1. Introduction

With the widespread adoption of the internet and rapid advancements in information technology, sharing IT knowledge online has become increasingly important. Technical blogs, as an effective platform for knowledge dissemination and communication, are favored by many tech professionals. However, choosing the right tech stack to build an efficient, stable, and maintainable technical blog is crucial. Different tech stacks vary significantly in usability, functionality, performance, and maintainability. This report aims to research current tech stacks worth considering, including both traditional Content Management Systems (CMS) and Static Site Generators (SSGs), to provide comprehensive references and suggestions for users looking to build IT knowledge-sharing blogs.

2. Application of Traditional CMS Platforms in Technical Blogs

Traditional Content Management Systems (CMS) are database-driven applications designed to help users create, manage, and modify website content without deep knowledge of underlying code. CMSs offer user-friendly graphical interfaces, making content creation, editing, and publishing intuitive and efficient. For technical blogs, CMSs provide rich features such as user management, comment systems, and plugin extensions, simplifying blog operations and management. The following sections analyze several popular open-source CMS platforms, focusing on their suitability for building technical blogs.

2.1 WordPress

Data Points:
WordPress is the world’s most widely used CMS, powering over 40% of websites. Its massive market share brings a mature ecosystem, allowing users to easily access a wealth of themes, plugins, and community support. WordPress offers a user-friendly content management interface with drag-and-drop operations, making publishing, editing, and managing content convenient. The platform is regularly updated, with an active community ensuring security and ongoing development. WordPress is highly extensible, suitable for everything from personal blogs to enterprise websites. For developers, WordPress supports headless CMS via REST API, facilitating integration with modern frontend frameworks. There are themes specifically designed for technical blogs, optimized for code display and technical content readability. Markdown support is available via plugins or built-in modules, ideal for authors who prefer lightweight markup. Numerous code highlighting plugins (such as SyntaxHighlighter Evolved, Enlighter, Prismatic) are available for professional code snippet display. WordPress also offers various hosting options, including dedicated WordPress hosting, with robust community support and extensive documentation.

Insights & Analysis:
WordPress’s large user base and abundant resources allow users to easily extend blog functionality and quickly set up a feature-rich technical blog. Although originally built for blogging, WordPress has evolved into a full-featured CMS, which may be overly complex for those needing only a simple blog. Its user interface is friendly, but the multitude of options can be confusing for beginners. Headless CMS support suits developers needing highly customized frontends but increases technical complexity. The plugin ecosystem is powerful, but users should be mindful of security risks and plugin conflicts—regular maintenance and careful selection are recommended. Markdown and code highlighting are well supported via plugins, meeting the needs of technical content creation and display.

2.2 Drupal

Data Points:
Drupal is known for enterprise-grade security and its ability to handle complex content structures, making it suitable for scenarios requiring fine-grained permissions and complex content workflows. It has built-in multilingual support, ideal for technical blogs targeting international audiences. The platform uses a modular architecture and supports extensive APIs for deep customization, including headless CMS capabilities. Blogging features can be extended via core features or community modules. Markdown support requires installing relevant modules, and code highlighting also depends on modules. Drupal offers a wealth of themes and developer base themes, with an active community and detailed documentation.

Insights & Analysis:
Drupal’s strong focus on security makes it suitable for blogs handling sensitive technical information. Its flexible content structure and permission management are ideal for multi-author collaboration and complex content organization, but may be overkill for personal blogs. While blogging features are supported, setup and configuration are more complex than dedicated blogging platforms. Markdown and code highlighting require additional modules. Drupal offers powerful customization for experienced developers, but the learning curve is steep and less suitable for non-technical users.

2.3 Strapi

Data Points:
Strapi is a leading open-source headless CMS with an API-first design. It provides highly customizable APIs and allows precise content structure definition. Strapi’s admin panel is intuitive and user-friendly for content managers. Built on Node.js and supporting TypeScript, Strapi is ideal for multi-channel content delivery, supporting both REST and GraphQL APIs. It has a rich plugin ecosystem for feature extension and strong support for various databases and hosting solutions, with comprehensive documentation and a growing community. Strapi integrates well with popular frontend frameworks and static site generators (such as Next.js, React, Astro).

Insights & Analysis:
As a headless CMS, Strapi separates content management from presentation, giving developers great flexibility for custom frontends—ideal for users with specific design or functional needs. Its API-first approach enables easy integration with other platforms and technologies for multi-channel content distribution. The Node.js and TypeScript foundation is especially friendly to developers familiar with the JavaScript ecosystem. While the admin panel is intuitive, frontend development requires technical skills, making it less suitable for non-coders who prefer all-in-one solutions. Integration with static site generators combines content management with the high performance and security of static sites, suiting users seeking both flexibility and performance.

