Modern Blog Template

For Developers Who Want To Blog But Refuse To Touch WordPress

You want a blog. You're a developer. WordPress is beneath you. Medium takes 30% of your revenue. Hashnode is fine but you want more control. Substack is for writers, not hackers.

Welcome home.

What Makes This Different (Other Than Not Being WordPress)

Write In MDX (Markdown × React)

# My Post

Here's a normal paragraph.

<CustomComponent prop="value" />

More markdown here!

That's it. Write in markdown. Drop in React components when you need them. No WYSIWYG editor from 2008. No fighting with blocks. Just markdown and code.

Built For Developers

• Syntax Highlighting - Code blocks that don't look like crap
• GitHub Flavored Markdown - Because you live in GitHub anyway
• Component Embeds - Add interactive demos, charts, whatever
• TypeScript - Auto-complete for your content (yes, really)

SEO That Doesn't Require A Plugin

• Meta Tags - Automatic for every post
• Sitemap - Auto-generated (Google already knows)
• RSS Feed - For the 12 people still using RSS readers
• Structured Data - Rich snippets in search results
• Performance - Fast sites rank higher (Google said so)

You won't need Yoast. You won't need RankMath. You won't need any SEO plugins because the code is the SEO.

Features You Didn't Know You Needed

Content Management (Without A CMS)

• File-Based - Your posts are markdown files in Git
• Version Control - git log is your revision history
• Preview Mode - See drafts before publishing
• Categories & Tags - Organize without taxonomy hell
• Table of Contents - Auto-generated from headings
• Reading Time - "5 min read" (always a lie, nobody reads that fast)

Newsletter (Because Email Still Works)

• Email Signup - Capture those precious emails
• Resend Integration - Send emails that don't go to spam
• Subscriber Management - See who actually reads your stuff
• Automated Newsletters - New post → automatic email (set it and forget it)

Build your audience while you sleep. Or while you're debugging. Same thing.

Analytics (Know Your Numbers)

• View Counter - See which posts nobody reads
• Popular Posts - Showcase your bangers
• Traffic Stats - Feel good when numbers go up
• Per-Author Analytics - If you have multiple writers (overachiever)

The Nice-To-Haves

• Dark Mode - Obviously (it's 2025)
• Social Sharing - One-click sharing to places people actually use
• Comments - Optional (we use Giscus, it's GitHub Discussions)
• Search - Find old posts (that you forgot you wrote)
• Author Pages - Multiple authors supported (start your media empire)

Tech Stack (The Good Stuff)

Content: MDX

• Markdown for writing
• React components when you need them
• Best of both worlds

Framework: Next.js 15

• App Router (we're not stuck in 2022)
• Server Components (when possible)
• Static generation (blazing fast)

Styling: Tailwind CSS

• Typography plugin (beautiful text)
• Dark mode (automatic)
• Responsive (works on phones from 2015)

Email: Resend

• Modern email API
• No more SMTP configuration nightmares
• Actual deliverability

What You Actually Get

The Technical Bits

• ✅ Full source code (TypeScript, commented)
• ✅ 20+ page templates (blog, post, author, archive, etc.)
• ✅ MDX setup with all the plugins
• ✅ Newsletter integration (ready to go)
• ✅ SEO configuration (automatic)
• ✅ Analytics dashboard (see your stats)
• ✅ Deployment config (Vercel button)

The Soft Stuff

• ✅ Documentation (we actually wrote it)
• ✅ Example posts (to show you how)
• ✅ Setup guide (step by step)
• ✅ Customization guide (make it yours)
• ✅ Deployment guide (go live today)

What's Not Included

• ❌ Your brilliant writing (that's on you)
• ❌ Marketing strategy (also you)
• ❌ Guaranteed viral posts (write better)
• ❌ Spell checker (use Grammarly like everyone else)

Perfect For

Solo Bloggers:

• Share your knowledge
• Build your brand
• Grow your newsletter
• Land consulting gigs
• Justify your "personal brand" time

Developer Blogs:

• Technical tutorials
• Code snippets that work
• Architecture deep-dives
• War stories from production

Company Blogs:

• Content marketing
• SEO traffic
• Thought leadership (ugh)
• Looking professional

Not For:

• Food bloggers (they need Pinterest)
• Fashion blogs (Instagram exists)
• News sites (this is a blog template, not CNN)
• People who don't want to deploy to Vercel

The Comparison Nobody Asked For

WordPress:

• Plugins: 47 (12 are security risks)
• Speed: Slow
• Hosting: $15/month minimum
• Updates: Break your site monthly
• Verdict: It's 2025, why?

Medium:

• Ownership: They own your content (lol)
• Customization: None
• Newsletter: They take the emails
• Monetization: They take 30%
• Verdict: Only if you hate money

This Template:

• Plugins: 0 (it's code)
• Speed: Actually fast
• Hosting: Free (Vercel hobby plan)
• Updates: When you want
• Verdict: You're reading this, so...

Pricing Reality Check

Hiring a developer:

• Design: $2,000
• Development: $5,000
• MDX setup: $1,000
• Newsletter: $1,000
• Total: $9,000 and 2 months

Using WordPress:

• Theme: $60
• Hosting: $15/month
• Plugins: $30/month
• Therapy: Priceless
• Total: Your sanity

This template:

• Cost: $99
• Time to launch: 1 hour
• Maintenance: Minimal
• Soul intact: Yes
• Total: Best ROI ever

The Technical Truth

This is a seriously fast blog. We're talking:

• 95+ Lighthouse scores
• < 1s load times
• Zero render-blocking resources
• Optimized images (automatic)
• Prefetched links (smart)

It's not magic. It's Next.js doing what Next.js does best.

Support

Included:

• Documentation (thorough)
• Example posts (actually helpful)
• Setup guide (hand-holding included)
• Community support (GitHub Discussions)

Priority Support ($50/month):

• "How do I..." questions answered
• Customization help
• Integration assistance
• 24-hour response time
• Updates before everyone else

The Close

You want to blog. You don't want to mess with WordPress. You value your time.

For less than your monthly coffee budget, you can have a blog that:

• Loads fast
• Looks professional
• Ranks on Google
• Captures emails
• Deploys in minutes

Or you can spend the weekend configuring WordPress. Your move.