Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Micro-site
Selected Projects | | Links: Posters 1 and 2 | Posters 3 and 4 | Posters 5 and 6 | Posters 7 and 8
This micro-site was my first project using the Astro static site generator.
Overview
I was asked to create a “micro-site” of four websites that would link together a series of posters exhibited in public spaces around campus. The posters would display QR codes that, when scanned, led to each of the pages in this micro-site. The web pages provided background information and more context to the artwork displayed on the posters. This particular series of posters focused on the lives, legacies, and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
I had just recently read that a new static site generator (SSG) called Astro had become a serious contender in the space. As a more modern take on the concepts behind my old favorite SSG, Jekyll, Astro’s component based architecture scales with the project. This “micro-site” sounded like a good opportunity to get a taste of what Astro may have to offer, on its most basic level.
The development of the site is detailed here: My First Astro Site
Although some aspects of working with Astro seemed counterintuitive to me, it was still relatively easy to pick up, and I had a working and nice-looking prototype within an hour.
Once the development site was looking good, I ran
npm run build.
This command creates a dist folder containing the generated HTML files, which can then be uploaded to a server. (Astro also integrates nicely with Netlify, so this step isn’t necessary if using a more modern deployment method.)
Project type
Website
Roles & responsibilities
Primary role
Website Developer
Responsibilities
- Website development
Technologies used
- Node.js and npm package manager
- Astro.js static site generator
Deployment method
- Local development in Git repository, upload to Cascade CMS.
- Provide QR codes as public links to content.