2.4 Joomla

Data Points:
Joomla is a free and open-source CMS known for its user-friendliness and powerful features. It offers advanced user access control and management, suitable for enterprise sites, communities, or sites with e-commerce features. Joomla supports multiple languages and is SEO-friendly. It requires self-hosted domains and hosting. The platform has a rich ecosystem of components, modules, plugins, and templates. Markdown support typically requires extensions, and code highlighting also depends on plugins. Joomla has active community support.

Insights & Analysis:
Joomla strikes a good balance between usability and functionality, ideal for users seeking more control than WordPress but less complexity than Drupal. It suits various site types, but its blogging features are less focused than WordPress or Ghost. Advanced user access control is useful for multi-author, multi-role blogs but may be redundant for personal blogs. Like WordPress and Drupal, Joomla requires separate hosting and domain, increasing initial setup and cost. While SEO-friendly, Markdown and code highlighting depend on extensions—technical blog users should pay attention to plugin availability and experience.

2.5 Other Open-Source CMS Options

• TYPO3: Enterprise-grade, extensive multilingual support.
• Grav: Focuses on speed, simplicity, and flexibility, no database required.
• Ghost: Designed for blogs and newsletters, Node.js-based, writing-focused, built-in SEO, Markdown support, code highlighting, rich themes, multiple hosting options, active community.
• Concrete CMS: For content creators, designers, and developers.
• SilverStripe CMS: Easy to use, with frontend template engine.
• Craft CMS: Flexible and user-friendly, for custom digital experiences.
• Contao: Open-source CMS and framework for scalable web apps.
• Backdrop CMS: Easy to use, for small and medium businesses.
• Payload CMS: Free, open-source headless CMS focused on developer experience, built with TypeScript.
• Directus: Headless, API-driven CMS.
• Webiny: Serverless CMS for AWS hosting.
• Publii: Desktop-based CMS for quick static site creation.
• Orchard Core: Modular, multi-tenant app framework and CMS based on ASP.NET Core.
• Umbraco: Flexible CMS based on .NET framework.
• Wagtail: Leading open-source Python CMS, based on Django, supports traditional and headless sites.
• Decap CMS (Netlify CMS): Open-source, Git-based CMS.
• Cockpit: Self-hosted, headless, API-driven CMS.
• Manifest: Open-source, self-hosted headless CMS using a single YAML file.
• Pages CMS: Open-source, GitHub-based CMS for static sites.
• Flextype: Data-first headless CMS and API.
• Gentics Mesh: Open-source, API-first headless CMS.
• Graphweaver: GraphQL-native headless CMS.
• Google Drive CMS: Uses Google Drive as backend.
• October CMS: PHP CMS based on Laravel framework.
• PyroCMS: PHP CMS based on Laravel.
• Django CMS: Python CMS based on Django framework.
• Umbraco Heartcore: Headless CMS with unique editor experience.
• Contentful: Headless content management platform.
• Sanity: Headless CMS for real-time content collaboration.
• Prismic: Headless CMS with reusable page sections.
• DatoCMS: Headless CMS built by developers for developers.
• Hygraph: GraphQL-first headless CMS.
• Contentstack: Open-source headless CMS solution.
• Magnolia: Enterprise-grade CMS based in Switzerland.
• Agility CMS: Flexible headless CMS.
• Butter CMS: Open-source headless CMS with powerful APIs.

2.6 Comparison Table of Traditional CMS Platforms

3. Application of Static Site Generators in Technical Blogs

Static Site Generators (SSGs) are modern website building tools that combine pre-written content (usually in Markdown) and templates to generate fully static HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files. Unlike traditional CMSs, SSGs generate all pages at build time, eliminating the need for database queries or server-side rendering on user visits, resulting in high performance and security. For technical blogs, SSGs offer fast speed, high security, and low hosting costs. The following sections analyze several popular open-source SSGs, focusing on their advantages for technical blogs.

3.1 Hugo

Data Points:
Hugo is renowned as one of the fastest website frameworks in the world. Written in Go, it is optimized for speed and flexibility. Hugo has a large theme ecosystem with over 300 themes, including many designed specifically for technical blogs. It has built-in templates for SEO, comments, and analytics. Hugo offers excellent Markdown support with various extensions. It uses Chroma for code syntax highlighting, supporting around 250 languages with rich styles and configuration options. Hugo can be deployed to various hosting platforms such as Netlify, GitHub Pages, and Cloudflare Pages. It has an active community providing support and resources. However, Hugo’s learning curve may be steep for some users.

