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Local Setup

This page covers running the main website on your machine. To work on this documentation site, see Maintaining These Docs.

Prerequisites

Tool Version Check with
Node.js 22 (matches the deploy workflow) node --version
npm Bundled with Node 22 npm --version
Git Tested with 2.52.0 git --version
Web browser Current release of Chrome, Firefox, Edge or Safari Browser About page
GitHub account Write access to Douglasebhoman/douglasebhoman.github.io Not applicable

Eleventy 3.1.6 is installed by npm from package.json. You do not install it separately.

Step-by-step guide

  1. Clone the repository and move into it:

    git clone https://github.com/Douglasebhoman/douglasebhoman.github.io.git
cd douglasebhoman.github.io

  2. Install the exact dependency versions from the lockfile:

    npm ci

  3. Start the local server:

    npm start

    This runs eleventy --serve. It builds the site into _site/, serves it, and rebuilds when you save a file.

  4. Open the address Eleventy prints in the terminal, normally http://localhost:8080.

  5. Stop the server with Ctrl+C.

Do not open the source files directly

Blog post files contain only front matter and a body. The shared layout adds the head, navigation and footer at build time. Opening a source file in the browser, or serving the repository with Live Server, shows an unstyled fragment. Always preview through npm start.

Previewing pages locally

Page Local URL
Homepage http://localhost:8080/
Work http://localhost:8080/work/
Services http://localhost:8080/services/
Audit http://localhost:8080/audit/
Blog index http://localhost:8080/blog/
Blog post http://localhost:8080/blog/posts/post-slug/
Sitemap http://localhost:8080/sitemap.xml
404 http://localhost:8080/404.html

Build without serving

npm run build

This writes the site to _site/ exactly as the deploy workflow does. Use it to confirm a change builds cleanly before you push. _site/ is ignored by Git and must never be edited by hand or committed.

Check for outdated claims

bash scripts/drift-check.sh

The script fails if a page contains a claim that no longer matches the verifiable record. It must print drift-check: clean before you merge.

Notes

  • The MailerLite newsletter form and Giscus comments load from external domains and need an internet connection.
  • The documentation health check widget runs entirely in the browser and works offline.
  • Draft posts are excluded from production builds entirely. They render only under npm start. Remove draft: true to publish. Eleventy does not clear _site/ between builds, so a page that was drafted, deleted or renamed after being published can survive in your local _site/ and look live when it is not. See Content Guide.