  • 1
    Can run on Github pages

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Cons of MkDocs
Cons of Pelican
  • 1
    Build time increases exponentially as site grows
    Be the first to leave a con

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    - No public GitHub repository available -

    What is MkDocs?

    It builds completely static HTML sites that you can host on GitHub pages, Amazon S3, or anywhere else you choose. There's a stack of good looking themes available. The built-in dev-server allows you to preview your documentation as you're writing it. It will even auto-reload and refresh your browser whenever you save your changes.

    What is Pelican?

    Pelican is a static site generator that supports Markdown and reST syntax. Write your weblog entries directly with your editor of choice (vim!) in reStructuredText or Markdown.

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    What companies use MkDocs?
    What companies use Pelican?
    See which teams inside your own company are using MkDocs or Pelican.
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    What tools integrate with MkDocs?
    What tools integrate with Pelican?
    What are some alternatives to MkDocs and Pelican?
    Sphinx
    It lets you either batch index and search data stored in an SQL database, NoSQL storage, or just files quickly and easily — or index and search data on the fly, working with it pretty much as with a database server.
    Gitbook
    It is a modern documentation platform where teams can document everything from products, to APIs and internal knowledge-bases. It is a place to think and track ideas for you & your team.
    Jekyll
    Think of Jekyll as a file-based CMS, without all the complexity. Jekyll takes your content, renders Markdown and Liquid templates, and spits out a complete, static website ready to be served by Apache, Nginx or another web server. Jekyll is the engine behind GitHub Pages, which you can use to host sites right from your GitHub repositories.
    Docsify
    Docsify generates your documentation website on the fly without generating static html files. Instead, it loads and parses your Markdown files and displays them as a website.
    Hugo
    Hugo is a static site generator written in Go. It is optimized for speed, easy use and configurability. Hugo takes a directory with content and templates and renders them into a full html website. Hugo makes use of markdown files with front matter for meta data.
    See all alternatives