Insights & Analysis:
Hugo’s outstanding speed is a significant advantage for technical blogs with large content volumes, ensuring fast build times and a smooth development experience. Its vast theme ecosystem offers a wide range of design choices, including many tailored for technical blogs, reducing the need for heavy customization. Built-in SEO support is crucial for bloggers seeking good search engine rankings. While Hugo provides excellent Markdown and code highlighting, its learning curve and Go template language may be a barrier for those unfamiliar with SSG concepts.

3.2 Jekyll

Data Points:
Jekyll is a simple, blog-focused SSG using the Liquid template language, with excellent documentation and an intuitive structure. Jekyll offers good options for importing content from other platforms and can be hosted for free on GitHub Pages. It natively supports Markdown and uses Rouge for code syntax highlighting. SEO optimization is available via plugins (e.g., jekyll-seo-tag). There are many themes, including those for technical blogs. Jekyll has an active community and is generally considered easy to learn.

Insights & Analysis:
Jekyll’s simplicity and ease of use make it an excellent choice for SSG beginners, allowing quick setup and blog creation. Seamless integration with GitHub Pages provides a free, convenient hosting solution, especially for users already using GitHub for version control. Jekyll natively supports Markdown and syntax highlighting, ideal for technical content. While it has a good theme ecosystem, its build speed may lag behind newer SSGs like Hugo or Eleventy, especially for large sites. Ruby dependency may be a consideration for non-Ruby developers.

3.3 Eleventy (11ty)

Data Points:
Eleventy is a simple SSG with high customizability and quick startup. Built with JavaScript and Node.js, it works with existing project directory structures. Eleventy supports multiple template languages, including Markdown, HTML, JavaScript, Liquid, Nunjucks, Handlebars, etc. It offers fast build speed and plugins for syntax highlighting via PrismJS. SEO plugins are available, and there are many themes and starter projects. Eleventy has an active community. The initial learning curve may be steep, but it offers great flexibility.

Insights & Analysis:
Eleventy’s support for multiple template languages allows developers to use their preferred syntax, accommodating various technical backgrounds. Fast build speed is a significant advantage for developers needing frequent blog content and design iterations. JavaScript-based construction appeals to the large web developer community familiar with the JS ecosystem. While the learning curve may be steep for SSG newcomers, Eleventy’s flexibility and minimal configuration are beneficial long-term, offering more control over output. Syntax highlighting and SEO plugins ensure essential technical blog features are easily integrated.

3.4 Astro

Data Points:
Astro is a modern SSG focused on speed and flexibility. It allows building with various JavaScript frameworks (React, Vue, Svelte, etc.) and can generate zero-JavaScript static sites. Astro supports server-side rendering, ideal for content-heavy sites. It has a growing community and a rich theme selection. Markdown and code highlighting are well supported.

Insights & Analysis:
Astro’s ability to build zero-JavaScript static sites delivers excellent performance and a lightweight user experience, ideal for technical blogs prioritizing speed and efficiency. Flexibility to use different JS frameworks lets developers leverage their preferred technologies, easing migration for those already familiar with these frameworks. Astro’s focus on content-heavy sites aligns well with technical blogs, which often feature extensive text and code samples. While Astro is gaining popularity, its theme and plugin ecosystem may not be as mature as Hugo or Jekyll, potentially limiting customization options early on. Astro’s built-in Markdown and code highlighting support meets most technical blog needs.

3.5 Other Open-Source Static Site Generators

• Pelican: Python-based, uses Markdown or reStructuredText, Jinja2 templates, code highlighting via Pygments.
• Gatsby: React-based, uses GraphQL, large plugin ecosystem.
• Nikola: Python-based, supports Markdown, reStructuredText, etc.
• Publii: Desktop client, graphical interface, beginner-friendly.
• Statiq Web: Based on Microsoft .NET platform.
• Hexo: JavaScript-based blog framework.
• Zola: Written in Rust, single executable, fast.
• MkDocs: Python-based, documentation-focused, Markdown support, many themes.
• Sphinx: Python-based, mainly for documentation, uses reStructuredText (Markdown via extension).

