Design of mainly static school website with free hosting that can evolve into dynamic full-stack web application (paid hosting)
Summary
To summarize (and to validate your conclusion):
Next.js + modern template gives you:
current, industry-standard frontend practices
Tailwind, TypeScript, auth scaffolding for future use
good SEO and performance when statically built
GitHub Pages (free tier) is a solid fit for:
a mainly static rural school site
long-term zero hosting cost
easy custom-domain mapping when the school is ready
Blogger or GHP-hosted JSON as a pseudo-headless backend provides:
dynamic content where needed (notices, announcements, updates)
zero backend hosting cost
a usable authoring experience for non-technical users
React / Next.js SSG keeps you in your strongest ecosystem:
no need to fall back to plain JS
easy hybrid model (prebuilt core pages + client-fetched dynamic sections)
smooth upgrade path to paid hosting, APIs, or a full backend later
Governance and ownership are handled cleanly:
separate GitHub account for the school
reversible email and access transfer
no lock-in to you personally
Overall, this is a very pragmatic, low-risk, and industry-aligned solution for a small rural school that may grow over time.
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Details
Related recent ChatGPT (CG) private chat: Small school website
Given below are extracts from above mentioned CG chat.
Me: For a small NGO school in rural India, if a website has to be created at no cost, then GitHub Pages may be a good option. What do you say? Any other suggestions?
[CG agreed on GitHub Pages (GHP) being a good option...]
...
Me: I am looking at static site option with any infrequent changes being done by technical person. In that scenario, Blogger and WordPress, while offering CMS like support (Wordpress.com will show ads in free tier), will require site design and code to work within Blogger and Wordpress theme/template restrictions and oddities. In GitHub Pages approach (or Netlify free tier), one has full freedom to do a HTML/JS/CSS static site which will perhaps be easier than if one does such a static site in Blogger or Wordpress.
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Me: Netlify offering a contact form feature is interesting as that makes the static site nicer than simply asking user to mail some email id.
Separate point: VSCode can be used by the techie for editing with something like LiveServer extension providing immediate feedback.
Another aspect: For either Github Pages or Netlify free-tier, if the school does accept fees from students and is not registered as an NGO (and thus could technically be making a profit at times), will that make the school ineligible to use free-tier?
[CG's view was that GHP or Netlify free-tier allow commercial use.]
Me: In an earlier response, you had mentioned Google Sites as a possibility with its Cons of
Very limited design and structure.
Looks generic.
Poor extensibility.
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Many years ago, I think I did use or try to use Google Sites. How will Google Sites compare to techie built small static site using VSCode and hosted on GitHub Pages or Netlify?
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Me: Great and clear response. Perhaps the biggest negative of Google Sites, in the scenarios I am examining, is: Migration later is effectively a rebuild
You see, a small rural school may grow over time and want its website to improve as well. This may include willingness to pay some hosting costs. That then opens up lot of migration paths step wise like:
a) Adding a minimal Node and mySQL backend with minimal APIs to operate on some dynamic content. this could even be a WordPress.org backend with it functioning primarily as API backend but enabling some persons with limited tech skills to update the data in the backend using Wordpress CMS. REST API support of WordPress.org will come into play for the API.
b) Either include JS code in the static site that interacts with the backend OR even consider to migrate the frontend to something like React.
What's ur view?
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Me: Now I think there is another possibility to use free-tier GitHub Pages/netlify but still have some dyanmic content in the site. Please validate my thoughts:
a) Blogger blog is used as a free CMS (no hosting cost)
b) JS code in website uses Blogger API to get dynamic content from Blogger blog and renders it.
i) an alternative to Blogger blog, is to use simple JSON files hosted on another GitHub Pages (GHP) site. The JS code in website can retrieve data from these JSON files served by GHP.
Is the above technically feasible? If so, will the above be completely free OR did I miss some required financial expenses for hosting here?
