Website

I decided I hate WordPress, so here is the source for a site that uses Zola. It has a custom Docker image based on Alpine Linux which serves using nginx and has the Zola binary (zola serve sucks). Don't worry, I took WordPress off my resume.

Overview

This is a static site built with Zola, a fast static site generator written in Rust. The site is containerized using Docker with a multi-stage build that compiles the site and serves it through nginx.

Tech Stack

• Zola - Static site generator
• Alpine Linux - Lightweight container base
• nginx - Web server
• Docker - Containerization
• Terminus theme - Zola theme

Project Structure

.
├── src/
│   ├── config.toml      # Zola configuration
│   ├── content/         # Markdown content files
│   ├── static/          # Static assets
│   ├── templates/       # HTML templates
│   ├── sass/            # Stylesheets
│   └── themes/          # Zola themes
├── Dockerfile           # Multi-stage Docker build
├── docker-compose.yml   # Container orchestration
├── nginx.conf           # nginx server configuration
└── serve.sh             # Build and deployment script

Setup

Prerequisites

• Docker
• Docker Compose
• Git

Quick Start

Run the build and deployment script:

./serve.sh

Or manually:

docker compose build
docker compose up -d

The site will be available at http://localhost:1313

Docker Architecture

The Dockerfile uses a multi-stage build:

1. Builder Stage: Uses Alpine Linux with Zola to build the static site
2. Production Stage: Uses nginx:alpine to serve the compiled site

This approach keeps the final image lightweight by excluding build dependencies.

Configuration

Port Mapping

The container exposes port 80 internally, mapped to port 1313 on the host (see docker-compose.yml:8).

Network

The container connects to an external Docker network called cloudflared-net for integration with Cloudflare tunnels. If you will not be using Cloudflare Tunnels via Docker please delete the references to it in docker-compose.yml before running ./serve.sh or you will get an error.

Alternatively, create dummy network by running:

docker network create --driver=bridge cloudflared-net

Site Configuration

Edit src/config.toml to customize:

• Base URL
• Site title and author
• Menu items
• Theme settings

Development

To make changes:

1. Edit content in src/content/
2. Modify templates in src/templates/
3. Update styles in src/sass/
4. Rebuild and redeploy: ./serve.sh

Why Not zola serve?

The built-in zola serve command is great for development but not ideal for production. This setup uses nginx for:

• Better performance
• Production-grade serving
• Easier integration with reverse proxies
• In my experience zola serve can just be overall unreliable.

License

See LICENCE file for details.