Learning how to make a blog on Neocities is a journey into the nostalgic, quirky, and highly customizable world of early web design. Neocities is a web host that aims to bring back the spirit of GeoCities – free web pages where users have full control over their HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This means it’s not a Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress or Blogger. instead, you’re building your website from the ground up using code. This approach is fantastic for those who want absolute creative freedom, enjoy coding, or are looking for a unique, personal online space that stands out from modern templated sites.

Table of Contents

Understanding Neocities’ Philosophy

Neocities is about personal web pages, creativity, and digital self-expression. It provides:

Free Hosting: Up to 1GB of storage for your files.
Custom Code: You write your own HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and upload images.
No Ads: Neocities doesn’t inject ads onto your pages.
Community: A vibrant community of users who appreciate lo-fi, experimental, and unique web design.
“Cool Sites” Showcase: A feature that promotes interesting new sites.

When you learn how to make a blog on Neocities, you’re essentially building a series of interconnected HTML pages that function as your blog posts, and then creating a manual index or archive page to link them together. This is a very different experience from a one-click WordPress setup.

Prerequisites for a Neocities Blog

Before into how to make a blog on Neocities, you should ideally have:

Basic HTML Knowledge: You need to know how to structure content using tags (e.g., <p>, <h1>, <a>, <img>).
Basic CSS Knowledge: To style your pages (colors, fonts, layout).
Text Editor: Notepad (Windows), TextEdit (Mac), or a more advanced code editor like VS Code or Sublime Text.
Image Editor (Optional but Recommended): For optimizing images for the web.

Steps to Make a Blog on Neocities

Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating a blog-like structure on Neocities:

Sign Up for a Neocities Account: how to make a blog on canva
- Go to neocities.org.
- Click “Join.”
- Choose a username (this will be part of your URL, e.g., yourusername.neocities.org).
- Provide an email and password.
- Once signed up, you’ll have access to your site’s dashboard, which includes a file manager.

Create Your Homepage (index.html):

Every website needs an index.html file, which is your homepage.
In your Neocities dashboard, go to the “Editor” or “Files” section.
You might see a default index.html. You can edit this or create a new file.

Basic HTML Structure for index.html: how to make a blog website for free

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Your Blog Title - Home</title>


   <link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css"> <!-- Link to your CSS file -->
</head>
<body>
    <header>


       <h1>Welcome to My Neocities Blog!</h1>
        <nav>
            <ul>


               <li><a href="index.html">Home</a></li>


               <li><a href="about.html">About Me</a></li>


               <li><a href="archive.html">Blog Archive</a></li>


               <li><a href="contact.html">Contact</a></li>
            </ul>
        </nav>
    </header>

    <main>
        <h2>Latest Blog Post</h2>


       <p>Check out my newest thoughts on [topic].</p>


       <a href="post-title-1.html">Read the latest post here!</a>

        <section class="recent-posts">
            <h3>Recent Posts</h3>


               <li><a href="post-title-1.html">How to Embrace Simplicity in Daily Life</a> - <time datetime="2024-01-15">January 15, 2024</time></li>


               <li><a href="post-title-2.html">Reflections on Mindfulness</a> - <time datetime="2024-01-10">January 10, 2024</time></li>


           <p><a href="archive.html">View all posts in the archive...</a></p>
        </section>
    </main>

    <footer>
        <p>&copy. 2024 Your Name. All rights reserved.</p>
    </footer>
</body>
</html>

Save this file as index.html in your Neocities root directory.

Create Your CSS File (style.css):

Create a new file named style.css in the same directory as index.html.
This file will control the look of your blog.

Basic CSS Example: how to make a blog on wordpress

body {
    font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif.
   background-color: #f0f0e0. /* Light yellow background */
   color: #333.
    margin: 20px.
    padding: 0.
    line-height: 1.6.
}

header {
   background-color: #d0e0c0. /* Light green header */
    padding: 15px.
    text-align: center.
   border-bottom: 2px solid #a0b090.

nav ul {
    list-style: none.

nav li {
    display: inline.
    margin: 0 10px.

nav a {
    text-decoration: none.
   color: #555.
    font-weight: bold.

main {
    max-width: 800px.
    margin: 20px auto.
   background-color: #fff.
    padding: 30px.
   border: 1px solid #ddd.
    box-shadow: 0 0 10px rgba(0,0,0,0.1).

footer {
    margin-top: 30px.
   background-color: #d0e0c0.
   border-top: 1px solid #a0b090.

/* Basic styling for blog posts */
.blog-post {
    margin-bottom: 40px.
    padding-bottom: 20px.
   border-bottom: 1px dashed #ccc.
.blog-post h2 {
   color: #2a64ad.
.blog-post p {
    margin-bottom: 10px.

Save this as style.css.

Create Your First Blog Post:

Each blog post will be a separate HTML file. Name them descriptively (e.g., my-first-post.html, reflections-on-ramadan.html).