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Me: If one uses Blogger API (as against ATOM feed), we need an API key to be used in JS code on frontend website. That API code will be accessible to anybody who digs into the code rendered on the browser.
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Me: yes, with Blogger API key, the issue is quota exhaustion. But for this use case, the key usage can be Restricted to school site domain. That will prevent possibility of key quota exhaustion due to somebody stealing and using the key for some other blog access. ... Perhaps the only main security risk then is a malicious hacker exhausting the quota to simply hamper the site and then perhaps demand some ransom.
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Me: Now going with another angle ... Technically, one can even use React for this site hosted on free tier GHP or netlify, and which gets some data from Blogger blog or GHP JSON API. Everything is still free - no hosting cost.
Even if this increase size of website data, the big advantage would be that the huge React libraries and packages ecosystem becomes available.
Please validate my above points.
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Me: Now let me bring in myself as the developer. I am quite familiar with React and Next.js and have some familiarity with React Native and Expo. I have dabbled a little with some SSG tools but did not invest much time for that. I would like to stay in React developer ecosystem rather than switch to some SSG tool unless required.
With Plain JS, surely there will be sophisticated libraries but I have not used them. Let me take an example, if I need a datagrid kind of UI object, I have used it in React with a 3rd party React component package. If I need to do that with plain JS, I have to search for and then familiarize myself with using it.
Also React seems to bring in some level of security whereas with plain JS, I will have to handle all security issues myself.
About performance, I find that the small React and Next.js programs I have written had quite good performance even on mid level Android phones (accessed via mobile Chrome) like my 4G Samsung M21. So, based on my personal experience, I think React performance will not be an issue here, even if plain HTML/CSS/JS will surely be faster.
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Me: Thanks for the clarification: React-based SSGs are not a different ecosystem
They are React, with a build step.
I had forgotten that aspect. I think I used Gatsby or something but don't recall whether I did it in React context or not. So SSG within React context should not be an issue for me, and I will definitely consider it in such a case.
About: Assume the site must still be readable if JS fails or is slow.
Hmm. I think to start with, I don't want to bring in such a JS fail-safe aspect. Perhaps after some experience, I will explore it. I think it is quite reasonable to expect JS support in clients for the scenarios I am considering.
About Next.js: I already have a gita site hosted on Vercel which uses a JSON files backend on GHP. Zero hosting cost. The next.js app uses React Server Components (RSC) heavily. Now I think that prevents it from being hosted on GHP. Am I right? In other words, if my Next.js app uses RSC then I cannot host it on GHP.
CG: ... Yes—if your Next.js app uses React Server Components (RSC) in the normal way, it cannot be hosted on GitHub Pages.
GitHub Pages can host only static files.
RSC, by design, assumes a Node.js server runtime unless everything can be resolved at build time.
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Me: I think React with or without SSG will run on GHP. BTW normal React apps don't use RSC, IFIRC. Am I right?
If so, I think for such sites where I want to have access to generous free-tier GHP, I should go with React (without RSC, which may be the case by default) and not Next.js as with Next.js, I need to be careful to stay out of RSC usage which I may fail to do properly.
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Me: In terms of free-tier limits, I think GHP would be way higher than Netlify or Vercel.
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Me: ... [For Contact Us kind of needs:] Google Form may be more suitable to GHP hosted frontend than Netlify Form
...
Me: Now let me bring in one more angle.
how about using React Native and Expo for the frontend.
The web part is hosted on GHP.
The Android app (as of now, I am not looking at iOS but still keeping it open as possibiilty for future) can be simply downloaded and used on Android devices.
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Me: Very good inputs. React Native and expo is a much more complicated set up than plain React for development, deployment as well as testing. All of that will bloat the time needed for creating a solution.
Plain React with PWA (given almost automatically by CRA ; don't know about Vite) means that even on mobile devices the site is accessible but via mobile browser. So Android app is not really a necessity for a simple informational school website.
