Simply Static

Simply Static icon
Simply Static is a powerful WordPress plugin for static site generation. It creates an entire static version of your dynamic WordPress website, thereby allowing for higher performance, improved scalability, better security, and reduced bandwidth costs.
What We Think:
92%
Very highly recommended!

Simply Static: A Comprehensive Review

Simply Static is a WordPress plugin that makes creating static HTML sites from dynamic WordPress pages easy and hassle-free. This plugin is perfect for anyone looking for a secure backup of their WordPress content or for those who want their websites to be hosted offline. By generating a static HTML version of your WordPress powered site, you can take advantage of reliable static hosting and keep your original dynamic content safe from harm. With Simply Static, you are given complete control over where and how you share your content and can keep your website safe from malicious attacks.

Simply Static: Breakdown

Generate

Simply Static is a WordPress plugin with many features and benefits. It allows users to generate an HTML version of their WordPress powered website, which can be hosted on a static server. This static version of the website can be used to back up the original dynamic content, so if something goes wrong with the main website, the static version can be used to quickly and easily restore the content. Additionally, by hosting the website offline, it is less susceptible to malicious attacks, ensuring that the information and data stored on the website remain secure.

When creating the static HTML version, Simply Static will scan the WordPress site, download the entire content, and generate the HTML files. It can be configured to include dynamic elements, comments, pages, blog posts - even the entire WordPress environment. All of the HTML files can be compressed or zipped up for easy transfer or emailing. The plugin also offers options for users to customize the URL structure of their static content, allowing for easy navigation and organization.

Additionally, Simply Static offers options for users to modify the WordPress environment and CSS files. This allows users to customize how the HTML content is presented and ensure that the static version follows the same look and feel of the original WordPress site. Finally, the editing and view features of Simply Static allow users to preview all changes before they are made, allowing for oversight of the HTML content before it is saved or published.

Pros of Using Simply Static

Ease of Use: Using the Simply Static plugin eliminates the requirement of manually having to upload your static HTML files to the web host, as the plugin does it automatically in the background. This greatly simplifies the website creation process and makes creating a static website with WordPress much easier.

Increased Website Performance: As static sites require fewer resources than dynamic sites, using the Simply Static plugin will increase the performance of your website, creating a faster loading experience for your visitors. This will also result in an improved ranking in search engine results pages, as search engines prioritize faster loading sites.

Multi-Platform Output: Simply Static enables you to create static HTML websites that are compatible with multiple web-hosting platforms. This ensures that you do not have to worry about compatibility issues due to different web hosting solutions. This flexibility also allows you to easily switch between hosting solutions as the need arises.

Safe & Secure: The Simply Static plugin creates a local version of your WordPress website, which ensures that your content and settings remain secure and safe from any external attacks. This will provide you with peace of mind, as you will not have to constantly worry about having external threats targeting your website and its content.

Time Savings: Using the Simply Static plugin drastically reduces the time taken to create and deploy a static website. This time savings is especially beneficial for those who are looking to quickly deploy a website and require minimal maintenance. The plugin’s one-click setup allows users to create and deploy their website within minutes.

Cons of Using Simply Static

Security Risks: Using the Simply Static WordPress plugin can come with security risks involved, as it stores the generated static HTML files in an easily-accessible directory. As the directory is easy to find, it is vulnerable to brute force attacks, which can lead to the site being hacked or vital data being breached.

Limited Functionality: Simply Static only provides very basic functions, which may be suitable for some small, static websites but are insufficient for most other dynamic WordPress sites. Even basic features such as caching may not be available with this plugin, limiting the overall functionality of the site.

Inability to Optimize: Since Simply Static generates static HTML files, it is unable to optimize the page for SEO purposes. This severely limits the potential of the site in terms of organic search engine traffic and visibility.

Lack of Support: Simply Static is an open-source plugin and as such, it does not provide much in terms of customer support. This means that if any issues or errors arise, the user is likely to be left without any assistance.

Frequent Updates: Simply Static is an open-source plugin and as such, it is constantly updated with new features and bug fixes. This can often mean that users are left behind in terms of site performance and stability, as they may need to regularly update the plugin in order to remain compatible with newer versions of WordPress.

92% Very highly recommended!

In conclusion

Simply Static is a powerful and feature-rich WordPress plugin with many benefits. It provides users with an easy and efficient way to create a static HTML version of their WordPress powered website, allowing for secure hosting and protection from malicious attacks. With the plugin's options for URL structure customization, WordPress environment and CSS file modifications, and preview features, users have complete control over how their static content is presented and can ensure that any changes to the HTML version meet their specifications. Whether it is to backup content or to choose a static hosting solution, Simply Static offers an effective and hassle-free way of keeping your WordPress content safe and secure.

Plugin Specifications
  • Version: 3.1.3
  • Last Updated: 7 months ago
  • Installs: 40,000+
  • WP Version: 6.3+
  • Tested Until: 6.4.2
  • PHP Version: 7.4 or higher
Use Case Examples
  • Local Development
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    Simply Static allows easy development of websites on a local computer, without having to manage and deploy to a web hosting provider. This can be beneficial for small websites, as it saves the labor of having to constantly manage updating and deploying to a web host. Furthermore, with Simply Static, users can manage changes to their websites in an efficient manner, previewing them while in the development stage without uploading to a live server.
  • Static Site Generation
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  • Content Delivery Network (CDN)
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  • Offline Site Development
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  • Caching Optimization
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Tags
  • Fast
  • html
  • secure
  • static site
  • static website generator