3.6 Comparison Table of Static Site Generators

4. CMS vs. Static Site Generators: Which Is Better for Your Technical Blog?

Choosing between a CMS and an SSG depends on your specific needs and technical preferences. CMSs offer easy-to-use graphical interfaces for content creation and management, usually with rich features and plugin ecosystems. However, CMSs may lag behind SSGs in performance and security, and typically have higher hosting costs. SSGs are known for excellent performance, high security, and lower hosting costs, but are more developer-oriented, requiring familiarity with Markdown and template languages. For technical blogs, consider the following factors:

• Learning Curve: WordPress and Jekyll are relatively easy for beginners. Drupal and Hugo may require more time and technical knowledge. Eleventy and Astro excel in flexibility but may pose learning challenges.
• Content Management Workflow: CMSs provide intuitive backends for content creation, editing, and management. SSGs use file-based content management, requiring editing Markdown files and generating sites via command line.
• Performance: SSG-generated sites typically outperform CMSs, as they don’t generate dynamic content on user visits—crucial for bloggers focused on speed and user experience.
• Security: SSG sites, with no database or server-side scripts, are more secure and less vulnerable to common web attacks.
• Customization: CMSs offer rich customization via themes and plugins, but deeper customization may require coding. SSGs provide greater flexibility, allowing developers full control over site structure and design.
• Maintenance: CMSs require regular updates to core, themes, and plugins for security and compatibility. SSG sites need almost no maintenance—just regenerate when updating content.
• Hosting Considerations: CMSs usually need more powerful servers, increasing hosting costs. SSG sites can be hosted on low-cost static hosting services.

For IT technical blogs, if you prefer an easy-to-use interface and rich features and are willing to handle some maintenance and hosting costs, WordPress or Joomla may be suitable. If you are a developer, value performance and security, and like writing in Markdown, SSGs like Hugo, Jekyll, Eleventy, or Astro are excellent choices.

5. Essential Features for Technical Knowledge-Sharing Blogs

To build a successful IT knowledge-sharing blog, the following features are essential:

• Robust Markdown Support: Including tables, footnotes, code blocks, flowcharts, and other extensions for structured technical writing.
• Excellent Code Syntax Highlighting: Support for multiple programming languages, various highlight themes and options (e.g., line numbers, highlighted lines) for clear code presentation.
• Effective SEO Optimization: Automatic meta tag generation, sitemaps, canonical URLs, etc., to improve search engine visibility.
• Relevant Themes: Clean, highly readable, and tech-focused blog themes that highlight the professionalism of technical articles.

6. Hosting for Technical Blogs

Regardless of choosing a CMS or SSG, suitable hosting must be considered.

CMS Hosting:

• Shared Hosting: Low cost, suitable for low-traffic blogs.
• VPS Hosting: Higher performance and control, for medium-traffic blogs.
• WordPress Hosting: Optimized for WordPress, easy management and performance.
• Cloud Hosting: Highly scalable and reliable, for high-traffic blogs.

SSG Hosting:

• GitHub Pages: Free static site hosting, ideal for GitHub-integrated projects.
• Netlify: Free tier, CI/CD, CDN, HTTPS, and more.
• Vercel: Frontend-focused hosting, fast deployment, CDN.
• Cloudflare Pages: High-performance hosting via Cloudflare’s global network.
• Amazon S3: Cost-effective, scalable, for large static sites.

When choosing a hosting provider, consider expected traffic, performance needs, budget, and requirements for usability and scalability.

7. Conclusion & Recommendations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of traditional CMS platforms and static site generators for building IT knowledge-sharing blogs. Traditional CMSs like WordPress and Joomla offer user-friendly interfaces and rich features, suitable for users wanting quick setup and mature ecosystems, though they may have limitations in performance and security. Headless CMSs like Strapi offer greater flexibility and scalability for developers but require separate frontend development. SSGs like Hugo, Jekyll, Eleventy, and Astro are favored for their excellent performance, high security, and low hosting costs, especially for users focused on technical details and development efficiency.

For technical blogs, we recommend users choose based on their technical level and specific needs. Non-developers wanting a feature-rich, easy-to-manage blog can choose WordPress, with its vast plugin ecosystem meeting most needs. Developers valuing performance and security should consider SSGs like Hugo, Jekyll, or Eleventy. Hugo is known for speed and themes, Jekyll for simplicity and GitHub Pages integration, and Eleventy for balancing flexibility and performance.

Ultimately, the choice of tech stack depends on personal preference, technical ability, and specific blog requirements. We encourage users to weigh their options based on this report and their own situation, and choose the stack that best fits their needs to start their knowledge-sharing journey.