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Me: React SSG: Essentially it will take all routes, do the fetches at build time and thus build static pages for the site.
It may not have a sophisticated [ISR] feature like Next.js and so everytime we change data on the backend (Blogger blog or GHP JSON), we need to rebuild static pages for the site using an SSG build. Am i on right track?
[CG said yes with some qualifications.] ... React SSG precomputes pages at build time; without ISR, backend data changes require a rebuild — unless you deliberately fetch some data at runtime on the client.
Me: Hmm. A hybrid model would be great, I guess. Main static pages prebuilt will give SEO benefit as well fast load (performance) benefit. ... Main static pages change can trigger manual rebuild which will be fast but needs developer ... Notice, announcements type of changes can be always fetched by client (at runtime) and so such more frequently changing stuff is not built statically and may take a little more time to load. Is my understanding correct?
...
Me: With good UX:
A placeholder (“Loading notices…”) or skeleton
No layout shift
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I have done the above in React - so no issue at all.
But if I had to do it in plain JS, then I would have to learn how best to do it, what plain JS components/libraries are available etc. So that's why I feel it makes much more sense for me to do such work in React rather than plain JS.
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Me: Great! Now while it is clear that React is right for me for such a rural school mainly static website, in general, how are such solutions implemented in industry nowadays?
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Me: In my own case, as I am familiar with HTML and CSS, I think they are a stronger option than markdown. Blogger has an HTML editor which I can use when needed and GHP JSON can hold any content including HTML and CSS.
In the case of non-technical persons, going with Blogger will still be good enough as they can use Blogger's Compose (WYSIWYG type) editor to add content which can be picked up as HTML using Blogger API (partial HTML content and not a full HTML page).
For a non-technical person, markdown is also an issue as he has to learn it. of course I am sure there would be free WYSIWYG markdown editors but the point is why markdown if any way we are using a WYSIWYG editor. In that case HTML is better as it matches the final presentation target which is an HTML browser.
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Me: Notion free-tier limits make it unsuitable for my use case.
Google Docs is less suitable as it essentially is not an HTML editor even if it can output HTML.
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Me: Now let me move to templates or scaffolding or whatever is the right term .... I am sure there would be free and open source templates/scaffolding for variety of use cases including small scale mainly static school websites. It may be primarily an HTML/CSS template but that can be used as a base for the React app for such a school. Am I on right track here?
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Me:I am checking out this template: https://weblium.com/templates/demo/special-education-website-design-208
It is a long page with menu links going to parts of the page. I have seen such long page design in some other templates including Blogger education templates.
I find such UI to be a little odd. I think it should be separate pages as that's the common UI I see in regular websites What do u say?
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Me: https://github.com/dawidolko/Website-Templates/tree/master/above-educational-bootstrap-responsive-template seems to a nice multi page school website that could be adapted for my needs. Its readme text:
Free Responsive HTML5 Template
Above Educational Bootstrap Responsive template is a modern clean multi-purpose html5 template built with valid HTML5 & CSS3. It's build on top of latest Bootstrap framework 3.3.1 fully responsive web compatible with multi browser and devices. This template can be used for multi-purpose needs like Educational Institutes, colleges, Schools, e-Learning, Training centre, Tutors, Charity, Primary School, business, consultancy, agency, personal portfolio, profile and mobile website.
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[CG pointed out that it does not support CSS Flexbox and Grid and uses some old style stuff. That ruled it out for me.]
Me: https://themewagon.com/themes/si-education/ is a Next.js education template which says it is free download and can be used in commercial projects ...
[Had an exchange with CG on its license related statements. As per CG, it is MIT license and I can use it even for commercial purposes.]
Me: ...
While this has more functionality than what I was looking for, if I get familiar with it, it may help me to upgrade a simple site to have this functionality.
I also will be using a current technology template. Those are important advantages, I think.
