Do you need a website for your project? Whether it’s to publish or disseminate your findings or share or host your research materials for a broader audience, there are a variety of ways to share and publicize your research that don’t have to involve the maintenance associated with creating and hosting a website, including depositing your research outputs in a repository like the Stanford Digital Repository (read more in this guide) and publishing datasets in data journals.

If a website is the best route for your project, it’s important to keep in mind that static websites are generally preferred. This is because static websites present minimal to no security vulnerabilities because of their “flat” nature and lack of a database for an attacker to exploit. Beyond security, static sites are also much more sustainable--there are no plug-ins or modules to worry about constantly patching and updating. And the format is more easily exportable to other platforms or hosting services if you need to make a change.

However, static sites are a bit more complicated than creating a “dynamic,” database-driven website that has the benefit of a CMS interface like WordPress or Drupal. Creating a static website usually requires some knowledge of HTML, CSS, Markdown, git and GitHub, and more. Workshops and consultations are available through CIDR and numerous tutorials exist online to help you get started.
 

(Be sure to check for whether a SUNet ID is required, if your account owner may not be affiliated with Stanford for the desired life of the project.)

• Stanford Web Services
  • Stanford Sites: Free, self-service, Drupal out-of-a-box. No app integration (e.g. Omeka)
• Stanford Domains
  • Free (fee for custom domain)
  • Reclaim Hosting platform: can install CMSes like WordPress or Omeka, 50+ other apps to choose from
  • 1:1 account owner to site
• More information:
  • Website hosting comparison table
  • Stanford UIT recommendations for storage service
  • Custom stanford.edu URLs
  • Stanford Infrastructure Tools
• Spotlight at Stanford is an application for showcasing digital content in easy-to-produce exhibits. It is available for use by the Stanford community and its partner organizations. Users can quickly build their own online exhibits featuring digital content stored within and outside of the Stanford Digital Repository without having to develop their own project interface or use a proprietary system.

• GitHub Pages: good for hosting static sites, for free; you can still use a Stanford domain name. Lots of different Jekyll themes available.
• Netlify: good for hosting web apps, has a free tier
• And more static site generators (a list)
• Academic + open source applications (Wordpress, Scalar, and Omeka can be deployed out of hosted Stanford Domains service) (this is not an exhaustive list!)
  • WordPress: basic website platform that easily supports pages and blog posts with simple multimedia
  • Scalar: designed to create branching, non-linear paths through multimedia digital research materials
  • Omeka: designed for presenting different kinds of digital objects (especially images) and exhibits that combine them
  • Mukurtu: similar to Omeka, but with an eye towards more sophisticated access controls to support the needs of communities whose cultural heritage is on display
  • CollectionBuilder-GH: another tool for creating digital exhibits, CollectionBuilder is a template for creating small digital collection exhibits on GitHub Pages designed for teaching digital library skills.
  • Wax: yet another platform for digital exhibits. Wax is a minimal computing project focused on longevity, low costs, and flexibility, and utilizes Jekyll for static site generation.
  • Juncture: free and open source web tool, from JSTOR labs; billed as a “visual essay” that can integrate multimodal software like Markdown, IIIF, GeoJSON, D3, Timeline.js, and more. Uses GitHub to host files.
  • StoryMap JS: a visualization that combines maps and timelines; can be embedded as part of a bigger website. Can also be used with a super-high-resolution image, as a way to create a tour through different parts of the image. Similar to Esri’s ArcGIS StoryMaps.
  • Jupyter Book: combines code (in Jupyter notebook) and narrative (written in Markdown) into a structured book-like format with multiple levels of navigation.
• ArcGIS StoryMaps: Digital storytelling with custom maps.