Hosting and Deployment

Once you’ve built your site, deploying it means uploading the _site/ folder to a hosting service. Since SpaceClub! is a static site, you have many options - most of them free.

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Building Your Site

Before deploying, run the build command:

npm run build

This does two things:

1. Runs Eleventy to generate your site in _site/.
2. Runs Pagefind to create the search index.

The _site/ folder contains your complete website - HTML, CSS, JavaScript, images, everything. You can upload this folder to any static hosting service.

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Netlify (Recommended)

Netlify is the easiest option. It integrates with GitHub, automatically builds and deploys your site on every push, and includes form handling.

Deploy from GitHub

1. Push your project to a GitHub repository.
2. Go to netlify.com and sign up (free).
3. Click “Add new site” → “Import an existing project”.
4. Select your GitHub repository.
5. Netlify will auto-detect the settings from netlify.toml:
   • Build command: npx @11ty/eleventy && npx pagefind --site _site
   • Publish directory: _site
6. Click “Deploy site”.

That’s it. Every time you push to your repository, Netlify will automatically rebuild and deploy.

Custom Domain

In Netlify: Site settings → Domain management → Add custom domain. Netlify provides free HTTPS via Let’s Encrypt.

Forms

The SpaceClub! contact form includes the netlify attribute, so form submissions are automatically handled by Netlify. View submissions in your Netlify dashboard under Forms.

The netlify.toml File

Your project already includes this file with the correct settings:

[build]
  publish = "_site"
  command = "npx @11ty/eleventy && npx pagefind --site _site"
 
[build.environment]
  NODE_VERSION = "20"

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Other Hosting Options

Since SpaceClub! outputs a plain folder of static files, it works with any static hosting service. Some popular options:

• GitHub Pages - Free, integrates with GitHub. No built-in form handling (see Forms for alternatives).
• Vercel - Free tier, GitHub integration, fast CDN. No built-in form handling.
• Cloudflare Pages - Free, fast global CDN.
• Manual / FTP - Build locally with npm run build, then upload the _site/ folder to any web host.

For all of these, the build command is npm run build and the output directory is _site/. These options have not been verified with SpaceClub! specifically, so you may need to adjust configuration.

For a full list of Eleventy-compatible deployment options: 11ty.dev/docs/deployment

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Drag-and-Drop Deploy

Netlify also supports drag-and-drop: go to app.netlify.com/drop and drag your _site/ folder onto the page. Your site will be live in seconds. Great for quick tests.

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Summary

Host	Free	Auto-Deploy	Forms	Verified with SpaceClub!
Netlify	✅	✅	✅ Built-in	✅
GitHub Pages	✅	✅ (via Actions)	❌	Not verified
Vercel	✅	✅	❌	Not verified
Cloudflare Pages	✅	✅	❌	Not verified
Manual/FTP	Depends	❌	❌	Not verified