As it is Next.js, there may be some effort in ensuring that I don't use RSC for the simple mainly static site but that is not a big deal, I think (unless the code is badly written).
what's ur view?
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Me: Is Themewagon a reputed theme/template site?
[CG said yes]
Me: Most of the links in the home page are anchor links on same page but which is not too long as compared to the earlier long page site I had shared with you.
So, is this somewhat long home page with menu links going to parts of the page, an established UI pattern nowadays?
CG: Yes — what you’re seeing is an established and widely used UI pattern, often called a “single-page navigation” or “scrolling landing page” pattern. ...
Me: Then let me go with this somewhat long single home page approach even for my use case.
It has sign in and sign up and uses Next.js auth (which I had used in some tutorial) - that's nice for future.
It also uses Tailwind CSS and TypeScript. I am familiar with them.
So it seems to be fitting into modern Next.js app practices. I like that.
So I find this a very attractive template to try out for my use case.
Yes, I will need to comment out a lot of stuff but that's no big deal.
The big test after commenting out is whether I can create a static build and host it on GHP.
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Me: Now if all works out I would have a URL like https://ravisiyer.github.io/xyzschool for the site.
If the school folks want their own domain URL and are willing to pay for it then does GHP provide an easy way to map the custom domain say www.xyzschool.com to https://ravisiyer.github.io/xyzschool ?
[CG essentially said yes but it needed few exchanges to clarify.]
Me: I don't know if the school may be interested in creating a separate GitHub user for their school. I have one gitHub a/c mapped on my main gmail a/c. If I want to create a separate GitHub user for the school which I manage then I will need to use another google a/c - am I right?
[CG said same Google a/c can be used for multiple GitHub accounts by choosing to use password for GitHub login instead of login through Google.]
Me: that's great. In future, can I transfer such a school Github account from my email id to some other email id (from somebody in the school)?
[CG said yes and that it is mainly changing some primary email address in GitHub.]
Me: Terrific guidance. Hmm. With today's session, the pathway to create a static school website using next.js and associated free template, with a Blogger/GHP JSON backend, and which can be upgraded in future to be a dynamic site with paid hosting, is clear. Thanks a ton.
CG: You’re welcome. I’m glad the discussion helped you converge on a clear, future-proof architectural path.
To summarize (and to validate your conclusion):
Next.js + modern template gives you:
current, industry-standard frontend practices
Tailwind, TypeScript, auth scaffolding for future use
good SEO and performance when statically built
GitHub Pages (free tier) is a solid fit for:
a mainly static rural school site
long-term zero hosting cost
easy custom-domain mapping when the school is ready
Blogger or GHP-hosted JSON as a pseudo-headless backend provides:
dynamic content where needed (notices, announcements, updates)
zero backend hosting cost
a usable authoring experience for non-technical users
React / Next.js SSG keeps you in your strongest ecosystem:
no need to fall back to plain JS
easy hybrid model (prebuilt core pages + client-fetched dynamic sections)
smooth upgrade path to paid hosting, APIs, or a full backend later
Governance and ownership are handled cleanly:
separate GitHub account for the school
reversible email and access transfer
no lock-in to you personally
Overall, this is a very pragmatic, low-risk, and industry-aligned solution for a small rural school that may grow over time.
...
Me: 2026-01-17 15-57-53 BTW does MIT license of https://themewagon.com/themes/si-education/ permit me to keep my modifications to the code private. I will retain the license info. as is but not share the repo publicly. Is that Ok?
[CG said it is OK.]
...
Me: By default a next.js build does not copy the readme.md (or license file) into the out directory which is what gets deployed - am I right?
...
Me: Hmm. I think I will do two things:
1) Go with footer attribution.
2) Simply copy readme.md of the repo into public, with one additional sentence at the top stating that it is the readme of the template that is used as a base in the project. This way I don't touch any of the license info. in the readme and would comply with MIT license attribution requirement.
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