97 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
97 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: reference, how-to
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description: "The static site editor enables users to edit content on static websites without prior knowledge of the underlying templating language, site architecture or Git commands."
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---
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# Static Site Editor
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> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/28758) in GitLab 12.10.
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> - WYSIWYG editor [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/214559) in GitLab 13.0.
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DANGER: **Danger:**
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In GitLab 13.0, we [introduced breaking changes](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/213282)
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to the URL structure of the Static Site Editor. Follow the instructions in this
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[snippet](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/project-templates/static-site-editor-middleman/snippets/1976539)
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to update your project with the latest changes.
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Static Site Editor enables users to edit content on static websites without
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prior knowledge of the underlying templating language, site architecture, or
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Git commands. A contributor to your project can quickly edit a Markdown page
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and submit the changes for review.
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## Use cases
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The Static Site Editors allows collaborators to submit changes to static site
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files seamlessly. For example:
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- Non-technical collaborators can easily edit a page directly from the browser; they don't need to know Git and the details of your project to be able to contribute.
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- Recently hired team members can quickly edit content.
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- Temporary collaborators can jump from project to project and quickly edit pages instead of having to clone or fork every single project they need to submit changes to.
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## Requirements
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- In order use the Static Site Editor feature, your project needs to be
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pre-configured with the [Static Site Editor Middleman template](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/project-templates/static-site-editor-middleman).
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- The editor needs to be logged into GitLab and needs to be a member of the
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project (with Developer or higher permission levels).
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## How it works
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The Static Site Editor is in an early stage of development and only works for
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Middleman sites for now. You have to use a specific site template to start
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using it. The project template is configured to deploy a [Middleman](https://middlemanapp.com/)
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static website with [GitLab Pages](../pages/index.md).
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Once your website is up and running, you'll see a button **Edit this page** on
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the bottom-left corner of its pages:
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![Edit this page button](img/edit_this_page_button_v12_10.png)
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When clicking it, GitLab will open up an editor window from which the content
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can be directly edited. When you're ready, you can submit your changes in a
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click of a button:
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![Static Site Editor](img/wysiwyg_editor_v13_0.png)
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When an editor submits their changes, in the background, GitLab automatically
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creates a new branch, commits their changes, and opens a merge request. The
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editor will land directly on the merge request, and then they can assign it to
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a colleague for review.
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## Getting started
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First, set up the project. Once done, you can use the Static Site Editor to
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easily edit your content.
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### Set up your project
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1. To get started, create a new project from the
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[Static Site Editor - Middleman](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/project-templates/static-site-editor-middleman)
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template. You can either [fork it](../repository/forking_workflow.md#creating-a-fork)
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or [create a new project from a template](../../../gitlab-basics/create-project.md#built-in-templates).
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1. Edit the `data/config.yml` file adding your project's path.
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1. Editing the file will trigger a CI/CD pipeline to deploy your project with GitLab Pages.
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1. When the pipeline finishes, from your project's left-side menu, go to **Settings > Pages** to find the URL of your new website.
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1. Visit your website and look at the bottom-left corner of the screen to see the new **Edit this page** button.
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Anyone satisfying the [requirements](#requirements) will be able to edit the
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content of the pages without prior knowledge of Git nor of your site's
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codebase.
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### Use the Static Site Editor to edit your content
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For instance, suppose you are a recently hired technical writer at a large
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company and a new feature has been added to the company product.
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1. You are assigned the task of updating the documentation.
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1. You visit a page and see content that needs to be edited.
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1. Click the **Edit this page** button on the production site.
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1. The file is opened in the Static Site Editor in **WYSIWYG** mode. If you wish to edit the raw Markdown
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instead, you can toggle the **Markdown** mode in the bottom-right corner.
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1. You edit the file right there and click **Submit changes**.
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1. A new merge request is automatically created and you assign it to your colleague for review.
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## Limitations
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- Currently, the Static Site Editor only works for files ending in `.md`. For example, it will not work for a file `index.html.md.erb` while it works for `index.html.md`.
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- The Static Site Editor still cannot be quickly added to existing Middleman sites. Follow this [epic](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/2784) for updates.
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