Basic Blog Post HTML Structure (post-title-1.html):

<title>How to Embrace Simplicity in Daily Life - My Blog</title>


<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css">


    <h1><a href="index.html">My Neocities Blog</a></h1>









 <main class="blog-post">


    <h2>How to Embrace Simplicity in Daily Life</h2>


    <small><time datetime="2024-01-15">January 15, 2024</time></small>



    <img src="simplicity-image.jpg" alt="A simple, minimalist scene" style="max-width:100%. height:auto.">

     <h3>The Journey Towards Less</h3>


    <p>In a world often defined by consumption and accumulation, the path to simplicity offers a refreshing alternative.

It’s not just about decluttering your physical space… how to make a blog post

             <h3>Mindful Consumption</h3>


            <p>Consider the impact of every purchase.

Do you truly need it? Is it ethically sourced? For instance, when seeking new clothes, prioritize modest, durable items that align with your values.

             <h4>Benefits of Simplicity</h4>
             <ul>


                <li>Reduced stress and anxiety</li>


                <li>More time for meaningful activities</li>
                 <li>Financial freedom</li>


                <li>Environmental consciousness</li>
             </ul>



            <p>The journey to simplicity is ongoing, but each step contributes to a more fulfilling and purposeful life.</p>


            <p><a href="archive.html">Back to Blog Archive</a></p>

*   Upload any images used (e.g., `simplicity-image.jpg`) to your Neocities files.

Create a Blog Archive Page (archive.html):

This page will list all your blog posts with links to them. You’ll need to manually update this page every time you publish a new post. how to make a blog website

Example HTML for archive.html:

<title>Blog Archive - Your Blog Title</title>













     <h2>Blog Archive</h2>


        <li><a href="post-title-1.html">How to Embrace Simplicity in Daily Life</a> - <time datetime="2024-01-15">January 15, 2024</time></li>


        <li><a href="post-title-2.html">Reflections on Mindfulness</a> - <time datetime="2024-01-10">January 10, 2024</time></li>
         <!-- Add new posts here -->

Save as archive.html.

Create Other Essential Pages (e.g., about.html, contact.html):
- Follow the same process to create simple About Me and Contact pages, linking them in your navigation.
Upload Files to Neocities:
- You can edit files directly in Neocities’ online editor or use the “Upload” feature to upload your HTML, CSS, and image files from your computer.

Maintaining a Neocities Blog

Manual Updates: Every time you write a new blog post, you’ll need to:
1. Create a new HTML file for the post. how to make a blog for free
2. Upload any new images.
3. Manually add a link to the new post on your index.html (for latest post) and archive.html pages.
Version Control: For larger Neocities sites, consider using Git and GitHub to manage your code locally and then manually upload.
Design Iteration: Experiment with your CSS to change the look. Explore “Webrings” on Neocities to connect with other sites.

Advantages and Disadvantages of a Neocities Blog

Advantages of “How to Make a Blog on Neocities”:

Complete Creative Freedom: Design and code exactly what you want. No theme limitations.
No Ads, No Tracking (from Neocities): A truly private space for your content.
Lightweight & Fast: Hand-coded sites can be incredibly fast and efficient.
Learning Opportunity: Great for learning HTML, CSS, and basic web development.
Unique Aesthetic: Stand out from generic modern websites.
Community: Part of a niche, supportive community.

Disadvantages of “How to Make a Blog on Neocities”:

Requires Coding Knowledge: Not for those who want a drag-and-drop solution.
Manual Maintenance: No CMS features like automatic archiving, search, categories, comments, or easy editing. Everything is manual.
Limited SEO: Very basic SEO unless you manually optimize every page (meta tags, proper semantic HTML). No plugins for advanced SEO.
Not Scalable for Large Blogs: Managing hundreds of posts manually would be incredibly time-consuming.
No Dynamic Features: Cannot easily implement comment sections (without third-party embed codes), complex forms, or user accounts.

In conclusion, how to make a blog on Neocities is a niche but rewarding path. It offers unparalleled creative control and a sense of true ownership over your digital space. It’s ideal for personal blogs, art projects, experimental web pages, or anyone wanting to embrace the charming simplicity and raw power of hand-coded web design, rather than a high-traffic, SEO-driven content machine. How to make a website

0.0

0.0 out of 5 stars (based on 0 reviews)

Excellent0%

Very good0%

Average0%

Poor0%

Terrible0%

There are no reviews yet. Be the first one to write one.

Amazon.com: Check Amazon for how to make
Latest Discussions & Reviews:

BestFREE.nl

how to make a blog on neocities

Understanding Neocities’ Philosophy

Prerequisites for a Neocities Blog

Steps to Make a Blog on Neocities

Maintaining a Neocities Blog

Advantages and Disadvantages of a Neocities Blog

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Recent Posts

Social Media